Mark Gitsels

“With a lot of ambition, enthusiasm and energy, Remco and I started 5square from scratch in 2004. I’m very proud of what we have achieved together with our team. Here, we have the opportunity to collaborate with inspiring people and I am free to organise my days however I like. 5square has now become a way of life for me.

My perfect day would be a sunny day that starts early with a run. After that, I feel energised and would spend a couple of hours sending emails and making phone calls. For the rest of the day, I would talk with entrepreneurs from both existing and potential new investments, discussing opportunities and challenges.

I would like people with groundbreaking ideas not to be held back in their creativity by bureaucracy and a lack of funding. This could make a major contribution to solving environmental problems, for example.

In the past, I have sometimes been seduced by a story that was too good to be true. Although the content was rationally correct, my gut feeling told me that something was wrong. All the same, I didn’t give that feeling enough space. These days, I take my feelings seriously. They’re a great tool that can save me from making wrong decisions.”