Why would a tech entrepreneur concern themselves with commercial real estate?
That question sits at the heart of RE-SEARCH's founding philosophy. The answer lies in understanding that the challenges facing entrepreneurs, across all industries, often converge in the same place: the decisions they make about where, how, and with what tools they operate their business.
Miquel van Dongen spent years building companies within the tech sector, navigating rapid growth, digital transformation, and the constant pressure to innovate. What he discovered was this: the quality of information available to entrepreneurs often determined the quality of their decisions. In tech, this meant access to data, platforms, and systems that revealed patterns others missed. In commercial real estate, he found something unexpected: an industry where many entrepreneurs still rely on intuition, traditional brokers, and incomplete information when making some of the most significant financial and operational decisions of their careers.
The Gap Between Theory and Practice
Most commercial real estate advice begins with models, frameworks, and generalised principles. There is value in that structure, but entrepreneurs know something traditional advisors sometimes miss: the real world operates differently from the theory.
When you are scaling a business, relocating operations, or planning for future growth, the question is rarely "What does the textbook say?" It is "What will actually work for my situation, given my constraints, my ambitions, and the uncertainties ahead?"
This gap between theory and practice is where entrepreneurial experience becomes invaluable. An advisor who has only studied commercial real estate from the outside looks at a property and sees square metres, location, and price. An advisor who has been an entrepreneur looks at the same property and asks: What does this mean for my team? Will this space scale with my growth? Am I investing in the right location for my market? What am I missing that could hurt me in three years?
Miquel's background in tech gave him that second lens. He has experienced the weight of operational decisions, the cost of poor planning, and the exponential impact that the right choice, in the right moment, can have on trajectory. That is the perspective he brings to RE-SEARCH.
Why Entrepreneurs Need More Than a Search Platform
Many first-time users of RE-SEARCH assume it is simply a portal for finding office space for rent in Amsterdam or warehouses elsewhere. The platform certainly does that. But that assumption misses the larger purpose.
Real estate decisions for entrepreneurs operate on multiple levels simultaneously. You are choosing a location, but you are also choosing an operational model. You are signing a lease, but you are also locking in costs for years ahead. You are selecting a building, but you are also selecting an environment that will shape your culture, your ability to attract talent, and your capacity to scale.
A traditional platform shows you listings. RE-SEARCH goes further. It provides data about markets, transparency about what properties actually cost, insight into neighbourhood economic trends, and practical knowledge from advisors who understand what it means to build something. That combination, technology, data, and entrepreneurial wisdom, is what transforms a simple search into an intelligent business decision.
Technology as an Enabler, Not an End
In the tech world, it is easy to fall into the trap of believing that better technology solves all problems. Miquel learned early that technology is only as valuable as the human wisdom guiding it. A brilliant algorithm applied to the wrong question yields brilliant rubbish.
Within RE-SEARCH, technology serves a specific purpose: to make information accessible, to reveal patterns that would otherwise remain hidden, and to reduce the friction between entrepreneurs and the real estate decisions they need to make. AI does not make the decision for you; it surfaces the information you actually need. Data does not replace instinct; it informs it. Digital platforms do not eliminate the need for conversation with someone who understands your business; they make those conversations faster and more productive.
This is why AI-powered commercial real estate search leads the PropTech revolution not because algorithms are smarter than people, but because they amplify what smart people can accomplish. Technology opens the door; experience and judgment close the deal.
The Power of Combined Experience
RE-SEARCH works because it brings two distinct worlds together. Colin van der Linden brings decades of commercial real estate expertise: the market knowledge, the relationship networks, the deep understanding of how properties, valuations, and agreements actually function in practice. He knows the industry from the inside; he speaks its language and understands its nuances.
Miquel brings the entrepreneurial perspective and technological mindset. He has felt the pressure of growth decisions. He has experienced the cost of poor information. He understands how systems scale, how data informs decisions, and how digital tools can transform otherwise chaotic processes into something manageable and intelligible.
Together, they address a gap that neither traditional real estate brokers nor generic tech platforms adequately fill. The broker knows property but often operates from a transactional mindset. The tech platform offers access but lacks contextual wisdom. RE-SEARCH combines both: the market knowledge to understand what is actually available and what it truly costs, and the entrepreneurial insight to help you understand what those choices mean for your business.
Built By Entrepreneurs, For Entrepreneurs
This is not marketing language. It is a fundamental philosophical difference in how RE-SEARCH approaches its work.
When you are an entrepreneur advising other entrepreneurs, you carry a different responsibility. You are not just answering the question asked; you are anticipating the questions that should have been asked. You are not just closing a transaction; you are helping someone avoid the pitfalls that experience has taught you to recognise.
An entrepreneur-advisor understands that real estate decisions exist within the broader context of business strategy. A programme of requirements for your office or business space is not just a checklist of features; it is a reflection of how you plan to grow, compete, and operate. When RE-SEARCH helps you build that programme, the guidance comes from someone who has asked those same questions in their own career and lived with the consequences of getting them right or wrong.
This is why ten key questions every entrepreneur must ask when choosing business space go deeper than surface-level property features. They cut to the operational, financial, and strategic considerations that actually determine success or regret.
Knowledge as a Shared Resource
In the entrepreneurial world, there is an unspoken rule: those who have succeeded carry some responsibility to help others navigate the path more intelligently. This principle guides RE-SEARCH's approach to knowledge-sharing.
The platform is filled with practical guides, market analyses, and transparent information precisely because Miquel and Colin believe that entrepreneurs deserve access to the kind of insight that typically remains confined to expensive consultants or industry insiders. Understanding what office space actually costs per square metre in the Netherlands should not require hiring an advisor; it should be available. Knowing the differences between flexible office versus a fixed lease should be straightforward, not obscured by sales language and complexity.
This commitment to transparency reflects a deeper belief: the best real estate outcomes occur when entrepreneurs make informed decisions, not when they are guided by incomplete information or persuasive salesmanship.
Scaling Wisdom Alongside Technology
One of the most compelling aspects of Miquel's transition from tech entrepreneur to real estate advisor is what it reveals about the nature of scaling businesses. In tech, scaling means building systems that maintain quality while increasing volume. The same principle applies to serving entrepreneurs in real estate.
RE-SEARCH uses technology to scale access: more people can find property listings, access market data, and understand their options. But it also scales wisdom. A single experienced advisor can only serve a limited number of clients directly. A knowledge platform built by experienced advisors can serve thousands, ensuring that the insights gained from decades of real estate experience benefit entrepreneurs everywhere, not just a privileged few with access to high-end brokerage services.
This is why RE-SEARCH invests in content, tools, and transparent information. Each article, each data visualisation, each explained process makes entrepreneurial real estate wisdom more accessible. A complete guide to renting office space democratises knowledge that previously remained scattered across brokerage firms and accumulated through expensive trial and error.
Beyond Transactions: Building Partnerships
The traditional real estate transaction model works like this: identify a property, negotiate a price, sign papers, and move on. The advisor's incentive aligns with completing the transaction, not with the long-term success of the business occupying the space.
RE-SEARCH operates from a different premise. The goal is not to close a deal quickly but to help entrepreneurs make decisions they will not regret. This shift in incentives changes everything. It means asking harder questions. It means sometimes recommending against a property that would be easy to place but wrong for the client. It means staying engaged with the outcome, not disappearing after the lease is signed.
This partnership model reflects entrepreneurial values. Entrepreneurs know that their success depends on the success of their partners. If RE-SEARCH helps you make a poor real estate decision, that failure becomes part of RE-SEARCH's history too. Alignment of incentives is not just good ethics; it is good business.
The Knowledge Hub Vision
Where is RE-SEARCH heading? The vision extends beyond becoming a larger property platform or capturing more transactions. The ambition is to become the knowledge hub that entrepreneurs instinctively turn to when they face real estate decisions.
This means expanding beyond listings to include deeper market intelligence, sector-specific guidance, and insights about how different locations and workspace models align with different business strategies. It means creating resources that help entrepreneurs understand not just where to locate but why location choices matter so profoundly to business outcomes.
It means building a community where entrepreneurs learn from each other's experiences, where market knowledge is shared openly, and where experience still makes the difference in commercial real estate decisions because experience informs every layer of the platform.
Why This Moment Matters
The commercial real estate market in the Netherlands and across Europe is undergoing significant change. Remote work has reshaped how businesses think about office space. Rising costs have made every square metre decision more consequential. Sustainability concerns and smart building technologies have added new complexity to what was once a relatively straightforward property selection.
In this environment, the old model, where entrepreneurs rely on broker relationships and limited information, breaks down. They need access to current data, diverse perspectives, and advice from people who understand both the market and the entrepreneurial challenges these decisions serve.
Miquel's shift from building tech companies to helping entrepreneurs navigate real estate decisions is not a career change; it is a recognition that the same entrepreneurial intelligence applies across domains. Wherever you are making significant decisions under uncertainty with incomplete information, entrepreneurial wisdom, combined with solid data and transparent tools, improves outcomes.
The Underlying Philosophy
At its core, RE-SEARCH rests on a simple but powerful belief: entrepreneurs understand business challenges in a way that outsiders cannot. An advisor who has never built something, scaled something, or faced the pressure of making decisions with incomplete information carries a fundamental disadvantage when serving entrepreneurs.
This is why the most valuable advisors, mentors, and partners are often other entrepreneurs. They have already navigated the terrain. They know where the pitfalls are. They understand the trade-offs because they have lived them.
Miquel brought this perspective to commercial real estate precisely because he recognised that entrepreneurs deserve advisors who understand not just property but also business: advisors who can translate between the language of real estate (square metres, triple net leases, yield) and the language of entrepreneurship (growth, flexibility, sustainability, culture).
Looking Forward
The journey from tech entrepreneur to real estate advisor may seem unconventional, but it reflects a clear logic: the best solutions emerge when knowledge from different domains combines with entrepreneurial insight applied to new challenges.
RE-SEARCH exists because Miquel recognised that entrepreneurs making commercial real estate decisions needed more than a better search platform or a slicker user interface. They needed access to honest, practical wisdom from advisors who had walked the entrepreneurial path themselves.
As the platform grows and evolves, this foundational principle will not change. Every new feature, every piece of content, every market analysis, every client conversation will be guided by a single question: Does this genuinely help entrepreneurs make better decisions?
That question is not rhetorical. It is the difference between a platform built to capture transactions and a knowledge hub built to serve entrepreneurs. It is why a tech entrepreneur chose to pivot toward real estate. And it is why RE-SEARCH will continue to work in service of a vision that extends far beyond property listings.
In the end, RE-SEARCH succeeds when entrepreneurs succeed: when they find the right space for their business, when they scale without outgrowing their real estate strategy, when they make decisions they feel confident about, and when they understand not just where they are but why that location matters to where they are going.
That is what happens when a platform is built by entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs.
