I got to know Eckart because we both invested in the same company ( http://www.infocaster.net/ ) and one day after a shareholder meeting we decided to have a follow up with just him, my business partner Joyce and myself.
Eckart outlined his vision about the things he wanted to do now that he had a 'full toolbox' and lots of time and we saw eye to eye on so many subjects that it got me thinking.
After leaving with Joyce we went for dinner near Zeist where he had his offices and I told her that I was totally stunned by how our ideas dovetailed, only that Eckart actually had the tools to realize his vision.
It's very hard to translate the kind of feeling Eckart radiated but think of it as total focus on improving the world. This very much shows in his various investments, for instance Greenwheels, several medical start-ups, a school and so on, as well as the people that he surrounded himself with (average < half his age).
One thing led to another, we had a brief phone call where I told him I'd be happy to shut down my own stuff and work for him even if it meant a significant reduction in income on my side, he said let's talk in two weeks (after he had gone to France and returned). The next time I saw him it was wadded up in burlap bags (ecologically sound) for his funeral... :(
I'm meeting with Sander (the guy who runs infocaster) later today, not a March passes that we don't think about it. My birthday is the 20th, Sanders is on the 21st and I'm quite sure that in both cases we're thinking more about what could have been than our birthdays.
It's a real pity, genuinely nice people are few and far between, I think Eckart was special in many ways and compared to your average winner takes-all entrepreneur he was a proverbial (and physical) giant.
All this will sound like fawning adoration to those that haven't actually met the man, to those that did it will sound like I'm probably not giving him enough credit.
I got to know Eckart because we both invested in the same company ( http://www.infocaster.net/ ) and one day after a shareholder meeting we decided to have a follow up with just him, my business partner Joyce and myself.
Eckart outlined his vision about the things he wanted to do now that he had a 'full toolbox' and lots of time and we saw eye to eye on so many subjects that it got me thinking.
After leaving with Joyce we went for dinner near Zeist where he had his offices and I told her that I was totally stunned by how our ideas dovetailed, only that Eckart actually had the tools to realize his vision.
It's very hard to translate the kind of feeling Eckart radiated but think of it as total focus on improving the world. This very much shows in his various investments, for instance Greenwheels, several medical start-ups, a school and so on, as well as the people that he surrounded himself with (average < half his age).
One thing led to another, we had a brief phone call where I told him I'd be happy to shut down my own stuff and work for him even if it meant a significant reduction in income on my side, he said let's talk in two weeks (after he had gone to France and returned). The next time I saw him it was wadded up in burlap bags (ecologically sound) for his funeral... :(
I'm meeting with Sander (the guy who runs infocaster) later today, not a March passes that we don't think about it. My birthday is the 20th, Sanders is on the 21st and I'm quite sure that in both cases we're thinking more about what could have been than our birthdays.
It's a real pity, genuinely nice people are few and far between, I think Eckart was special in many ways and compared to your average winner takes-all entrepreneur he was a proverbial (and physical) giant.
All this will sound like fawning adoration to those that haven't actually met the man, to those that did it will sound like I'm probably not giving him enough credit.