Olivier Kappetein

Director of a software studio building custom products for Dutch businesses. Started freelance, managing three developers across a handful of client projects; now oversee every project and coordinate a team of 12+ developers worldwide.

• •Own the client portfolio end to end: webshops, SaaS products, AI agents and automations, and internal tooling
• •Coordinate a distributed engineering team of 12+ against client objectives and delivery deadlines
• •Source new business: around 60% of projects since becoming Director came in through me
• •Advise clients on the marketing and sales strategy around what we build, not just the build itself

An average client satisfaction score of 8.5, and an average of two months to go from raw idea to delivered MVP across a portfolio of 6 webshops, 4 SaaS products, 5 AI and automation engagements, and 3 internal software builds.

Co-founder of a venture studio building new propositions from scratch with founding partners. Responsibilities shift with whatever the venture needs: code, strategy, finance, sales, or support.

• •Develop new propositions and ventures alongside my co-founder and founding partners
• •Bootstrap products to market with little or no budget, using AI to cover roles a studio this size normally can't afford
• •Move between engineering, growth, and commercial work depending on which one is the bottleneck
• •Do everything each venture needs ourselves, from design to development to branding, with no external help or extra co-founders

A portfolio of five ventures (two active, one launching), including products that reached paying customers within days of first release.

Transformation consultant working with enterprise clients on product development, strategy, and organisational change, with a specialisation in AI adoption. Clients included ABN AMRO, KPN, Colgate, Centraal Beheer, Menzis, and Swiss Sense.

• •Led the AI workstream on a change programme diagnosing why staff weren't adopting new internal tools
• •Facilitated executive strategy sessions, including workshop design and running the room
• •Developed new products and services with clients, and guided the organisational change to support them
• •Facilitated 30+ sessions that ranged from strategy workshops, to AI training, and innovation coaching

Left clients with more than a report: new products, restructured ways of working, and teams that actually adopted what changed.

Voluntary advisor to the innovation department of the Dutch national police on AI and its application to innovation work.

• •Replaced the paper 'Innovation Sheet' with a digital tool that uses conversational AI to help officers articulate problems and ideas
• •Designed the tool to surface complementary ideas and store submissions so overlapping reports could be found later
• •Ran workshops for innovation leads across national teams on AI risks, realistic possibilities, and organisational adoption hurdles

Ideas from operational officers stopped disappearing into a pile of paper and became a searchable, reviewable body of input for the innovation department.

Growth marketer and innovator at an innovation consultancy, building propositions for clients across industries from sustainable construction to IT service management.

• •Ran CRM, cold outreach, content, analytics, and paid channels, keeping marketing aligned with sales
• •Built new ventures and propositions for clients, and internal ones for the agency, including its AI workshop offering and the FindYour recruitment platform
• •Co-created several AI tools, primarily within the OpenAI ecosystem
• •Advised clients, prospects, and colleagues on integrating AI into their processes and propositions

Became the internal reference point for applied AI, and shipped propositions that entered the agency's commercial offer. The role ended when the company filed for bankruptcy in July 2024.

Full-time support role across the agency's marketing operations and client project delivery.

• •Supported day-to-day marketing operations across channels
• •Assisted on client project delivery alongside consultants

Earned the step up into the growth marketer and innovator role within six months.

Freelance strategist advising businesses, some paid, some pro bono, on how to position and market themselves.

• •Developed marketing strategy and brand positioning for small businesses
• •Advised on online presence and community development

First direct client ownership: finding the work, scoping it, and being accountable for the result.

European representative for Huvster (formerly Verde Compacto), responsible for commercial operations across the EU while the company established its presence there.

• •Set up the company's European operations from the ground up
• •Managed relationships with partners and clients across the region
• •Covered marketing, strategy, sales, and project management as a team of one

Gave a non-European company a functioning EU commercial footprint, and gave me two years of owning every commercial function at once.

Outbound call agent, speaking to prospects directly and at volume.

• •Handled outbound calls, objection handling, and conversion at volume

The unglamorous foundation for everything commercial that followed: hearing 'no' several hundred times teaches you what a real objection sounds like.