People

 

Dirk Groten (View Dirk's profile on LinkedIn)

Dirk is Naked Bits’ technical brain and has experience in translating and realising marketing wishes for new internet-, telecom- and mobile services into feasible technical projects.

Dirk is particularly interested in business modelling and helps make technology workable for new business concepts.

After a Physics degree (ETH Zürich, Switzerland) and a PhD in Physics (Leiden University, Netherlands), he started his career at former Dutch national telecommunications company KPN where he was responsible for IT platforms on which services like i-mode and hi.nl are run. This included innovation, design and processes for operations and maintenance on these platforms.

Later, at privately held Talpa Digital, he was responsible for the technology choices for Talpa’s cross-media projects (mobile and internet) and developing a technology roadmap and strategy.

To get a bit (too) technical: Dirk is specialised in Web 2.0 architectures, Content Management Systems, mobile services, IT architecture, handset technology etc… and he speaks about a thousand languages.

Mick Walvisch (View Mick's profile on LinkedIn)

Mick is founder of ULURU and co-founder of Naked Bits. He has over 20 years of experience in entrepreneurship, marketing, branding and innovation.
Mick studied graphical and typographic design at the Academy of Arts (in The Hague), has a Master’s Degree in Marketing and studied Psychology. Mick has a creative mind and an outspoken personality. He has the skills to visualize and explain concepts in Miffy language.

Eight years ago Mick had a vision to make innovation work by means of connecting creatives, business administrators and captains of industry. The network was called “Striking”. This network led to many new and innovative concepts.

In 2004 Mick took a sabbatical of one full week and decided to start his own “Idea Shop” on the Herengracht in Amsterdam. The store was a big success resulting not only in selling ideas, but also in generating the support for implementation with the same passion and speed as the ideas are being created, the so-called “ULURU way”.

Mick has experience in marketing, branding, co-branding and innovation for Achmea, Interpolis, Adidas, Farm Frites, Friesland Foods, Essent HomeSafety, Rijkswaterstaat, Heineken, Cisco, IBM, NS, Fortis, ING, KPN, Randstad, Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken, ProRail, Schiphol Telematics, de Bijenkorf, Schuitema/C1000, ABN/AMRO, Essent Retail, Eneco, iFour-C, Jalema and others.