In the fast-moving world of startups, it’s easy to focus on ideas, growth, and the hustle- sometimes forgetting the people behind it all. At Founders500, we’re proud to be part of a community of creative founders who are not only building businesses but shaping a more inclusive and supportive startup ecosystem. Our Founder Spotlight is designed to go beyond the pitch decks and products, giving you a chance to get to know the humans behind the ventures- their journeys, challenges, and perspectives. By sharing these stories, we aim to strengthen connections, spark new ideas, and remind every founder in our community that they’re not building alone. Read the mini interview below!
A bit about Willem:
Willem is the Startup Coach of the Year 2025 and the Startup Mentor of the Year 2023. He helps founders think, decide, and act when certainty disappears. With over 25 years of experience building businesses across manufacturing, online, and creative industries, he has helped individuals start profitable businesses from scratch, without external funding, in just five weeks. Willem is ranked as a Top 50 Global Thought Leader in Lean Startup and Careers by Thinkers360 and holds a Master’s degree from the University of Liverpool. His frameworks are not theory. They are field-tested in environments where there are no safety nets.
What do you do today- and what’s the story of how you got here?
I help people act when the plan stops working.
Most of us were taught to wait for clarity before we move. The trouble is the world keeps changing before the plan is even finished. So I teach entrepreneurial thinking, a practical skill that lets you make good decisions and keep moving when you do not have all the answers.
I learned it the hard way, over more than 26 years building businesses across manufacturing, online and the creative industries. Then I tested it where it is hardest, in the townships of South Africa, helping people with no money and no safety net build profitable businesses in five weeks, with no outside funding.
Now I bring that same work to founders, one on one. It is a nine-week programme that helps you reach your potential faster, with less cost, less risk and less wasted time. Build the thinking first, and the business follows.
What problem do you help solve, and why does it matter to you personally?
The problem I solve is hesitation.
Most people, founders included, are waiting. Waiting for clarity, for funding, for permission, for the perfect plan, for the right time. While they wait, the opportunity moves, the money runs down, and quietly they start to believe they are not the kind of person who can pull this off.
I see this when I work with entrepreneurs in Africa and Europe, and it does not matter at which level you come in. It is as if we have learned to see the obstacles in our way instead of looking for a way through.
I help people stop waiting and start acting before they feel ready. I help them see the potential they already have and turn it into something real, faster and with less risk than they thought possible.
And here is why it matters to me. The whole startup industrial complex is built around the business, the plan, the pitch, the funding, the model. Almost nobody works on the actual entrepreneur. So we pour money and years into programmes that polish the business and ignore the person who has to carry it, then wonder why so little of it sticks. The person is not the side note. The person is the whole thing.
What was the moment you knew you had to build this (even before you knew how?)
The day before South Africa went into lockdown, my son and I moved into our new home. I was freshly divorced, starting again.
Then the world shut. My entire speaking calendar was cancelled in a matter of days. I had one client left and a son looking to me to hold things steady.
I had a choice. Wait for it all to come back, or build something new with what was already in my hands. So I sat down and looked at what I actually had. Not what was gone, what was left. More than 25 years of experience and all the intellectual property I had built over a career.
And I asked a different question. Not how do I save my business, but what can I build with this. The answer became a way to create jobs in the country with the highest unemployment rate in the world. I did not know how I would do it yet. I just knew I had to.
What is the biggest lesson you learned in your first year of building?
Business is about relationships and conversations. Nothing moves until you talk to people.
In that first year I learned you can have the most perfect product in the world, and it means nothing if you are not talking to people. Listening to them, understanding what they actually need, and putting a solution in front of them.
Most founders get this the wrong way round. They hide behind the product and polish it, hoping it will sell itself. It will not. The work is in the conversation.
So learn to talk to strangers, often, every day. That one habit will take you further than any amount of planning.
What is a mistake you made that taught you something that you still use today?
I had a business that created passive income, and it took me a few hours a month to manage. I lost it all in 30 days. I realised it led to comfort and a rut of its own. If you stop adding value to the system, the system will eject you.
What is one decision or change that had the biggest impact on your growth?
I learned early in my life that entrepreneurship is 10% business and 90% personal development. I got myself a coach and some mentors because you need someone to question your thinking. Entrepreneurs are brilliant at selling bad ideas to themselves.
What is something people think is the reason you succeeded, but the real reason is different?
People think I succeed because of the great work that I do, but in actual fact, it’s the hard work of talking to people on a daily basis and throwing things at the wall until you find something that sticks.
When things get hard, what keeps you going?
My son. I am a single father, and everything I do is for my son.
What is one belief or mindset shift that made everything easier (or clearer)?
That there is never anything standing in your way. You need to be like water. Water always finds a way forward.
Is there anything or anyone who has inspired you that has shaped your journey?
I can’t remember who said this, but I think it is Jim Rohn, “If you don’t have your own life plan, chances are you will fall into someone else’s. Guess what they planned for you? Not much.”
What did you enjoy the most about the Founders500 event?
I loved how interactive and receptive the audience was. You can really see they want to build businesses.
What advice would you give someone who is one chapter behind you?
Stop building a business and start building a customer book.
Anything final to add?
Stop waiting and start today. Entrepreneurs love planning and making up ideas instead of just taking action. Stop thinking and start doing.
Thank you to all of our wonderful speakers for taking part in our Speaker Spotlight!
You can watch Willem’s session here.
Would you like to become a F500 Speaker? Apply here!