What made the Startup Red je Pakketje so special for me?

Red je Pakketje (Dutch for “save your parcel”) was a logistics company based in Amsterdam, later in Arnhem. It specialised in same-day and next-evening delivery for webshops, with drop-offs between half past five and half past ten in the evening. Customers included large Dutch webshops such as Bol.com, and shoppers could follow their courier in real time. At its peak the company worked with hundreds of couriers.

The first version was simple. A shopper entered the address of a partner distribution centre at the checkout of any webshop. When the parcel arrived, the shopper got a WhatsApp or SMS message and booked a delivery slot with a courier, any day of the week, in the evening. The fee was 4.50 euros per order. We started in Amsterdam with three couriers and said we would expand to the larger Randstad cities if it worked.

The later version sold to webshops. Customers included Bol.com and shoppers could follow their courier in real time. The promise was never to wait at home for longer than half an hour. By 2021 the company counted 950 employees and about 19 million euros in yearly revenue.

What I learned the hard way and would do differently

  • Getting the right cofounders in place is the most crucial step. I sometimes got lucky, sometimes rushed the process. I would take much longer now then in 2015. 

  • From startup to successful exit with real value takes around 10 years. I was not in it from the start for such a long ride. I would only get into founding a company again when my heart is in it 100%. 

  • Founding a company, getting it to product-market fight does not need the same skills as scaling it. Back then, I had no clue about how to scale a company or how to talk to investors. 

What I would do again and again

  • I struggled with having all my neighbours parcels at home (like 20 at a time back in 2015). So I solved a real world problem for myself and so many others in the city. 

  • Cycling around Amsterdam with my bike, then car and later van taught me so much that I could use to train our first drivers. Delivering in an old town is a nightmare, lots of respect to all the drivers out there! I loved the challenge and struggle at the same time

  • The thrill of starting something, being featured in national television, having famous dutch news anchors take a selfie with you was exiciting! Having a partner and cofounder on your side that challenges your and celebrates along the way is what makes the journey fun and rewarding no matter the outcome. 

We were so proud when we were featured in big national Dutch news, little did we know what was coming

Deaper business learnings from setting up this startup

Scaling does not solve all issues magically

Demand was never Red je Pakketje’s problem. The cost of serving it was the hard part. One analysis of delivery economics puts the last mile at up to 75 percent of total supply chain cost in some cases, and cost per delivery falls with delivery density. A founder who builds a network business benefits from stress testing unit economics at every stage of growth.

I felt that early on but could not yet put it in words why. Optimism about your potential market penetration is not the same as holding on to something that cannot work reliably.

Deciding under uncertainty

The 2015 pilot was a cheap and reversible bet in one city. The national network that followed needed heavy investment in vehicles and sorting before volume arrived. The move. Sort every decision into reversible and one-way. Move fast on the first kind. Slow down and gather more proof on the second.

Decisions can be tough, build your personal board of advisors (trusted people for different areas of your business) ahead of time.

Who pays decides what you build

In 2015 the shopper paid 4.50 euros and had to remember a different delivery address at checkout. That asks a consumer to change behaviour and to pay for it. By 2019 the customers were webshops, which controlled the checkout and could offer a slot without asking the shopper to do anything unusual. If I started again, I would test willingness to pay with the party who controls the checkout from the first month, and I would count every extra step I ask of the buyer as a cost.

Business coach Amsterdam framework: lead yourself, lead your team, lead for change

I’m Miguel Baumann, a leadership coach in Amsterdam fPCC and CPCC certified. 7+ years coaching. 200+ clients. Most of my clients are startup CEOs, founders, and tech leaders across Amsterdam and the wider European tech world.

Before coaching, I built and sold startups. Then I led digital teams at Philips. Which means when you tell me about pricing pressure, or a co-founder situation getting weird, or your first hire not working out the way you imagined, I’m not pulling from a textbook. I’ve sat in your seat. And I’ve made the bad version of every decision you’re about to make.