🚀 Meet the DLAB team: Daan van Rijn

 

Daan brings energy. A lot of it. 🔋

 

He’s usually the one cracking a joke at slightly the wrong moment, organizing something on the side, or suggesting “why not just try it?” when an idea is still half-formed. Sporty, social and always up for a conversation, he moves easily between a serious brainstorm and a bit of chaos, preferably both.

 

Daan is currently pursuing his MSc in Entrepreneurship and has experience in marketing and editorial work at both scale-ups and corporates. Outside university, he organizes unique events in Amsterdam and is building a venture of his own, CLIQE. Check it out:  https://cliqeamsterdam.com/ or follow them on Instagram: @cliqeamsterdam

 

🇪🇸 Spain is his second home. He lived there, fell in love with the culture, the people and the rhythm of cities like Cádiz. He'll gladly talk to you in Spanish, defend reggeaton as serious music, and yes - when flamenco by Camarón de la Isla comes on, emotions might be involved..

 

Watching tennis keeps him competitive. His new job keeps him curious. 

 

Daan focuses on community, storytelling and visibility. That means highlighting founders, interviewing entrepreneurs, supporting events and showing what’s actually happening inside DLAB and VU StartHub. His goal is simple: make entrepreneurship on campus feel visible, accessible and alive. If you’re building something, or thinking about it, he’ll probably ask you about it.

Because ecosystems matter, according to him. Daan wants to build ventures himself in the future, and believes the best way to learn is by being in the middle of people who are already doing it. But beyond personal ambition, he cares about creating an environment where starting feels normal. 🚀

More visibility and more approachability. "I’d love for students to walk past DLAB and think: Maybe I could start something too. Sometimes people think entrepreneurship is only for 'certain types.' It’s not. It starts with curiosity. Especially DLAB is the perfect place where you can walk in with curiosity and walk out with momentum". 

 

"I once spent an entire week preparing for a presentation in Spanish while studying in Barcelona. I practiced everything — timing, pronunciation and even jokes. I walked into class, confidently started presenting… and about ten minutes in someone interrupted me to tell me I was in the wrong course. It turned out they were also doing presentations that day, which is why no one stopped me immediately.

 

Oh yes, another time when I worked at theater Carré I was once assisting guests during a performance — including helping with wheelchair access. During a completely silent moment in the show, I slightly underestimated a ramp. Let’s just say gravity did its thing and the entire audience suddenly became very aware of his existence". Nice 🥲

 

"That I’m easy to talk to and good at bringing people together". 

 

If you see Daan around campus, feel free to stop him for a chat — about your startup idea, an event concept, tennis, Spain, Amsterdam or just to test his knowledge about entrepreneurship.