#221 Bas Kooijman's Path from IT Prodigy to Finance Guru

About Bas Kooijman

Bas Kooijman is the CEO and Asset Manager of DHF Capital. Starting his entrepreneurial journey at the age of 13, Bas built successful tech and telecom businesses before transitioning to the financial sector. With a passion for leveraging technology, Bas established DHF Capital in 2020, a global firm now operating in five countries with over 70 team members. His expertise spans IT, telecom, asset management, and trading, and he is a mentor to aspiring traders, sharing his knowledge of cultivating the right mindset for success. Bas’s journey is marked by resilience, adaptability, and a commitment to continuous learning.

About this Episode

In this engaging episode, host Hilmarie Hutchison sits down with Bas Kooijman to explore his inspiring journey from a young entrepreneur in IT to becoming the CEO of DHF Capital. Bas shares how his early exposure to technology shaped his career, from building websites at 16 to running a telecom company managing critical systems, including Amsterdam’s 112 emergency services.

Bas talks about the pivotal moment of selling his telecom company and transitioning to finance, driven by a desire for more balance in life. He discusses how his technical background in IT and data science informs his approach to algorithmic and AI-driven trading, emphasizing the rapid evolution of technology in finance.

Quotes

1:18 - My main goal was to build businesses and systems with my strong desire to work in IT, all at the same time.

3:40 - Making a website was one thing, but doing active system maintenance was absolutely a different level.

6:04 - I decided to stay at a personal level first and later became a professional currency trader.

6:40 - It was an industry that I really wanted to evolve in, an industry where I saw my technical skills coming of great use with all of them at that moment.

8:10 - The AI technology, or the technology of having things done for people in the background, was already there for a very long time.

8:33 - I think that people are falling behind if they choose to ignore technological changes.

8:38 - As long as you are adaptive, if you are trying to keep learning in any field of work, and especially also in finance, jobs will just be increasing in productivity but stay technically the same.

9:33 - It's when new things get too big to be ignored in the future. That's the moment that it becomes very interesting to make sure you know enough about it.

10:16 - Everybody can become a trader.

10:20 - I cannot teach everybody to have the right trader's mindset.

16:13 - Start on what they call a demo account. It provides you with an account that does not have real money in there, where it means that you can try your strategies, try your emotions.

16:35 - When you feel confident enough, you can try to trade with a number that's comfortable for you that in the worst case scenario, you don't get into trouble if that money does not plan out to go as well as you thought.

17:51 - It's very important to know where your passion is.

20:36 - I would really have taken better care of myself from a health perspective and from a financial perspective during the build.

21:08 - I always advise other entrepreneurs to really take a good look in the mirror and see how the other things next to your company or your career are currently doing

Useful Links

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#221 Bas Kooijman's Path from IT Prodigy to Finance Guru

The Matrix Green Pill

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