Welcome to the Startup Spotlight, where we give our supporters a chance to walk the walk and uplift the startup community! In this interview series, different local startups meet with an interviewer to help us learn more about them and ways to support them.
At a Glance
Interviewer
Yuki Olbrich
Start2 Group
Interviewee
Daan Weddepohl
Peerby
Start2 Group
Start2 Group is a global innovation leader taking your startup journey to the next level. As a premier startup ecosystem platform, Start2 Group serves as the ultimate destination for growth-oriented startups, corporations, investors, and governments to shape and scale ventures with growth potential.
In Business Since: 2008
Industry: Accelerator
Mission: Start2 Group is committed to being the catalyst for startups at every stage, empowering them to thrive in the competitive business landscape. At any part of the way, from initial stages to expanding globally, we guide startups to the world’s most crucial innovation hubs – from the heart of Europe to the vibrant landscapes of the U.S., Asia, Latin America, and the UAE. Through our tailored programs and extensive international network of expert mentors, investors, and partners, startups gain significant advantages and acceleration on their journey to success.
Peerby
Peerby is a platform that lets you borrow household items from others nearby, like tools, electronics and camping gear.
Founded: 2012
Industry: Social Good/Tech
Startup Mission: To strengthen communities and preserve the planet.
The Interview
Yuki – Start2 Group – Interviewer
All right. So. I know at Start2 Group, we are in business because we want to help startups every step of the way, from getting investor-ready to expanding globally. Why don’t you start with telling me a little bit about why you started Peerby and what the impact is of what you do?
Daan – Peerby – Interviewee
Sure. So a few years ago I was a CTO for a software company and I lived a very independent life: like my own house, my own car, my own stuff. And I didn’t need help from anyone until there was a dramatic event in my life. My house burned down and suddenly I was forced to depend on the people around me, and ask for help, borrow items, sleep on people’s couches. And something it made me realize was that actually, the reason that we are so successful as human beings is not because we’re independent entities. It’s because we’re interdependent. So as I started sort of rebuilding my life and working on new ideas, I figured I wanted to build something around the concept of interdependence, connecting people. And that turned out to be Peerby, a website to borrow and lend household items from others nearby, ranging from camping gear, to an extra table, to tools and DJ sets.
The reason that we are so successful as human beings is not because we’re independent entities. It’s because we’re interdependent.
Yuki – Start2 Group – Interviewer
Oh yeah, that’s really cool. I mean, what a life event, but you made something positive out of it, so that’s amazing.
Daan – Peerby – Interviewee
Yeah, I wouldn’t wish it on anybody, but I highly recommend it.
Yuki – Start2 Group – Interviewer
Maybe people can find their way to Peerby without having their house burn down. [laughing]
Daan – Peerby – Interviewee
[laughing] That would be great. That would be great. Yeah, if we can avoid that, if we can make it a little easier to realize the power of independent interdependence, that would be great. Yeah.
Yuki – Start2 Group – Interviewer
Yeah. Great. So what does a win look like to you?
Daan – Peerby – Interviewee
Every time we connect to neighbors to share something, it’s a win for us. It’s a win for the neighbors. It’s a win for the environment. It’s really nice to work on a business model that is so aligned in every way. Like the better we do, the more impact we have, the more benefit there is to our members. So every time someone shares something, it’s a win.
Yuki – Start2 Group – Interviewer
Right. The next question is: what’s a recent win you have had?
Sharing is a universal human principle.
Daan – Peerby – Interviewee
Well, I think what’s very exciting is that we just launched in Boulder. So we’re already up and running in the Netherlands. One in four households in Amsterdam have an account on our platform and we’re eager to show that the sharing spirit is something universal, something that can happen in Boulder as well. So yeah, I think that that’s a win for us: being able to come here and show that sharing is a universal human principle.
Yuki – Start2 Group – Interviewer
Absolutely, it’s great that you’re already up and running in Boulder and I’m sure the community appreciates this new platform. And yeah, one in four households in Amsterdam – that’s amazing! That’s a lot.
Daan – Peerby – Interviewee
Yeah. Yeah, that’s a good amount of people using it.
Yuki – Start2 Group – Interviewer
Alright, so what’s your biggest challenge?
How do you build a business model around consuming less?
Daan – Peerby – Interviewee
Well, you know, I didn’t start Peerby because it’s easy, but I started Peerby because it’s impactful. Where all of our competitors stumble and and fall is to make it work as a business model. And I believe that’s absolutely necessary to be able to bring sharing to everybody. We need to be able to invest in growth and for a long time, that was the big challenge. How do you build a business model around consuming less? And luckily, we found all kinds of solutions for it – but it’s still, you know, it’s not easy. We’re building a two-sided marketplace that is for, sort of small order value items, hyper-local connect. So basically building a new marketplace in every single neighborhood. So yeah, that’s a challenge, but it’s a fun challenge too, and I enjoy working on it every day.
Yuki – Start2 Group – Interviewer
Yeah. Do you see a difference between the people in the US and the Netherlands about their, you know, approach or their perception of this concept?
Daan – Peerby – Interviewee
I think at the core it’s very much the same. Whenever I talk about this, whether it’s people in the US or people in the Netherlands, they tell me, “Oh yes, I have so much stuff that I hardly ever use. You know, it’s just collecting dust in my garage. Would be so great if I could share it.” I think that core principle is very much the same. If there are differences, they’re more slight and nuanced, but I think at the core, it’s the same for all human beings.
Yuki – Start2 Group – Interviewer
Yeah, that’s true. Everyone likes to share. It’s nice to see that it’s global. So the next point is about values. So here at Start2 Group, we really believe strongly in the values of collaboration and empowerment. And I’m curious to see if any of those overlap with some of your company values and what do those values mean to you?
Daan – Peerby – Interviewee
Absolutely – like collaboration. Sounds a lot like interdependence. Right? When we work together, we are more than the sum of our parts. And I think that is the spirit of sharing and it’s the spirit of how we’re trying to build this company. So that resonates very much with me. And empowerment, as well. Our platform is peer-to-peer. So what we’re trying to do is empower people to take action themselves. So we’re not trying to be in the middle of these things, we want to connect people directly and empower them to build stronger communities and to share locally.
Yuki – Start2 Group – Interviewer
Yeah, sure. That fits really really well with what you do. All right, so what should the community know about you? The Boulder startup community.
Daan – Peerby – Interviewee
Oh, wow. Well, that’s a good question. Well, we’re always open to connecting. There’s a local Peerby Community Advocate that just joined us, who lives in Boulder, named Boston. And yeah, we’re always happy to connect. So if anybody’s interested in learning more, or partnering, or if we can help anywhere, then yeah, we’d love to do that. And yeah, I’d love to connect. Please reach out.
Yuki – Start2 Group – Interviewer
Yes. So then the other way around, what can the startup community and the broader Boulder community do to support you and your startup?
Daan – Peerby – Interviewee
Sign up and list some items. That’s where it all starts. Go into your garage or your kitchen or your attic or your basement and find those items that could be useful to others while you’re not using them and, yeah, let’s get this off the ground in Boulder.
Yuki – Start2 Group – Interviewer
Sounds great. I’m sure there are lots of people who have things that they don’t use much. Right? So there are some of these rapid fire random questions that we can get into. So these are not very, you know, related to your company – more about you personally. What’s your favorite weekend activity?
Daan – Peerby – Interviewee
Oh, I would say, hiking – especially when I’m in Boulder, of course. It’s so beautiful to go into the mountains.
Yuki – Start2 Group – Interviewer
Perfect. Yeah, right by the Rocky Mountains. It’s amazing. Do you listen to music while you work, and if yes, what kind?
Daan – Peerby – Interviewee
Yes. So I just had to turn off my music for this call. I love listening to classical music while I work because I just feel like it calms you down. It helps you focus – it brings you into this state of zen almost. And I have a specific recommendation and that is Klara, which is klara.be and that’s the classical public radio station of Belgium. And they have something called Clara continuo, which is just continuous classical music with nobody talking, nobody. It’s perfect for focusing during work. If you enjoy having classical music on during work, then that’s my go to. Yeah.
I love listening to classical music while I work because I just feel like it calms you down.
Yuki – Start2 Group – Interviewer
Nice. That sounds good. I love listening to something without lyrics, because that would just distract me. So I’ll have to check that out. And with Spotify playlists and things, I can never decide what I want. So, radio station, yeah.
Daan – Peerby – Interviewee
Yeah, that’s the nice thing about radio, right? Somebody’s curated everything for you. You don’t have to do anything. You just have to go to the destination and then they take care of it.
Yuki – Start2 Group – Interviewer
What’s your most unusual skill or hobby or accomplishment?
Daan – Peerby – Interviewee
Well, I guess, before I was a startup founder I was an actor. So that’s my secret skill. I was, for example, the regular police officer on the Dutch equivalent of As the World Turns and every time that somebody needed to be arrested or interrogated, I would come by and do that. So yeah, I guess that’s an unexpected skill.
Yuki – Start2 Group – Interviewer
Oh wow. Definitely. Does that come in handy for you as a founder – your acting skills?
Daan – Peerby – Interviewee
I think the similarity between acting and being a founder are much bigger than I could have ever expected. Because I think being a founder is very much about storytelling and understanding. How do I take this story and how can I tell it in such a way that people understand why it’s important, why it’s relevant? How can I make it resonate with them? And you’re doing that all day long with your customers, with your investors, with your employees, with your partners. So you’re constantly storytelling in a way, and that’s exactly what’s what I trained for. So yeah, it’s great preparation for entrepreneurship.
Being a founder is very much about storytelling and understanding.
Yuki – Start2 Group – Interviewer
Yes. And for pitching and all of that, like you said. No wonder you won the Best Pitch award at our startup night. You must be very confident standing on stage talking to people.
Daan – Peerby – Interviewee
Definitely helps to have that experience. Absolutely, yeah.
Yuki – Start2 Group – Interviewer
Yes. What is your favorite kind of weather?
Daan – Peerby – Interviewee
My favorite kind of weather. I love it when it’s not too hot and not too cold, you know? Yeah, that’s my favorite kind of weather. So a great middle ground. I think I prefer very cold, snowy weather over very hot weather. Because I always say there are only so many layers you can take off, but you can always put on more layers.
Yuki – Start2 Group – Interviewer
That’s very true. Cold days are more manageable. All right, last question: what skill would be fun to learn?
Daan – Peerby – Interviewee
What skill? I would love to learn how to fly a float plane. I have this dream of one day having a little cabin on a remote island. And going there by float plane – preferably an electric float plane – they’re experimenting with those now. That would be lovely because I imagine that would enable me to both live in nature and be remote but have quick access to a metropolitan area so that’s sort of a dream I have, but I’ll need to learn how to fly a float plane first.
Yuki – Start2 Group – Interviewer
So your ideal is to be a bit remote in the countryside. But also easily accessible?
Daan – Peerby – Interviewee
Yeah, this dilemma of somebody who loves the city and who loves nature. I guess Boulder is already a pretty good middle ground when it comes to that. But yeah, I see opportunities to maybe even have more of that, yeah.
Yuki – Start2 Group – Interviewer
I saw I skipped over one question, but maybe this fits in with that. One of your top bucket list items?
Daan – Peerby – Interviewee
Oh yeah… You know what? I feel like I’ve been able to do so many amazing things since I started my company. I don’t have that much left to desire. There’s things I would like to do. I mean, I’d love to see the aurora borealis at some point or something like that. But yeah, I feel pretty satisfied with life in a way. I feel pretty fulfilled, but maybe bucket list items are not necessarily about that.
Yuki – Start2 Group – Interviewer
Yeah, it doesn’t have to be jumping out of a plane or something. [laughing]
Daan – Peerby – Interviewee
You know what I find really interesting is maybe living in Japan for a duration, say for half a year or something like that, just to experience what it’s like to live there. What I find fascinating about Japan is how everything is different. And I I love that about it. It’s such an interesting experience. I would love to feel what it’s like to be in the middle of that for a longer amount of time.
Yuki – Start2 Group – Interviewer
Yeah, more than just a vacation, yeah.
Daan – Peerby – Interviewee
Yeah.
Yuki – Start2 Group – Interviewer
I can imagine – I’m half Japanese – so I can imagine that Peerby would be good there. Japanese people could benefit from this platform, especially in cities like Tokyo where they don’t have much space, don’t have big apartments. And, if they can share some of these items, yeah.
Daan – Peerby – Interviewee
Yeah, I’d love to see it take off in Japan. That would be amazing. Yeah. The next destination. First the US and then Japan.
Yuki – Start2 Group – Interviewer
Yes, that sounds great. Well, thank you so much.
Thank you so much to Daan for his time telling us more about him and the Peerby crew and mission! We hope you’ll keep an eye out for other Startup Spotlights.
