Now, 20 years later, Fundaments has grown into an established name in the cloud industry. Raoul and Jeroen, the founders of Fundaments, look back on some memorable moments and look ahead to the coming years.
Jeroen: “A lot has happened in 20 years, of course… We started with a carpooling site called JR Online, but we are now Fundaments, have over 40 employees, and are an established name in the world of clouds. One of my most memorable moments was when Larik-Jan went to one of our data centers in Amsterdam to wipe and re-image one of a client's two physical servers (a long time ago, indeed). Larik-Jan accidentally worked on the wrong server, and while he was doing so, the client called in a panic to say they had given us the wrong server number. So, the right server had been formatted after all… a happy accident!"
Raoul: “For me, it’s not one specific moment, but one word: together. It’s a continuous series of moments that have made the past 20 years very special. A move, a new colleague, a brand refresh, a fun Friday afternoon drink, or a staff outing. Every time, you realize how lucky we are to have such amazing (former) colleagues. Okay, there is one moment I’d like to look back on: I was in a sailboat with Jeroen in the middle of a lake, and we capsized… that moment was legendary. Jeroen hasn’t wanted to go sailing with me since.”
When we ask Raoul and Jeroen what they are most proud of, Raoul replies: “That we keep challenging each other to become better, more innovative, and more future-proof. There hasn’t been a moment where we thought we had arrived, because it’s a constant process of adjusting and setting a new course. I’m also very proud that we’ve been able to build a solid and reliable business that nearly 45 colleagues work on.” Jeroen answers: “That despite not realizing our initial idea (a carpooling site), we still built a business where over 40 people now work. Now that I say it… maybe it would be fun to launch that carpooling site after all.” Raoul and Jeroen also look forward to the coming years. Raoul: “We firmly believe in our new strategy: Fundaments, Expert in Clouds! This will allow us to further expand Fundaments in terms of both knowledge and expertise and develop new business together with our partners and clients.” Jeroen: “I hope to further perfect Fundaments’ services in the coming years and attract partners who can integrate our services into their own products.”
