Mark Vletter is the founder of pioneering Dutch cloud telecoms provider Voys, which also operates in South Africa, Belgium and Germany. He is also the founder of 48percent.org, Voys’ non-profit foundation dedicated to increasing equitable access to connectivity in the digitally marginalised parts of the planet.
A passionate entrepreneur and outspoken observer on a dizzying array of subjects, Vletter’s perspectives on the latest developments in industry, technology and society are highly respected in the business community. As Voys evolves into a fully-fledged global company, his insights and expertise are, for the first time, being shared with international audiences in the form of the brand spanking new Founder’s Newsletter which you can sign up for right here, right now.
Read on to discover what other exclusive benefits will come your way when you tap into Vletter’s mercurial, maverick mind.
Rebel with a cause
Noted in the Netherlands and beyond as a bona fide Renaissance man, Mark Vletter is driven by an insatiable desire to discover wisdom and truth. He is as likely to bowl you over with his knowledge of cutting-edge tech as he is to enlighten you with why systemic value is a superiour economic model to that of shared value or shareholder value.
An influential and indefatigable content creator, Vletter’s book Alleen Maar Bazen (Only Bosses) sold out its first print run in record time and is already undergoing a comprehensive overhaul for its second edition. Voys, his multiple award-winning cloud telephony company, has been trusted for 17 years by more than 18 000 entrepreneurs, while 48percent.org is currently involved with 34 projects in 20 countries working to bridge the digital divide.
Voys is one of only a handful of forward-thinking companies around the world that is run on the principles of Holacracy, the progressive organisational philosophy that dispenses with traditional workplace hierarchies in favour of self-management.
In every respect, Voys fits the mould of “the outlaw brand”, with Vletter no slouch in the outlaw department himself. Whilst conventional monikers such as “opinionista” or “thought leader” fit him like a glove, he prefers the appellations “rebel with a cause”, “business hippie” and “eccentric lunatic”.
Borderless knowledge
In much the same way Warren Buffett famously writes the annual Berkshire Hathaway newsletter to shareholders as if he was writing to his sisters, Mark pens his own monthly Founder’s Newsletter in such a way that it eschews hackneyed buzzwords, platitudes and clichés to cut straight to the chase.
Packed to the brim with Vletter’s idiosyncratic spin on the latest news from the worlds of tech, business, politics (Vletter is a fierce proponent of online privacy and net neutrality) and society, the Founder’s Newsletter is regarded by Dutch captains of industry as a vital source of insight and information.
Subscribers will also gain exclusive access to the renowned Voys Colleague Handbook. As the values of transparency and openness are part of the Voys DNA (the company has even brewed its own open-source beer and runs its ping-pong protocol on open-source code), Voys shares full access to its inner workings and subtle secrets to success so that other entrepreneurs may benefit from it.
Content will also be derived from the first English iterations of Vletter’s breakthrough book, while subscribers can look forward to obtaining pre-release versions of the English translation of the second edition of Alleen Maar Bazen
For the first time ever, the recently revamped Founder’s Newsletter is available for savvy South African businessmen and women to sink their teeth into. All you have to do is click this link and a freshly baked stroopwafel of sagacity will alight in your inbox every two months.
Breaking the rules
Vletter’s restless, hyperactive mind has increasingly grown his own renown as an iconoclastic entrepreneur. For this reason he was recently named in Deloitte’s prominent Thinkers 50 Radar for 2023. Thinkers 50 Radar identifies a cohort of 30 ascendant idea architects whose perspectives are predicted to make a profound impact on contemporary management theory and practice.
In a classic outlaw move, Vletter used the platform provided by the accolade not to make gracious acceptances and thank the usual suspects, but to write a post-capitalist critique of several fundamentals of liberal economies. Reflecting upon the award and the context in which it exists, Vletter asked himself - and business leaders at large: “Can we do more?”
Vletter’s burgeoning reputation as a thinker, activist, business maverick and tech savant is reflected in the diversity of content he creates upon a plethora of platforms. South African entrepreneurs and business innovators have much to gain from the rich resource that is his prolific mind.
Sure, you can follow him on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube; read his blog posts on the Dutch, South African and international Voys websites and seek out his multiple articles and columns in various media such as Sprout, a leading Dutch online publication focused on tech, innovation, entrepreneurship and leadership.
Or you could simply sign up for his monthly newsletter with a single click of this button.
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