How Klaas Kroezen built an international company thanks in part to kitesurfing and meditation

Thanks in part to kitesurfing, yoga and meditation, Klaas Kroezen found the energy, discipline and focus to build an international company. Ten years after the start, he shares his most important lessons.

In January 2008, together with my brother, I started WUA (I sold my share in 2022), with one goal: to build a fantastic company, guided by the philosophy "first who, then what". In other words: we were going to create an amazing (family) culture where people are free to be who they are. Inspired by the book Good to Great, we took "first who, then what" so literally that we set out our culture philosophy in that very first year, including the name WUA, the design and everything around it.

We did not yet have a product, in other words the "what". Together with a coach from my MBA, we dug into 10 different business ideas and gave ourselves a full year to choose. The most important condition was that the product or service had to be connected to the digital world, had to give us that spark of excitement, and had to be something we could become world champion in if we gave it everything we had.

My most important goal is to inspire, to connect and to build a business within a family culture. Something that goes far beyond turnover or profit. To live our dreams together and deliver real added value to society. In this blog I want to share with you my 10 most important lessons from 10 years of building WUA. Here they are:

1. Live your passion

Do not let anything or anyone stop you from living your passion. You are the most enjoyable person for everyone (including yourself) when you live your passion. I have decided to always pursue this, even in the moments when life is against me. From the very start of WUA we always pursued this. Even when we did not yet know what we were going to do. We set out to build a company that goes for the most beautiful life. For ourselves and for the people around us.

2. You are responsible for your own energy and health

I believe you should always put your own health first. Build your discipline in this area. However challenging building a company or life can be, and it is! When you can take good care of yourself, you can also take good care of your family, team, customers and suppliers. Then you can handle the challenges that come your way. In practice I do a lot of yoga, kitesurfing and meditation. This helps me build discipline and respond to whatever comes at me. And it gives me the quiet, the space and the overview to see what really matters and deserves my attention.

This looks like 'slowing down', but I believe it actually means speeding up enormously. And it is wonderfully enjoyable to do as well. For me it is "coming home", and an important way to be fully in my energy. On top of that, we carry vitality all the way through WUA. This earned us the award for Most Vital Company in North Holland. The three most important pillars here: mindset, healthy food and exercise.

Google in Silicon Valley had become a customer. This may well have been my best kitesurfing session ever.

3. Set yourself a BHAG (a dream ambition)

Where do you want to be in 7 years' time? What truly gives you that spark of excitement? What seems impossible, but could become possible if you really go for it with everything you have? From the very start of WUA we always said we want to become the very best in the world at 1 thing. With laser focus. Whatever bump or opportunity we come across. Focus, focus, focus. We have been doing this for the past 10 years across 16 countries, and we will keep doing it for the next 10. On to the best and biggest Digital Experience Benchmark across 80 countries.

4. The question is not 'how?', the question is: 'who?'

Very often I have asked myself: how am I going to pull this off? How? For every challenge in a business there is a specialist available in the market. If you are going to lay a brick wall, you call a bricklayer. If you want to build an app, you need a good app developer. The same goes for sales, marketing, finance, legal, administration and cleaning. You never have to reinvent the wheel yourself.

Spending your time on the "how?" in a field that is not really your thing leads to frustration. You simply are not the specialist in everything. If you do try to be, it can come at the cost of your attention for your team, your customers and your own energy and health.

5. Are you building a wall or are you building a castle?

As an entrepreneur you deal with details every day. Building a company happens brick by brick. But what is your vision? Most people overestimate what they can do in 1 year and underestimate what they can do in 10 years. When you have focus, you can genuinely build a castle together with your team, customers and suppliers. And you do not do that in 1 or 2 years. The danger with success is that you want to build more castles. Before you know it, you are working on several little walls, and no margin is being made. That costs an enormous amount of energy, because your attention is scattered across different things.

Before you know it, you are working on several little walls, and no margin is being made.

My choice is to focus on 1 thing, to become and stay the best in the world, and to build a beautiful castle. With full energy and passion. With enough margin to keep innovating and to deliver extreme value to customers. With fantastic people who work together like a family. Across many different countries with their own "cells" that grew out of the head office on the Herengracht. Every director spends at least six months with our team in Amsterdam, so that they fully absorb our culture. At the moment we have 4 cells (US, UK, the Netherlands and Germany), with 2 more coming this year.

6. Your customers are by far your most important investor

You read that right. I believe in an extreme focus on customers. Customer satisfaction. Attention. Being genuinely involved. And taking your customers along in building your castle. They are an incredibly important part of it. How great is that! One of the most important things for us is that the revenue comes in ahead of the costs. Because if you manage to sell in advance, there is genuinely a market for it.

Many entrepreneurs start their business by selling shares to investors.

Many entrepreneurs start their business by selling shares to investors. And they become good at that. Only to then "have to" sell to customers. In my view you are better off starting with that straight away. With all the passion, perseverance and fun that can come with it.

7. There is always a way

Be bold and have faith. The one who perseveres wins. And visualise. See the end result and live in the visualisation as if it is already so. Then you will find the way. Almost every day I spend 10 to 15 minutes visualising my 3 most important goals. Big or small. I often use Tony Robbins' guided meditation for this, which starts with a short breathing exercise, gratitude for "what is", and then moves on to where you want to go. I believe that by doing this you will actually start to see it, find it, or that it will then "coincidentally" come your way.

8. Work outside your office

Since September 2016 I no longer have a desk or office in our building on the Herengracht. It is an important lesson I learned from Richard Branson. By being outside the office, and because someone else runs the office, I can keep sight of the bigger picture far better. Focus on building the business. On structurally delivering more value to the customer and to the team, instead of being swallowed up by the day to day.

My diary is as empty as possible.

I believe that when I talk to the people on the team now, I really talk to them with the attention I can give in that moment. In practice this means I always have my laptop and sports gear in my backpack, and my kite set in the car. That my diary is as empty as possible. So that there is optimal room for creation and wonderful, in depth conversations with (potential) team members, customers or suppliers.

9. New colleagues: first who, then what

When looking for the right people, the first question is whether this person fits well within our (family) culture. Then you look at whether they can fill the role, and later grow into other roles. People's characters do not change quickly. Roles change much, much faster. So you are better off hiring lovely people who genuinely fit within the organisation and its core values.

Being open to differences makes the difference.

In practice I mainly look at energy and whether someone genuinely fits within the organisation. The will to grow is essential. In conversations I often start on the subject of vitality or meditation. Even if someone does not know much about this yet, it is interesting to see how they respond. Curious and interested, or judgemental? If we want to conquer the world, we come across an enormous number of differences and cultures. Being open to exactly that, and enjoying it, is in my view what makes the difference.

The WUA team together with Pieter van den Hoogenband during the nomination for Most Vital Company in North Holland.

10. Live from a beautiful state

This may well be the most important one. Are you striving for an emotion that makes you feel good in the here and now? Is success a positive emotion? Or is it only for a moment? I believe it is about being at home within yourself. And then being at home within the organisation and creating an atmosphere that is safe enough for every person to feel at home. In other words a lasting emotion of feeling "good". A beautiful state. And yes, that is easier said than done. Because life is not perfect. And it is in the perfect "picture" that most of the pain and frustration lies.

All too often there is a discrepancy between the perfect picture and reality. That is where frustration comes from. Realising and letting go of the idea that everything has to be perfect makes frustration melt away like snow in the sun. For me, meditation is an important reminder of this. Because it is not about focusing on perfection, the result or the success. It is about focusing on continuous improvement in small steps, with the customer at the centre. And with your long term goal in mind. Trusting that if you do that, you will achieve the maximum possible result. Because you have given 100 percent of your time and energy to what you can influence in order to affect the outcome.

Grateful

These were my 10 most important lessons from the past 10 years. I hope I have inspired you with them. How grateful I am for all the wonderful people around me. Nearby or far away. What an adventure. With many highs and lows. On to the next 5 years!