Interview Nederlandse Vereniging van Participatiemaatschappijen

Ask any VC what makes or breaks an investment and the answer is almost always the people. Almost none of us were taught how to find that out. A DD report, scan or tool gets you close, but it won’t give you the comfort that you really know them. That comes once you get to the questions that matter, the ones that come with a bit of tension.

That’s why our partner Tijl Hoefnagels trained as a coach at The MMS Worldwide Institute and as a mediator at Mediation & Trainingsinstituut MTI. He now brings all of that to VC professionals in the Management Due Diligence training at the Nederlandse Vereniging van Participatiemaatschappijen (NVP) Academy.

In the interview Tijl explains how he uses role play to let investors feel the difference a good question makes, why some questions are worth the discomfort, and how you get to the bottom of things without it turning into an interrogation. He also shares the book he recommends to anyone who has ever felt a team had so much more potential but couldn’t figure out what was holding them back. 👀

Curious how a conversation can be pivotal in due diligence? You can read the full (Dutch) interview here.