Couples join forces and launch four startups together

Healthcare needs innovation

Where Saskia worked for years in management teams at major players in the medical imaging industry, Ton went from American startups to setting up development departments in India and China around the world. They found each other, first as colleagues and later as entrepreneurs, in the medical industry. Saskia: “We've been married for six years now and have been doing business together for eight years. Our goal is to bring innovations in healthcare to the market, but that often takes years because there is a lot involved. After all, scientists invent everything, but they often miss out on the commercial side, you also have to look for funding and there are high quality standards for medical innovations. We always say it's a lot easier to bring ping-pong balls to the market.”

One in five startups survives

It started in Groningen with a spin-off from the University of Munich and the University of Groningen. In doing so, they developed a technique to make cancer tissue visible during surgery. They finally sold the startup to an Italian party in 2017 and left it completely behind in 2019. “Then it became too bureaucratic and I thought I had to go back into the startup world,” explains Ton.

It reflects their entrepreneurial philosophy: “The idea is that we set up something from scratch and then find good people to take over.” This resulted in a seat at the helm of currently four startups. “We had even more in the beginning, because you read everywhere that out of five startups, only one remains, so I thought we should spread the risk a bit.”

Doing business as spouses

“The lines are really not getting any shorter,” Saskia laughs. “I really see it as an advantage, we're complementary; Ton can do what I can't do and vice versa. He is the real entrepreneur of the two of us, is involved in networking, raising funding and is really into taking risks. Something that also belongs to an entrepreneur, I think. I sometimes slow it down, or no, rather; I ensure balance and my strength lies in strategy and execution. And above all, keep up the pace. You can still have so many good ideas, if you don't implement anything, you won't get anywhere. In addition, of course, we live on funding; government money, subsidies, but also investors. That means that maintaining speed is very important and that requires a lot of executive power in your organization.”

“But what are the same for us is our vision and passion,” adds Ton. “I once spent six weeks out of the medical industry (back into automation) and didn't know how fast to run back. The only danger is that it's easy to keep working all the time, which is why we block at least one night a week. Although we're also really happy to work a lot.”

Alleviating patient suffering from Heerenveen

Ton was once in the hospital with a bacterial infection himself. “When you see what kind of misery some technologies can prevent, this is the best thing you can do as an entrepreneur.” So with their startups, this is exactly what they're working on, Saskia explains: “With Sabiad, we can detect very early whether Staphylococcus aureus can get to hip and knee implants, with Flowview Diagnostics, we work with twelve people towards the first phase of our product, and at AtMoves, we work with the AMC for clinical trials.”

“And we do that in a strong connection with the Northern ecosystem,” adds Ton. “For example, NOM is one of the largest investors in Flowview and Pharma Connect Capital in Sabiad. But there are also Northern advantages in finding employees. For example, finding biometric scientists, business developers or engineers has never been a problem.”

Twenty years ago, we couldn't have done this

For Saskia and Ton, doing business as spouses does not mean that everything is decided in private. Saskia: “It's still at the cutting edge. That means that we just talk to each other when something doesn't work and we keep challenging each other. Although I don't know if I could have worked in this way twenty years ago. It is important that you do not compete too much and trust in the things that the other person is good at. So taking a step back and not interfering in everything, you must have learned that in your life.”

“This is also due to the fact that ambition is now being implemented in a different way,” says Ton. “When I was young I wanted to do everything, when I got a little older I wanted to do more and now I'm into more; I still want to do a lot of things, but in the right way. With a balance between what you put into it, but also the trust you give other people in your startup. With our experience and knowledge, that sometimes means doing our thing more in the background. That is possible with the right people, and luckily we have become better and better at finding these people. So; better assessment at the competency level instead of just relying on a good click.”

That they come to us for advice is the dream

If you start early at one of Saskia and Ton's startups, you get shares. Saskia: “It fits with the transparency that we find very important. We're still not sharing what everyone earns, but we do want to show young people who come in here exactly what it takes to have their own startup. We hope that they will eventually set up their own company, and then the dream is that they come to us again from time to time for advice.”