The Sharefunding Arena is for every entrepreneur who wants to grow and succeed. For the entrepreneur who is the misfit, the crazy one, the man or woman in the arena. Growing requires more. It requires courage. It requires choices. And not to forget, funding, to make your ideas come true.
In The Sharefunding Arena we investigate how you as an entrepreneur make growth possible. No superficial conversations, but sharp insights from entrepreneurs and experts.
Episodes
- #1: the rules of growth, community and capital with Oscar Kneppers - In this episode, Gijs Dalen Meurs talks to Oscar Kneppers. Once editor-in-chief of MacWorld, he founded Emerce, Bright and startup accelerator Rockstart in the past decades. In all cases, he used curiosity as his compass and the audience as co-architect. That makes his lessons very relevant for entrepreneurs who not only want to attract money, but especially allies.
- Coming soon!
Achtergrond & Podcast Intro
115 years ago, Theodore Roosevelt gave a speech that became famous for one paragraph and thus became known as the man in the arena. Google it and you will find the quote or check-out the Wikipedia page. Here is my free translation in 2025.
It is not about the people on the sidelines. Not about the critics, the complainers, or the people who know exactly how you should have done it differently or better – but do nothing themselves. The real honor belongs to you, the one who dares and keeps going.
You who stand in the middle of the arena, with the sweat on your brow and the sleepless nights of work and fear. Who fails, falls, gets up again and keeps going. Not because it is easy, but because it matters. Maybe you will win. Maybe you will not. But at least you fought. With heart, with passion, with everything you have. And even when you lose, you do so with your head held high – because you tried. Better to fail in trying than to remain safe on the sidelines. Because that is where – in that arena – it happens. That is where we grow. That's where we make a difference.
Every day, the entrepreneur is busy with his or her passion and especially with the acute SME challenges and problems to solve. Funding & financing your growth is always, in every phase, the biggest challenge. How do you do that, stand your ground in The Sharefunding Arena?
To finance your growth, preparation, connection and moments of fire and celebration are necessary. The ultimate way to do that is by strengthening your own assets. Because only then are there other possibilities to grow, finance and connect.
We discuss what is involved.
The Sharefunding Arena is there for every entrepreneur who wants to grow. In 30-40 minutes, we dive into a specific theme or the entrepreneur's story per episode. No superficial conversations, but sharp insights from entrepreneurs and experts.