{"id":669612,"date":"2025-05-16T14:22:03","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T11:22:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/bunq-ceo-warns-closed-minds-are-pushing-dutch-entrepreneurs-away\/"},"modified":"2025-05-16T14:22:03","modified_gmt":"2025-05-16T11:22:03","slug":"bunq-ceo-warns-closed-minds-are-pushing-dutch-entrepreneurs-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/bunq-ceo-warns-closed-minds-are-pushing-dutch-entrepreneurs-away\/","title":{"rendered":"Bunq CEO warns closed minds are pushing Dutch entrepreneurs away"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3aa2ec7b86d\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3aa2ec7b86d\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/bunq-ceo-warns-closed-minds-are-pushing-dutch-entrepreneurs-away\/#Building_bridges_at_Bunq\" >Building bridges at Bunq<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/bunq-ceo-warns-closed-minds-are-pushing-dutch-entrepreneurs-away\/#The_international_return\" >The international return<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<div id=\"article-main-content\">\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ali Niknam has built Dutch fintech Bunq into one of Europe\u2019s biggest neobanks. But he fears the Netherlands is now driving entrepreneurs away.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Bunq founder and CEO is alarmed by the country\u2019s business mindset. He believes risk-aversion, growing insularity, and hostility to ambition are pushing talent overseas.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cMany of the best entrepreneurs I know have either left or are considering leaving,\u201d Niknam tells TNW.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Surveys back him up. A poll last year <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/nltimes.nl\/2024\/02\/15\/netherlands-less-attractive-expats-businesses-consider-leaving\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">found that<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> almost one in five Dutch entrepreneurs were considering relocating \u2014 up from nearly one in eight in 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another study found that 24% of large companies were contemplating moves abroad \u2014 nearly double the share from the year before.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tech scaleups are also mulling exits. One of the country\u2019s biggest \u2014 software unicorn Bird \u2014\u00a0recently <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">announced plans<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to shift operations out of the country. The company\u2019s CEO blamed \u201cover-regulation\u201d and a bad climate for tech businesses.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Niknam \u2014 who\u2019s set to speak at <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/41IbD3D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TNW Conference<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on June 20 in Amsterdam \u2014 has his own critiques of the Dutch business landscape. He calls its support for entrepreneurship \u201camong the worst\u201d he\u2019s seen. Yet he still has deep faith in the country\u2019s talent pool.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThere are very few countries I know that have such amazing, creative, smart people as the Dutch,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Those people have been integral to Bunq\u2019s rapid growth.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Building_bridges_at_Bunq\"><\/span>Building bridges at Bunq<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Niknam\u2019s idea for Bunq emerged in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. One of the causes, he believes, was groupthink at incumbent banks. He founded Bunq in 2012 to create an alternative.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To create a new <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>roach to banking, Niknam sought to embrace diverse ideas. He points to the company\u2019s approach to proposals, which can be pitched anonymously \u2014\u00a0even to Niknam himself.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cOn the one hand, that\u2019s better for the company \u2014 the best ideas win. And on the other hand, it makes it more fair, because all that counts is the quality of your idea, not who you know, where you\u2019re brought up, or what school you attended.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The strategy delivered rapid results. In 2015, Bunq became the first Dutch company in 35 years to obtain a greenfield banking license. It then grew into Europe\u2019s second-largest neobank after Revolut \u2014 and one of the few to achieve profitability. The company now boasts over 17 million users with more than \u20ac8bn in deposits.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Outside Bunq, however, Niknam sees a country that\u2019s becoming more closed. He believes the Netherlands is abandoning its internationalist roots, which is damaging its tech ecosystem and chasing talent away.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cHistorically, the Netherlands has been very entrepreneurial, very international\u2026 when this country retreats and closes the doors is when things start to get worse.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even the country\u2019s vast pension funds, he notes, avoid backing Dutch startups. \u201cThey know the returns are going to be less,\u201d he says. \u201cWhy are the returns less? Because it\u2019s a small country, and it is retreating and starting to focus within its own borders.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He contrasts the mood with developments in the Baltics. The region\u2019s tech ecosystem has attracted admiring glances for its optimism, openness, and rapid growth. Niknam feels that many people in the Netherlands take their rights for granted.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt\u2019s maybe a little bit of an entitlement disease \u2014\u00a0that we have forgotten that all these wonderful things that we enjoy today, somebody worked for them really, really hard,\u201d he says.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure class=\"post-image post-mediaBleed aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1413656 size-full js-lazy\" alt=\"Bunq CEO Ali Niknam at Money 20\/20 in Amsterdam in 2023\" width=\"1411\" height=\"1104\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2025\/05\/MF94ipoidg-original-aliniknam-e1747322371172.jpg\"\/><figcaption>Born in Canada to Iranian parents and with homes in the Netherlands and the US, Niknam has diverse cultural experiences. Image: <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:MF94ipoidg-original-aliniknam.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">OLSjopera<\/a><\/figcaption><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1413656 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2025\/05\/MF94ipoidg-original-aliniknam-e1747322371172.jpg\" alt=\"Bunq CEO Ali Niknam at Money 20\/20 in Amsterdam in 2023\" width=\"1411\" height=\"1104\" srcset=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Niknam feels the Netherlands has become too risk-averse and inward-looking. Despite the liberal stereotype, Dutch society can be surprisingly conservative.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That caution, Niknam says, is embedded in the culture \u2014 even in local proverbs. One goes: \u201cSteek je kop niet boven het maaiveld uit.\u201d Loosely translated: \u201cDon\u2019t stick your head above the mowing line.\u201d If you do, it might get chopped off.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>In Niknam\u2019s eyes, that mentality thwarts ambitious entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cSuccess is not only not celebrated, but you\u2019re almost faulted for being successful,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_international_return\"><\/span>The international return<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Netherlands is also losing its appeal to international talent. Over nine in ten expats and migrant workers no longer even consider coming to work in the country, according to research from last year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tech firms have raised major concerns over losing access to global talent. The chip equipment maker ASML \u2014\u00a0the largest company in the Netherlands \u2014 has threatened to move abroad because of the country\u2019s hardening stance on migrants.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Peter Wennink, ASML\u2019s former CEO \u2014\u00a0who will also speak at <\/span><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/41IbD3D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TNW Conference<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 recently warned against losing access to skilled workers. \u201cIf we cannot get those people here, we will get those people in Eastern Europe or in Asia or in the United States,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Still, Niknam believes the tide can turn. For change to come, he believes the \u201csilent majority\u201d \u2014 those who value openness and diversity \u2014 must speak up.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite its problems, Niknam remains upbeat about the future for tech businesses in the Netherlands.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe people are great. The schooling is great. The infrastructure is great,\u201d he says. \u201cIt is simply changing the attitude and mindset \u2014 which can happen in a relatively short amount of time \u2014 that will make all the difference.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><i>If you want to catch the talks by Niknam and Wennink \u2014 or anything else on the <\/i><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/4bJWrYp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><i>agenda<\/i><\/a><i>\u00a0for <\/i><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/41IbD3D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><i>TNW Conference<\/i><\/a><i>\u00a0\u2014 we have a special offer for you. Use the code TNWX<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">MEDIA<\/a>2025 at the checkout to get 30%\u00a0off <\/i><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/4hueZwX\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><i>your ticket<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/category\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" >Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/bunq-ceo-ali-niknam-warns-dutch-entrepreneurs-leaving\" target=\"_blank\" >Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ali Niknam has built Dutch fintech Bunq into one of Europe\u2019s biggest neobanks. But he fears the Netherlands is now driving entrepreneurs away. The Bunq founder and CEO is alarmed by the country\u2019s business mindset. He believes risk-aversion, growing insularity, and hostility to ambition are pushing talent overseas. \u201cMany of the best entrepreneurs I know&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":669613,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/tnw-blurple?filter_last=1&fit=1280%2C640&url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn0.tnwcdn.com%2Fwp-content%2Fblogs.dir%2F1%2Ffiles%2F2023%2F12%2F448077-Ali_BU21-6836b8-original-1666105179-e1702991112445.jpeg&signature=adb16339da121684ccf05d4980e23232","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-669612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=669612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669612\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/669613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=669612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=669612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=669612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}