Anton over 8 years of entrepreneurship. TeamValue's lessons learned and feedback loop

November 10, 2024

Anton Cnossen

Director & Owner

Table of contents

Who you gonna call?

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The highs and lows of 8 years in business

Starting with a low point? I absolutely hated starting out on my own! Xander joined me pretty quickly, and 8 years later, we’ve built a great group of people. I’m proud of that. Or "trotz," as we say in Zwolle. Zwolle is where our office is, and that’s where our connection lies through our sponsorship of PEC Zwolle. Other than that, our colleagues don’t live there, and our clients are located elsewhere (with a few exceptions). A funny story? When I went to register TeamValue at the Chamber of Commerce, I was told point-blank that I couldn’t call myself "TeamValue" if I was on my own. Talk about a buzzkill. Luckily, we fixed that quickly. You don’t do great things by yourself; you do them with a team. A team with plenty of diversity.

What I’m also super proud of is how we made it through the COVID era. We grew through the pain. How? By getting focused. On our proposition, our marketing, personal development, and the needs of our consultants and clients.

We’ve collected all the highlights from the past few years in our "dream cabinet." It stands prominently in our open-plan office, filled with gifts from (former) colleagues, clients, family, and our network—everyone who has helped us take a step forward. Whenever we’re celebrating or having a tough time, that’s the place to go.

The feedback loop and why "the eight" is so important for us and our clients

A breakthrough. That’s what we’re aiming for. And that’s what our clients are aiming for. Guided by our core values—challenge, ownership, change, value, and fun—as one big family. You don’t just stumble upon a breakthrough. We’re often told that what we do isn’t necessarily different, but how we do it is. I take that as a huge compliment. We owe that to our dedicated colleagues and our way of working. We build a business case where the value is immediately visible, follow our agile scrum process, and actively evaluate. Continuous learning is high on our agenda.

Predictable work is what you want as a (starting) entrepreneur, which is why we adopted the defense-based "eight" via our neighbors. Both internally and externally. Because anyone can work hard, but whether you’re doing the right things at the right time with the right people and resources? That’s a different question. We often get asked how we apply that ourselves and what our team days look like. This is how we collaborate, connect, and deliver value. It all sounds very serious, but luckily, the office has been filled with terrible jokes for 8 years now. And let’s keep it that way!

Why is that "eight" so important? A good partnership and relationship require trust. And trust creates a safe working environment, which gives you the guts to be bold. That has nothing to do with whether you work in IT or not.

Want to know more about the feedback loop? Read why it is the Golden Path for IT and the business or download our BizDevOps leaflet directly via Goldmine Downloads

A goal is a dream with a deadline – From the Netherlands to New York, everyone is getting to know the Golden Path

TeamValue is currently in the scale-up phase. Every phase an organization goes through brings its own challenges. After our 5-year anniversary we agreed it was time for the next phase. The Rockefeller strategy has helped us with that and still does. We make 'boring' strategy more fun, we apply gamification, and we make invisible results visible. Freedom and responsibility go hand in hand, so we make everything transparent.

The best-kept secret of a TeamValue colleague? That would be the Golden Path. Well, here's a sneak peek. In the coming years, we’re going to make sure it’s not much of a secret anymore. We want every organization to be able to walk the golden path. And to be able to do it themselves once we’ve moved on. Just imagine, everyone is 'working agile' these days. In 10 years—from the Netherlands to New York—we’ll all be using the Golden Path. IT will no longer be a 'black box,' and both the business and IT will work in the same way. The bridge we’re building will stretch from Zwolle all the way to the other side of the world. That’s our goal. Got a question about this way of working? Who are you gonna call? TeamValue!