The First Right Answer

Alex Vermeule is an independent professional, working freelance as an internet strategist, interim-manager, consultant and coach. You can hire Alex to manage your online business, teams and results. Please refer to the services page on this site for more information.

Alex is also editor in chief of Alexve.com, a site dedicated to innovation, change and technology wonders on the web. He writes several blog postings a month and loves to discuss them with readers. Overall, Alexve.com is a way to share his knowledge and online experiences.

Prior to starting his own business in 2007, he was employed by Microsoft where he worked as a People Manager, Resource Manager, Team Manager and in several technical positions. During his time at Microsoft he received several awards and was part of the Microsoft internal high potential program called Talent XP.

He is Dutch, born in 1976 and lives together with his girlfriend Linda in Haarlem, the Netherlands.

The Second Right Answer

At the age of five, my dad introduced me to the wonderful world of computers with his ZX81 and Apple II+. Computers and technology have played a central role in my life since. Reading a book on Neuro-Linguistic Programming at the age of 12 sparked a passion for personal development and continuous self-improvement.

Early 1993, I got hooked to the Internet via the University of Amsterdam (UvA) while hunting down new software for my Atari Falcon 030. As the http protocol had not been widely adopted yet, I mainly used FTP to ‘surf’ (read: download software) and it was extremely cool being one of the frontrunner actually using the Net.

Beginning 1995, I dropped out of school and started my own company Netpresence Nederland with two of my friends. It was a company specializing in creating online presence (web pages) for any business that wanted to embrace the Internet. At that time Netscape 0.9 ruled the planet and Internet Explorer had not even seen the light of day… I remember when IE 1.0 was launched and it introduced animated GIF files…we were blown away as we were finally able to create ‘dynamic web pages’. Awesome to see how technology has evolved over the years.

In 1997, I got employed by Microsoft in the Netherlands where I started working in the technical support team for Microsoft FrontPage. I was the youngest engineer to achieve the MCSE certification status, which boosted my career significantly. It also helped me to join the server support teams, where I supported server products such as Microsoft Internet Information Server, Site Server, Terminal Server, etc. In the second quarter of 2000, I joined the Microsoft TV team in Amsterdam which proved to be a great place to pioneer and getting the first Web TV solution rolled out in the Netherlands. I remember working 20 hours a day sometimes however the team managed to successfully launch the planned pilot. It was also wonderful to regularly visit MSTV Headquarters in sunny Silicon Valley (Mountain View, CA) and the whole Bay area for that matter. I would go back there any time and would love to hear from you if you have an opportunity to work together! From 2002 till 2007 I managed several teams and business units for Microsoft’s Services organizations. This included support and consultancy teams, ranging from 10 to 25 people. By the end of 2007 I decide it was time for a real change and started my own company again. Team vNext was born!

On a Personal Note

 Along the way, I have picked up several lessons from a variety of experiences. When I grew up, I learned to think in solutions instead of problems (I am a great fan of Edward de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats). During my time in support, I learned that customer focus is putting your customer in the centre of what you do. During my time at MSTV, I learned that sometimes it is best to say something by having others tell your story. I also learned that perfection comes at a price when I rebuild my house from scratch in 2003… (it took 2 years, also ending the relationship with my girlfriend at that time in the process). My greatest lesson as a manager can be best summarized as: if there is something you can fix, don’t worry about it and if it is something you can’t fix, don’t worry about it! After starting my second business I realized again that following your heart and doing what you love most will give you tremendous satisfaction in live…  

If I have a motto or a mantra that I have been acting on for the past years, it would be

The future is here, it’s just not widely distributed yet

I often find myself wondering how things can be improved or changed for the better. Whether it is in business or personal life, that strategy informs a lot of what I do!

My friends call me an innovation addict, an early adopter and a geek while my girlfriend simply calls me a nerd <grin>. I like to engage in social activities, such as playing squash, watching a good IMAX movie, going to the theatre and enjoying great restaurants with my friends.

Let’s stay in touch

I hope this page has given you a good glimpse of who I am and has satisfied your curiosity a bit. I would be honored if you would use the free subscription methods to stay updated on what’s happening on Alexve.com. Also feel free to connect with me via Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook or any of your favorite social network sites. If you would like to contact me or if you are interested in working with me, please use the contact page.

Thanks very much for reading!