Founder of Venturoxx · Category Design · EMEA GTM · Board Advisor

The market does not see you the way you intend.

I help funded B2B software, AI and data companies fix how the market understands, values and buys them before execution compounds the wrong frame. My work sits where category, capital and go-to-market decisions meet.

Three decades Enterprise software, AI, data and GTM leadership across EMEA.
Category environments ServiceNow, Snowflake, Tanium, Quantexa and Mercury Interactive.
Board-level lens Category, investor narrative, regional execution and enterprise revenue quality.
Richard Poolman
Founder authority

I built this practice for companies where the product has proof, but the market still places it in the wrong box.

  • Buyers compare the company to narrower tools.
  • Sales cycles stretch because the market frame is unclear.
  • Pricing pressure increases despite strong product value.
  • Investors see potential, but the story does not carry the valuation logic.
  • Leadership is scaling execution before the category is under control.

Category first. GTM second. Execution third.

Execution cannot fix a broken frame.

Capital follows category conviction.

Why this page exists

This is no longer a recruiter profile. It is the personal authority page behind Venturoxx: the place to understand my operating background, my point of view, and where I can be useful as a founder, advisor or board-level sparring partner.

Founder

I founded Venturoxx to help ambitious B2B software and AI companies define the problem, name the category and claim the position before more GTM spend locks in the wrong motion.

Advisor

I advise founders, CEOs, investors and leadership teams at moments where market understanding, investor confidence, pricing power or European expansion need sharper judgment.

Operator

My judgment comes from operating inside category-shaping enterprise software companies, closing and scaling complex business across countries, partners and executive buyers.

Venturoxx

Venturoxx is a category design practice for funded B2B software, AI and data companies facing GTM friction, investor pressure or unclear market positioning.

The problem I work on

A company can have strong product traction and still be misunderstood by the market. The product may be right, but the frame is wrong. Buyers then compare it to the wrong alternatives, investors discount the ambition, and GTM teams execute against a story that does not create enough urgency.

The market does not understand what category you are trying to own.
The story creates interest but not enough budget, urgency or conviction.
The company scales activity before it fixes the economic frame.

The operating principle

Category work is not messaging polish. It is the upstream decision about what problem matters, what market you are really in, what old logic the buyer must leave behind, and why your company should become the logical choice.

Define the problem.
Name the category.
Claim the position.
venturoxx.com →

Where I am useful

I am not useful as a generic consultant. I am useful when the company needs senior commercial judgment before more execution, hiring, spend or fundraising pressure makes the wrong answer expensive.

Founder and CEO advisory

Pressure-test the category, buyer logic, investor story, GTM priorities and leadership alignment before scaling the next phase.

Investor and board support

Translate market ambiguity, GTM friction and revenue quality into clear decisions about where value is being created or lost.

EMEA expansion judgment

Assess whether Europe is failing because of execution, category translation, account focus, partner design or a playbook built for somewhere else.

Board member and NED roles

I am open to a limited number of non-executive director or advisory board positions with B2B software, AI or data companies operating in or expanding into Europe. I bring commercial, category and EMEA go-to-market judgment to boards that need that lens alongside financial or technical oversight.

How I prefer to engage

For project-based work through Venturoxx: bounded scope, clear decision point, defined outcome. The right starting point is usually a focused diagnostic, a category and GTM blueprint, or a leadership-level engagement. For board and NED mandates, I work on a longer-term basis - structure and terms by conversation.

Selected proof

My work is grounded in category-shaping enterprise software environments and complex EMEA go-to-market execution.

ServiceNow

From regional build to global enterprise motion

First commercial hire for Benelux, built the regional business from scratch, then moved into global account development across major international enterprises.

Built Benelux into a multi-million ARR operation.
Opened Amsterdam and Brussels offices.
Worked across Shell, Deutsche Bank and Nestlé global account environments.
Snowflake

Category shift translated into enterprise traction

Led major accounts across the Nordics and Benelux in a scaling environment where success depended on enterprise trust, regional complexity and market education.

Built the first Major Accounts team across both regions.
Ramped 7 senior account leaders across 5 countries.
Closed strategic enterprise data platform business in complex buying environments.
Quantexa

Partner ecosystem turned into commercial leverage

Built and scaled European strategic partnerships with Big 4 and tier-1 system integrators, focused on joint GTM and enterprise revenue impact across regulated sectors.

Built cross-region SI co-sell motion.
Supported complex enterprise opportunities in banking, government and regulated markets.
Focused alliances on pipeline quality, not relationship theatre.
Earlier foundation

Mercury, HP, CA, IPsoft, Tanium

Built regional and enterprise commercial experience across IT management, automation, cybersecurity, data and AI-adjacent enterprise software before founding Venturoxx.

Enterprise sales and leadership across EMEA.
Strategic accounts, partners, procurement, legal, risk and C-level decision cycles.
Repeated exposure to category shifts that changed how buyers understood value.

Start the conversation

I am currently available for new engagements via Venturoxx and a small number of board or NED positions. Reach out if you are a founder, CEO, board member, investor or executive search partner working on a category, GTM, EMEA expansion, board composition or senior leadership question. I will tell you quickly whether I can help.

Email

rpoolman@mac.com

Best route for Venturoxx, board advisory and private conversations.

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Background CV

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