Hi,

My name is Filip Maertens, and I’m a 40-something, Belgian-born citizen.

Having meandered through life’s labyrinth with a compass marked by innate inquisitiveness and curiosity, my personal odyssey has endowed me with a strange blend of skills in finance, risk-management, psychology, technology, and various enterpreneurial topics.

While my career has enabled me to live a lifestyle where I have the luxury of optionality and am able to choose how I spend my time, it took a few (steep) learning curves to find my footing in life. And business. And in finding my place, I have made some truly spectacular mistakes, but I have been blessed with a resilient mindset and a social network that has been given me the chance to learn from these adverse situations, and metamorphose these setbacks into springboards for triumph.

As for my publicly known career, most will refer to me as a serial entrepreneur. Indeed, I am performing at my best in the creation of B2B ventures, taking it to 50+ people and turning a profit in an as short as possible timeframe before relinquishing control to a better skilled management team. Once the scaling starts, things tend to get too dull for my restless mind.

Hitting the public with one +100M exit is great, but I’m more in the habit of doing ten 10M exits. Far from the distractions of spending a public life. It’s a better fit for my risk profile and lifestyle. My lesser known career, however, is that of a trader, being my true passion as it ties together philosophy, mathematics, history, economics, finance and behavioural sciences all in the glorious activity of wealth creation.

Given a prosperous career in the private and public markets in technology that spans over two decades, I am often asked for public speaking engagements and coaching. Yet, I have become very selective about what commitments to invest in.

In general, I’d like to carve out as much time as possible to spend with my family, maintaining my creative outlet through books, art and music, and nurturing the many animals that we are blessed to care for.

My blog tries to reflect many of my learnings, as I hope to give you a glimpse into my life and welcome you as a companion on my journey onward.