--- title: Niels Hardam – Entrepreneur, founder of European Scale Up Leaders description: Niels Hardam co-founded Advanced Forces Group (from idea to 80 people) and now builds AI team members at European Scale Up Leaders, starting with BOB. --- [![European Scale Up Leaders](https://esul.org/hs-fs/hubfs/esul-logo-visionary-black.png?width=820&height=163&name=esul-logo-visionary-black.png "European Scale Up Leaders")](https://esul.org/?hsLang=en) [![Structured Growth](https://esul.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Logo_ESUL_beeldmerk_ScaleUpFlame-1.png?width=816&height=576&name=Logo_ESUL_beeldmerk_ScaleUpFlame-1.png "Structured Growth")](https://esul.org/?hsLang=en) [![Structured Growth](https://esul.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Logo_ESUL_beeldmerk_ScaleUpFlame-1.png?width=816&height=576&name=Logo_ESUL_beeldmerk_ScaleUpFlame-1.png "Structured Growth")](https://esul.org/?hsLang=en) This is a search field with an auto-suggest feature attached. - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. English - [Nederlands](https://esul.org/nl/niels-hardam-founder) - [English](https://esul.org/en/niels-hardam-founder) - [BOB](https://esul.org/sign-up-for-bob) - [Founder](https://esul.org/en/niels-hardam-founder) - [Book](https://esul.org/en/book) - [Insights](https://esul.org/blog) - [Contact](https://esul.org/contact) - [Join early access](https://esul.org/sign-up-for-bob#signup) - [BOB](https://esul.org/sign-up-for-bob) - [Founder](https://esul.org/en/niels-hardam-founder) - [Book](https://esul.org/en/book) - [Insights](https://esul.org/blog) - [Contact](https://esul.org/contact) - [Join early access](https://esul.org/sign-up-for-bob#signup) This is a search field with an auto-suggest feature attached. - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. # Niels Hardam Entrepreneur. Founder of European Scale Up Leaders, where we build AI team members for scaling companies, starting with BOB. [Meet BOB](https://esul.org/sign-up-for-bob?hsLang=en) ## Entrepreneur, builder, former Marine officer I build companies. **Together with Geert van Oosterhout, I co-founded Advanced Forces Group.** We started with an idea, no clear value proposition and zero employees. Today the company has 80 people and trains around 2,500 extra NATO soldiers every year. Now I'm the founder of **European Scale Up Leaders**. We turn what we learned about scaling into AI team members that take work off growing teams. **The first is BOB**, an AI colleague who helps qualify applicants. BOB advises, your recruiter decides. BOB launches on 1 February 2027. Before I became an entrepreneur, I served for more than twelve years as an officer in the Netherlands Marine Corps. What scaling taught me, I wrote down in my book *De Scale-up Mindset*. Background ### Entrepreneur • Founder, European Scale Up Leaders (building BOB) • Co-founder, Advanced Forces Group: from idea to 80 people, training around 2,500 extra NATO soldiers a year • COO, Foryard Software Innovation Lab: my move from the Marines to startup life • Author of *De Scale-up Mindset* ### Officer, Royal Netherlands Marine Corps • 12.5 years of service, leading operational units of 30 to 60 people • Deployed to Afghanistan and Mali; in Mali I led a joint task force of 60 people • Troop commander in the Maritime Special Operations Forces (NLMARSOF) ### Education • Master's in Business Administration, Erasmus University Rotterdam (2018) • Specialisation: strategic management and entrepreneurship • Completed part-time, alongside my work as an entrepreneur ## Co-Founder, Advanced Forces Group ![The Advanced Forces Group website on desktop and mobile](https://esul.org/hubfs/afg-website-2026.jpg) In 2017 Geert van Oosterhout and I started Advanced Forces Group, informally at first; in 2018 it became a company. We began with an idea, without a clear value proposition and without employees. Today AFG employs 80 people and trains around 2,500 extra NATO soldiers every year. Entrepreneurship involves a lot of trial and error. The Corona pandemic hit us hard and brought us to the verge of bankruptcy. Thanks to a can-do mindset, inspired by the Marine Corps, we focused on what was still possible and persevered. Since 2022 we have grown fast, sometimes almost too fast. Growing that quickly showed me where scaling really hurts: finding and hiring the right people, fast, without losing quality. That experience is the basis for what we now build at European Scale Up Leaders. ![Geert & Niels Staand](https://esul.org/hubfs/Geert%20%26%20Niels%20Staand.png) ### Recommendation "*Niels excels at overseeing complex projects. He has a sharp focus on the client’s needs and takes the time to thoroughly understand the underlying culture, rules, and regulations.* *By doing so, he consistently delivers the best possible outcomes. His strategic insight and ability to navigate organizational dynamics have been instrumental in accelerating our company’s growth.*" ###### — Geert van Oosterhout, Founder Advanced Forces Group ![Foreyard](https://esul.org/hubfs/Foreyard.png) ### Recommendation "Niels has a sharp eye for business development and project management. He knows how to handle himself in extremely stressful situations and he guides people through insecure times. Niels was responsible for our respectable company growth, by structuring workflows, setting targets, and guiding the team to these fantastic results." ###### — Quintus Willemse, Co-founder Foryard ## Officer of the Marines ![Niels Marines (Rt)](https://esul.org/hubfs/Niels%20Marines.webp) From the ages of 18 to 31, I served as a Marine officer. After my 5-year training at the Netherlands Defence Academy, I spent 7.5 years leading various operational units, with teams ranging from 30 to 60 people. I completed the Royal Marines Mountain Leader training in the UK and various modules of the NLMARSOF training, earning my place in the Dutch Special Forces. My specialisations were operating in extreme cold and mountainous terrain, counter-terrorism and reconnaissance operations. For the last three years of my military career, I was a troop commander in the Maritime Special Operations Forces. I was deployed to Afghanistan and Mali. In Mali I led a joint task force of 60 people. Those deployments were the highlights of my military career. ## What I have learned ![LTWP-14\_websize](https://esul.org/hs-fs/hubfs/LTWP-14_websize.jpg?width=1067&height=1600&name=LTWP-14_websize.jpg) Personal mottos like ‘Hard, high and far’ and ’If it doesn't kill you, it’ll make you stronger’, were inscribed on my mind for years; the latter occasionally in the literal sense. They’re still statements that I identify with. But as the years go by, I have come to the realisation that going to extremes is not helpful in all cases. At some point, it's about working smarter. This insight did not only apply to my military experience, it especially fuels my experience as an entrepreneur. I have undergone a mindset change in this regard. I do still believe that persevering is an important condition for getting where you want to. As a 24-year-old Marine officer, I wanted to be an English Mountain Leader, but I wasn't exceptionally good at skiing, climbing, running, navigating, or speaking English. I was always willing to work hard, though, and I would never give up. By always giving my all, I became good enough at everything to eventually realise my goal. Working together with and leading like-minded people was easier for me. I can always motivate a team of people, work with them on their goals using a smart approach. There is a clear parallel between my military career and my life as an entrepreneur: when I started in 2017, I wasn't exceptionally good at marketing, sales, finance, technology, HR or operations either. By always giving my best and persevering, I still get better every day. It's the same attitude we bring to building BOB. ## Book Author ![hardam-book-cover](https://esul.org/hubfs/9789493282506-460x480.jpg) In 2025 I published *De Scale-up Mindset* (in Dutch). It sets out the principles behind everything we build at European Scale Up Leaders, BOB included. The book is written for first-time entrepreneurs and for leaders in the middle of fast, chaotic growth. A quote: *I consider it a crucial skill for a scale-up leader to keep the focus on both the human and the structural side of the growing company. I call that ‘connective leadership.’* *A connective leader leads his or her people in such a way that everyone in the company remains optimally connected with the company’s mission and with each other as team members.* An English translation of the introductory chapter is available on the [Book page](https://esul.org/en/book?hsLang=en). 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