Entrepreneur · Ambassador · Connector · Thinking partner
I connect people, ideas and opportunities.
I bring my experience, network and curiosity to help people and businesses move forward in the Brainport region and beyond.
Christ van den Akker. My own words, on my own portrait.
What I do
Four roles. One aim: movement.
I don’t sell a method or a programme. I bring people, ideas and opportunities together, in whichever role is most useful at the time.
When I believe in something, I get behind it.
Sometimes a business doesn’t need another adviser. I can help by understanding its story, opening doors and bringing the right people together.
How it often starts A conversation about what you’re building, and why I should believe in it too.
Let’s talk about thisSometimes an opportunity starts with one introduction.
I love that moment when I think: you two should really have a chat.
How it often starts Tell me what you’re looking for. Often, a name comes to mind over a single coffee.
Let’s talk about thisOne entrepreneur to another.
Sometimes you don’t need an adviser. Just a conversation. I’ve run businesses, made decisions, made mistakes and taken chances too.
How it often starts An open conversation. No intake, no programme: just seeing if we click.
Let’s talk about thisCurious about what tomorrow might bring.
The question is always: what can entrepreneurs do with them? I share what I see, bring ideas together and help teams look beyond the next step.
How it often starts A question you don’t yet have an answer to. That’s exactly where we begin.
Let’s talk about this
What I do varies. The heart of it stays the same: getting things moving.
Brainport Eindhoven
The shortest route to innovation sometimes runs across the street.
“I love that moment when I think: you two should really have a chat.”
An entrepreneur thinking about growth.Someone who’s done this before.
The knowledge a business is looking for,at a supplier that solved the same problem before.
An established business.A start-up with exactly the technology it is missing.
A technique from healthcarein logistics.
A business model from softwarein manufacturing.
1 / 5
Connections from my pieces on being close by, introductions and new ideas. Read “The power of being close by”
What it rests on
Where I make a difference.
Not a list of services or a set method. Six things I keep seeing work, often coming together in one good conversation.
- 01
AI
Turning new technology into opportunities that are relevant to entrepreneurs.
- 02
Connecting
Bringing the right people together can deliver more than a hundred pieces of advice.
- 03
Brainstorming
Combining ideas until a possibility emerges that was not there before.
- 04
Communicating
Making a story clear, and getting people moved enough to come along.
- 05
Ambassador
Putting my name, energy and network behind companies I believe in.
- 06
Sparring
Looking at a question together from a different angle, before a decision is made.
AI & the future
Curious about what tomorrow might bring.
I’m interested in AI for more than the technology. What I really want to know is: what can entrepreneurs do with it?
- 01
Where can AI give us time back?
I look for work nobody would miss if it disappeared.
- 02
What becomes possible now?
I’m curious about services and ways of earning that used to cost too much.
- 03
Where is it mostly noise?
I don’t think every new tool needs a place.
Write down three questions before looking at a single tool. Read “AI starts with a question, not the technology.”
About Christ
An entrepreneur. Still curious.
I’ve built businesses, grown, doubted and kept going. The people always gave me the most energy, especially those moments when the right two people found each other.
I now put that experience to use for others. Not as an adviser with a method, but as someone who thinks alongside you, opens doors and stays curious about what tomorrow might bring.
More about meBuild it.
The beginning
The first company of my own. Learning that a good idea is only worth something once someone says yes to it.
Building
A team, customers, setbacks. Discovering that running a business is mostly about people.
Growing
New markets and partners. The network becomes just as important as the product.
Loved it.
Letting go
Handing over responsibility and making room for what comes next.
Time for more.
Now
Putting experience, network and curiosity to work for entrepreneurs I believe in.
Experience matters when I can use it to help others.
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AI starts with a question, not the technology.
Almost every conversation about AI starts with a tool. The interesting ones start elsewhere: what do you actually want to improve?
Read more -
Why one good introduction is worth more than a hundred pieces of advice.
Advice tells you what you could do. An introduction puts you at the table with someone who's already done it.
Read more -
Running a business means deciding without all the information.
Waiting for certainty feels sensible. But I made my best decisions when I didn't quite know yet.
Read more
Let’s meet
Perhaps we should have a chat.
Have a business, an idea or a challenge you think I could help with? Or would you simply like to exchange thoughts? I’d love to hear from you.
The napkin is with Christ.
Your e-mail app opens with your message. Prefer another way?
- Emailchrist@christvandenakker.nl
- LinkedInChrist van den Akker
- WhatsApp06 54 90 07 47
- MeetingBook a coffee
- RegionBrainport region