Originally from Belgium, Tom Dehouck studied Aerospace Engineering in Delft and stayed in the Netherlands for love. He now lives in Heemstede with his wife and three children. Although his interest in aviation is still strong (“I don’t live near Schiphol for nothing, and I always check what plane I’ll be flying on before a trip”), he went straight into the software world after graduating. He started as a consultant and later took on management and leadership roles at both large software companies (Unit4) and startups (TestGorilla). He will now bring this expertise to his role as Managing Director at Blinqx.
Your career so far has been software, software and software. Why this choice?
There’s no industry that changes faster than software. And along with it, the way you manage your organization, approach sales, and handle marketing evolves as well. I think that’s fascinating. A few years ago, it was the Cloud driving that change; now it’s AI developments. And soon, it will be something else entirely.
What appeals to me in this is change management through leadership: getting your people on board to stay ahead in the changes happening in the market. During my time in consultancy, I worked extensively with management teams and led transformations. After that, I took on management roles within software companies to do it myself.
The second thing that attracts me to this industry is the growth aspect, the revenue side of change: how do you position your product, what’s your go-to-market model, and how do you generate leads? I’ve done this before at Unit4 and TestGorilla – from setting up funnels to drive growth to developing strategies for sustained growth through sales, marketing, and positioning.
What role will you fulfill within Blinqx?
A number of specializations(Legal, Accountancy, Professional services) have been added at Blinqx in a short period of time. With that. growth into multiple sectors has come a need for more focus – to be able to direct all the parts within Blinqx in that growth. As Managing Director, I will help a number of companies in those segments do just that. I will be a sparring partner for Management Teams and their teams to continue to grow, and also connect the teams of the different clubs where necessary and useful to share knowledge. That connection between the companies is important, but in doing so I also want to continue to ensure authenticity.
What do you mean by that?
Blinqx is results-driven and ambitious, but it respects the entrepreneurs who join and what their teams have already achieved. Companies that become part of Blinqx should be able to continue their entrepreneurial journey after acquisition. Many IT companies struggle to maintain that as they grow. That balance at Blinqx is admirable, and I want to preserve it. However, I do believe we can achieve more together than individually. For example, collaborating in sales, learning from each other about how marketing works, or how a CRM is set up.
When companies are successful and continue to grow, they sometimes lose courage to do things differently – after all, what they are doing has brought success. You have to keep challenging that.
What is your priority during the initial period?
Blinqx is a fast-moving organization, the kind that prefers “today rather than tomorrow.” I admire that, but when you move at such a pace, you need to stay focused. To achieve that, we need a clear understanding of where the companies within the group can make a difference and establish clear agreements with one another.
Initially, then, I want to have a good understanding of what all segments and businesses are about. Above all, I will work with the teams to prioritize, focus and identify where we need help from each other or from outside sources.
You’ve helped grow large software parties and start-ups. What best practices do you bring to those teams?
I believe that, from startup to scale-up to corporate, you must always keep asking questions. You need to ensure you don’t start making assumptions. It’s essential to maintain that entrepreneurial spirit, stay critical, and challenge each other to see if it will still work in the future. When companies are successful and continue to grow, they sometimes lose the courage to do things differently—after all, what they’re doing has brought them success so far.
From my experience in the startup world, I’ve seen that this doesn’t require extensive analyses. You can apply that principle even in a larger setting. Not in every part of your organization, of course, but in sales and marketing, there’s still plenty of room to experiment. You need to keep looking outward and strive to be a frontrunner. But that’s easier said than done.
How do you think you can ensure that within Blinqx?
Blinqx’s focus on specific segments where the software truly makes a difference is a strong competitive advantage. Keeping the expertise of our segments and companies as close to the market as possible is something many of our clients, such as those in accountancy, increasingly value. I think it’s crucial to maintain that focus during further growth and avoid becoming a ‘plain vanilla’ all-round player, which could result in more limited market knowledge. Allowing these underlying businesses to stay close to their customers with their specialized expertise is where the growth lies, in my opinion. Accurately sensing what’s happening in the market and continuing to innovate—if we can keep mastering that, we can stay ahead of the game.
