{"id":80024,"date":"2017-08-11T09:37:18","date_gmt":"2017-08-11T07:37:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=80024"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:49","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:49","slug":"het-beste-idee-krijg-je-gewoon-in-de-kroeg-deel-2-magnet-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2017\/08\/11\/het-beste-idee-krijg-je-gewoon-in-de-kroeg-deel-2-magnet-me\/","title":{"rendered":"The best ideas from the pub \u2013 Part 2: Magnet.me"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSanne van der Most<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Vincent Karremans (30) knows what it\u2019s like to experience a Eureka moment. He did just that at the Timmer pub. It came after two or three beers. \u201cI cut short the conversation straightaway, raced back home, and sat there drafting a business plan for hours on a dinosaur of a laptop.\u201d<\/p>\n\t

\n\t\t

Company: Magnet.me (turnover not declared)<\/p>\n

Conceived by: Vincent Karremans<\/p>\n

At: Caf\u00e9 Timmer<\/p>\n

After: 2 or 3 beers<\/p>\n

Graduated yet? yes<\/p>\n\n\t<\/div>\n

Earlier in the evening the idea was merely to \u2018have a few drinks after studying\u2019. \u201cI was with about eight friends. A midweek evening, a Wednesday or Thursday, I think. In November. Yes, I remember that: it was cold.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thinking clearly<\/h3>

A mate suggested Caf\u00e9 Timmer \u2013 apparently the oldest pub along the Oude Binnenweg. \u201cGreat. I hadn\u2019t been there before. We were a large group, so inside we stood and chatted in small groups. It wasn\u2019t that busy. I was standing there, chatting with two friends, one of whom was my housemate at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The topic: job hunting. \u201cWe were master students, so on the lookout for work. We all experienced the same problem: only the large multinationals have stands at job fairs, and they don\u2019t appeal to everyone by far. You just don\u2019t get to see the small SMEs at those types of events. We didn\u2019t know what\u2019s out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

And then \u2013 out of nowhere \u2013 the idea came to Karremans: talent scouting over and above studying. \u201cNo music was playing in the pub, all you could hear was background chat. Nor was it particularly busy. I think that helped me think clearly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coffee and a place to sit<\/h3>

He conceived a platform where job seekers can post their competencies. These are automatically linked to companies looking for employees with just those talents. \u201cI really wanted to work it out straightaway, before anyone else stumbled across the idea. With the same enthusiasm I had when cycling to football as a kid.\u201d<\/p>\n

And, as of that moment, Karremans required just two things: \u201cCoffee and a place to sit. That\u2019s the great thing about a student company: you can come a cropper at no extra cost to yourself. Not getting anywhere? Fine, then you start job hunting. It\u2019s far easier to start something up when you don\u2019t yet have a family or mortgage.\u201d<\/p>\n

For that matter, this Rotterdam man born and bred \u2013 whose company meanwhile also covers the English market \u2013 never returned to the Timmer pub. \u201cToo busy. Yet it remains the place where Magnet.me was conceived. The setting was perfect. I\u2019ve no idea if I\u2019d have come up with the idea at a different pub.\u201d<\/p>\n

Curious about the night Coolblue was founded?<\/h2>