Two technological shifts. One driving force.

For the second time, I am experiencing a technology fundamentally change our world. When I founded my first company in the 1990s, the internet and digitalisation were beginning to open up new possibilities for businesses and people.

Today artificial intelligence is bringing another profound shift. It is entering business and society, art and culture, changing how we work, learn and create.

It is not just the technology itself that interests me. I am interested in what people can make possible with it and how that can create real value.

Always looking for the next step

My first company emerged at a time when multimedia and the internet were new territory for many people. I was fascinated by the speed at which new possibilities appeared.

At the time my mother asked me: “Do you really want to work in a field where what you know today could be obsolete tomorrow?”

My answer was yes. The new and the opportunity to keep learning were exactly what attracted me. I called the company Next Level. To me, the name was an ambition: stay curious and find out what becomes possible next.

We developed digital applications, worked on early e-commerce projects and helped businesses from different sectors find their way online. An idea became a company with a team that brought together different skills and perspectives.

More than technology

Over the years it became increasingly clear to me that technology alone changes little. What matters is how it comes together with a business model, the people in an organisation and the needs of its customers.

I enjoy understanding these connections and bringing different skills together. Sometimes this calls for a fresh perspective on an existing business. Sometimes it leads to an idea for a new one.

What connections make possible

I am interested in how different abilities, thoughts and perspectives can create something shared. I see connections between things that may not seem related at first, and bring together people who might otherwise never meet.

Sometimes I see myself as a conductor: in an orchestra, everyone contributes their own skills. It is about listening, understanding the individual voices and bringing them together to create a shared work.

A term has emerged for this connecting role: The Glue.

Between a summit and the power of a breaking wave

The name Crest brings together images that have much to do with entrepreneurship for me.

There is the summit: a goal we want to reach. It represents the ambition to grow and strive for the best, to reach a high point and realise our potential.

There is the ridge: a path that can be narrow and calls for direction and careful decisions.

And then there is the crest of a wave. As a surfer and sailor, I know the power in its movement and how far it can carry you when you understand it and use it at the right moment.

For me, Crest describes the ambition to recognise possibilities, navigate change and move things forward together.

Ideas become companies

Over the years, this attitude has given rise to the Crest Group . Its companies work on different aspects of development and change.

Crest Digital connects business models, innovation and technology. Crest Academy helps people understand new things, navigate change and shape it actively. With Crest Ventures we develop new companies and ideas. Crest Equity supports succession and the further development of outstanding businesses, so that good entrepreneurial stories can continue.

What unites them, for me, is the question of how we recognise existing strengths and turn them into something fit for the future.

Curiosity remains

Entrepreneurship means taking responsibility and continuing to think ahead even when the answer is not yet clear. It calls for good decisions and a willingness to learn from difficult experiences.

I am interested in what lies beyond the obvious. Which possibilities have we not yet seen? Which people should be talking to one another? And what can we create together that makes a real difference?