Thom Wernke

Finding a work space can be tough, but StartDock Coworking makes it easy. Founded by Thom Wernke, his desire was to create a coworking space that redefined the typical formal office to a more innovative space that fosters community.

Read on to learn more about Thom, his business, and his tips for aspiring entrepreneurs. 

Hustle Amsterdam (HA): Where are you from? And what brings you to Amsterdam? 

Thom Wernke (TW): I was born and raised in Leimuiden, The Netherlands. I came to Amsterdam for study purposes and have been living here for 8 years. I’m 28 years old.

HA: Tell me about your business? What is your mission? 

TW: My business is StartDock Coworking, and we have the mission to reinvent “the office.” 

Offices don’t have to be formal, expensive, dull, and uninspiring. We facilitate the growth of our tenants by bringing them together on triple A locations, in the most beautiful buildings, with the most inspiring people and events. We currently have three locations (two in Amsterdam, one in Rotterdam) with ~600 tenants, and we’re working toward a goal of 10,000 Dockers in 8 years.

HA: How are you handling our new “normal” due to the coronavirus outbreak? What impact has it had on your business? How has the transition to working remotely been for you? Are you being strict with a routine or taking it day-by-day?

TW: The new normal for my personal day-by-day working routine has never been much different from my previous normal. I luckily still went to one of our locations every day and we stayed open during the entire Corona-period, but of course the occupancy rate during the hardest Corona-hit was max 10% per building. Tenants stayed at home, we didn't do meetings and events anymore, we had no daily lunches in our locations, sales significantly decreased for a while, and everybody kept (and still keeps) 1,5 meters of distance. Luckily the good vibe is still going strong in our buildings! Now it seems like most of the Corona-impact belongs to the past, we are lucky to say that we have gone through this virus in a very good way and our company has proven to be strong enough to survive. We are looking forward again, which gives me renewed entrepreneurial energy!

HA: Why StartDock? What brought you to Coworking?

TW: 4.5 years ago I had an IT-company, Databazen, together with Johan, one of my co-founders of StartDock. We started having our “office” on the university campus, but soon customers asked us why we had our office there. We started thinking about the concept of “an office,” and everything about the traditional office did not particularly sound interesting to us.

We thought that in offices, people were formal and uninspiring and offices were expensive for a bunch of starting entrepreneurs. We thought everything affordable would not be in the heart of Amsterdam’s city center, so we were brainstorming about a solution. This solution was StartDock Coworking.

HA: What is the current state of StartDock? Do you have six and 12-month goals for your business? 

TW: Currently StartDock has three locations. The first is on Herengracht (Amsterdam), the second location is on Keizersgracht (Amsterdam) and the third location is on Westplein (Rotterdam). All locations are monumental-classical buildings and we currently run 3000m2 of Coworking Space. 

Until coronavirus, we had challenging goals, but since coronavirus, we are in survival mode. The word “growth” has not been pronounced since the outbreak of coronavirus. 

The full focus now is on surviving. Growth and goals will be reset when we see light at the end of the coronavirus tunnel.

HA: What kind of obstacles do you face in your company? How do you handle them?

TW: We’re all young entrepreneurs and our team is very young, which is great for the moral, but we sometimes lack experience. We try to work around this obstacle by having many advisors around us who can help us with their experience.

HA: What has been your most successful moment so far? And how do you celebrate your wins? 

TW: Opening our third location in a second city. Celebrating our wins is not something we’re good at, this has to be a focus to improve for 2020. 😉

“You sometimes have to fake it till you make it, and luck always plays a big role, but most of it is sweat, blood, and tears.”

HA: How have you accomplished what you have? Did you go to business school? Did you wing it? Fake it till you make it? Get really lucky? 

TW: I studied at VU University, Amsterdam. This is where I met Johan. Of course, you sometimes have to fake it till you make it, and luck always plays a big role, but most of it is sweat, blood, and tears.

HA: Did you fundraise for your business? If so, tell me about your experience.

TW: Yes. We have loans for every location. These loans are provided by wealthy individuals (ex-entrepreneurs & ex-C-level-managers). We chose to search for our investors per city, so we have Rotterdam-investors in our Rotterdam location, etc.

HA: How big is your team? And where are your team members located? 

TW: We have a team of 16 people spread over our three locations.

HA: Do you have a favorite motivational quote? 

TW: Als je doet wat je altijd deed, krijg je wat je altijd kreeg. (If you do what you always did, you get what you always got).

HA: What 3 tips would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs? What do you wish you had known before you started? 

TW: Tip one is to start your business in a hub of entrepreneurs (like a coworking space, incubator or accelerator), to speed up your knowledge, network, and expertise. This really helps you to speed up your growth. 

Tip two is to gather people around you that fill up your blind spots, this can for instance be colleagues, investors, or advisors. 

Tip three is to never give up and try to fail as much as possible. The more mistakes you make in the early stages of your entrepreneurship, the farther you’ll get.

HA: How would you describe your working style? 

TW: Energetic, ambitious, and thriving for the best.

HA: When you’re not working on StartDock — where can we find you? 

TW: In the gym, in a bar or in my houseboat in Amsterdam.

HA: How do you find work-life balance while being an entrepreneur? 

TW: I sport a lot (tennis, fitness, running). I read a lot, I hang out with my friends from back home, and I often go to a spa.

HA: What is your passion? 

TW: The major entrepreneurial puzzle, with all of its adventure, challenges, and struggles, that is called StartDock Coworking.

HA: What inspires you most about Amsterdam? Do you have any favorite spots to work or hang out? 

TW: The beauty of the canals. I live in a houseboat on a canal and our two locations in Amsterdam are both canal buildings in the heart of the city center. My favourite spots to hang out (to go to for a drink 😉) are the area ‘De Pijp’ and Café Hans. 

HA: Anything else you’d like to add?

TW: If you’re an entrepreneur and you’re willing to grow, make sure to send me a message and you can come and have a free coworking day in either of our locations.

Connect with Thom on LinkedIn here.