About me

Let me properly introduce myself: I’m Jan, 32 years old, Dutch and living with my girlfriend and our cat in a small town in the northern part of the Netherlands.

Hobbies

I love sports like cycling, skiing and fitness, reading sci fi and thrillers, traveling the world, playing (board) games with friends such as Risk, Wingspan, Anno 1800, Battlefield and Civilization VI, and occasionally drumming on my dusty drum kit.

1 - Education

After finishing secondary school at 17, I went to the University of Applied Sciences to study “Human Technology”. This program was mainly focused on research skills and bridging the gap between human psychology and modern technology like websites, interfaces and other digital products. This is where my interest in technology really started.

After I got my bachelor’s degree, I was 21 and not at all interested in getting a job already. I enjoyed student life way too much to abandon it just yet. So I decided to start an MBA (Master in Business Administration) with a specialization in Strategic Innovation Management.

Especially the first year was really challenging, as I had to switch from an applied sciences mentality (practical mindset) to a university mentality (theoretical mindset). On top of that, I had to learn advanced maths and statistics, which before then really were not my strong suit.

I had to push hard but managed to get through the first year and could take my foot off the gas a little bit in my second year. After I finished my MBA, I was ready to start working. Time for a short summary of my professional career so far.

2 - My career

After I finished school, I ended up in the technology sector, which had already interested me for quite a long time. I started at a major consulting firm where I worked for 5 years before switching to a much smaller tech consulting firm.

All in all, I have been working as an IT consultant for the past 10 years (and still do). That means companies hire me for a certain duration and, after successfully helping them out, I move on to the next project.

A quick timeline of the different roles I have had so far since starting my career:

• 2016: Software tester
• 2017: Functional application manager
• 2018 to 2021: Business analyst
• 2022 to 2023: Information analyst and Scrum Master
• 2024: IT Product Owner
• 2024 to today: IT management consultant and IT team coach

Working in the tech sector as a consultant gives me the opportunity to see tech companies and their technology stacks up close. Which is awesome because I’m very much a tech nerd and fascinated by anything tech related. The beauty of my profession is that I get to watch trends unfold right in front of my eyes on a daily basis.

3 - My investment journey

As to my investment journey: that started back in 2016. First passively (with ETFs), then slowly transitioning to an actively managed portfolio. In 2019, I shifted toward individual stocks, and by early 2023, I fully focused on tech. It’s been a bumpy ride with a lot of mistakes but I’ve really found my groove now with an investing style that fits like a glove.

I would summarize my style as passive aggressive: the passive part is that I like to let my winners run, resulting in a number of multi baggers so far. The aggressive part is due to the type of stocks I typically invest in: high growth tech businesses early on in their life cycles. I also have a semi concentrated portfolio with around 10 to 12 positions, including cash.

Since 2023, my portfolio has returned 202% (or 227% currency adjusted) vs 73% for the S&P 500, outperforming the benchmark with 129%. Because I live in the EU, the weak dollar is somewhat of a headwind lately. Anyhow, the past years were obviously strong years for the market as well but nonetheless, I’m very pleased with the results so far.

4 - Investing visuals - This is my story

So how did Investing Visuals come to life? For that, we head back to 2023. It all started with frustration. Frustration about the wall of complexity in the world of investing, frustration about all the jargon, the hard to understand reports and clutter. The bla bla and fuzz clouding what really matters.

I am a visual learner and when I started investing, I had a hard time finding creators who actually visualised the world of investing in a way I could understand it in the blink of an eye, because an image can be so much more powerful than a thousand words.

So at some point (2023 to be precise) I figured: if no one else does it, I will just do it myself. I combined two of my greatest passions: graphic design and investing. I have been creating graphic designs for over a decade now. First as a hobby and at a later stage I integrated it in many parts of my professional career. What I love most about designing is the creative challenge.

It is not just about designing something, it is about getting to the very essence of what I try to convey. To make it easy to understand, visually appealing and focused on what really matters.

5 - My mission

I started to post my first visual about 2.5 years ago with no clear goal in mind other than helping fellow investors navigate the world of investing. And that mission has not changed.

When I take a step back, I find it mind blowing where it got me today. I have met so many great people and learned so much along the way, which I am very grateful for.

Over time, my total follower base grew to nearly 180,000 across X, Instagram and Threads. Up until this year, I did everything alongside my full time job which became increasingly difficult as Investing Visuals grew larger.

I spend about 15 to 20 hours per week creating the best content I can, going through comments, engaging with fellow investors, but there is just so much I can do in the evenings and weekends.

As a result I agreed with my employer to scale back my current job to 27 hours a week for the duration of 6 months. It's a try out period to see if there is a path to do this as a living and to experience if it is something I would like to strive for.

This step allowed me to build this next chapter: a dedicated Investing Visuals platform. With deep dives, tech write-ups, portfolio updates, timeless investment content and of course a library of my best visuals. I am very excited to build from here, this journey is far from over.

Thank you for being part of this!

Love,
Jan