TAGGRS's explosive success story

“We're not necessarily new or innovative, but we're making a complex product accessible to the entire market.” Jorjan Jorritsma, co-founder or TAGGERS, doesn't mince words when it comes to the success of his fast-growing company. Two years after launch, TAGGRS has more than 10,000 customers. An explosive growth that exceeds even the most optimistic visions of the future.

From skating rink to server-side tracking

For Jorjan, the route to entrepreneurship started in an unexpected place: the ice. “Niels and I know each other from professional skating. This resulted in a friendship and a business relationship.” Niels stopped skating a little earlier and, after obtaining his master's degree in marketing, started working at Ekwadraat, a sustainable consultancy firm in Leeuwarden. After his sports career, Jorjan took a completely different turn. “I moved to Rotterdam and started working at ABN AMRO. Then I left for Amsterdam.”

When corona hit and working from home became the norm, the two regularly sat at the table together. “When you sit together in the same room, get along well and both feel that entrepreneurial drive, things happen that you didn't expect beforehand.” That's how they started Flowhub together, an online marketing company focused on performance marketing. VideoFixers, a video marketing branch, followed later.

But it was the third branch, TAGGRS, that changed everything “We ran into a problem ourselves: there is less and less data available within ad accounts. Something that many companies experience due to browser restrictions and ad blockers.” TAGGRS offers the solution: “We're creating an intermediary that ensures that you have more data, makes the website faster and more compliant with the GDPR.”

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They simply generate extra turnover because of TAGGRS. You're much better at linking which marketing efforts lead to conversions.

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Accessibility as a unique selling point

TAGGRS was not the first in this market. “Google offers the same thing via Google Cloud, but it's about five times more expensive and technically complex. We've made server-side tracking accessible to the entire market.” It was a gap in the market waiting to be filled.

The first six months were crucial. “We investigated whether we really wanted to invest our time, energy and financial resources into this. We went live in April 2023.” The first customer was a small company that had a Facebook advertising account worth 150 euros per month with Flowhub. “That customer became our guinea pig. We put in a lot of hours to get everything to work properly.”

For all companies that are active online, TAGGRS offers valuable insight into the effectiveness of their marketing. “They simply generate extra turnover because of TAGGRS. You're much better at linking which marketing efforts lead to conversions.” Because browsers and privacy legislation are becoming increasingly strict, the relevance of TAGGRS is only growing. “GDPR legislation and hosting data in Europe are becoming increasingly important for customers.”

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The growth was so incredibly fast that we needed a different focus and approach.

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Explosive growth and associated pain

The TAGGRS story is one of scaling up at lightning speed. “What went smoothly at Flowhub exploded at TAGGERS. The growth was so incredibly fast that we needed a different focus and approach.” The original four founders - Jorjan, Niels, Niek and Steven - were quickly supplemented with more talent.

“We now have 25+ employees and have been in a new office opposite McDonald's in Heerenveen for just a week and a half.” Although that does not immediately emphasize a sporty appearance, the location is strategic. “It's one of the most beautiful places in Heerenveen, right at the exit.”

This rapid growth came with challenges. “We sometimes forget things, like registering an important domain name. Later, someone asked for a lot of money for that.” There were also technical obstacles. “We had DDoS attacks and had human errors in the software. Those are long nights.”

Jorjan has clearly grown as an entrepreneur. “I've learned not to let my emotions and concerns spread to other parts of the company. If there is a problem somewhere, we will solve it there. The rest continues. You have to stay the neutral link.”

Bootstrap to investment

The entrepreneurs fully bootstrapped TAGGRS from their own resources. “That works up to a certain point. With growth, we ran into limitations, especially for a complex product like ours.” At the beginning of 2024, TAGGRS raised 2.1 million euros from No Such Ventures.

“For us, that was the best route because there are several investors behind it who bring knowledge, experience, skills and relationships.” The appeal that TAGGRS had to investors was remarkable. “I had to reject several emails before we joined forces with NSV. That was really special, I didn't expect it to work like that.”

The investment money currently still mainly goes to scalability. “When the number of customers increases ten times, the software beeps and cracks on all sides. We have invested heavily in that. Now we can do that just fine.”

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Many startups are presenting great ideas and are already raising money with them. We started building and showing it. We keep our heads down and bang.

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The Northern Approach

Jorjan still lives in Amsterdam, but TAGGRS is rooted in Heerenveen. “I drive to the office twice a week and work from home the rest.” With colleagues spread across the Netherlands, and recently even a fully remote employee from Poland, TAGGRS is also growing internationally.

He sees a clear difference between doing business in the Northern Netherlands and in the Randstad. “In the North, we don't share anything until we've actually put it into practice. In the Randstad, it's much more: we've come up with something, this will be it or this will be it. And then they have absolutely nothing.”

The mentality that Jorjan developed as a skater is reflected in entrepreneurship every day. “Skating is about discipline and methodically working to improve. Every day. You look at data, make small adjustments and see the result. We brought that approach to TAGGRS. Just act normal and show it off. Many startups are presenting great ideas and are already raising money with them. We started building and showing it. We keep our heads down and bang.”

Europe as a playing field

Taggrs's ambitions extend beyond the Netherlands. “65% of our customers come from the Netherlands, 35% from abroad. 5% of them even come from outside Europe.” Germany is the largest foreign market and is therefore the logical next step for TAGGRS to focus more on.

“We are considering setting up a separate entity in Germany, with native German-speaking people and German legal conditions.” This is probably followed by the rest of Europe with such a focused approach.

“We see that the Nordic countries can be served very well with English. But countries like France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland and Germany seem to require a more country-oriented, original approach.”

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Think big, act small.

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Lessons for starting entrepreneurs

If Jorjan can give one piece of advice to starting entrepreneurs, it's thinking in terms of scalability. “In the early stages, make choices that make you think very big. Expecting hundreds of customers? Then immediately think of thousands of customers. That's difficult, especially with Northern sobriety.”

At the same time, you also need to be able to think small and act normally. “Otherwise, you're going to live in a delusional world where I've seen a lot of people who promise mountains of gold but don't deliver. Think big, but act small.”

A practical example? “We built our billing process ourselves and adapted it again and again for more customers. Had we immediately opted for a more robust external system, we would not have run into the same lamp three times during further scalability.”

It's the balance that every entrepreneur needs to find: dream big but act realistically. A lesson that, despite its rapid growth, TAGGRS still puts into practice every day. Again, the question is what tomorrow brings.

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