Ruben

What Ruben does

Ruben is the personal brand and advisory platform of Ruben Timmerman, founder of Springest, the European professional learning marketplace that operated from 2008 until its acquisition at the end of 2021 after 14 years. Springest served both B2B organizations — providing a SaaS platform for corporate employee learning and development — and B2C individual learners searching for professional courses, and grew to 55 employees across Amsterdam and Berlin at the time of the sale. The product combined a curated learning marketplace with a SaaS L&D management layer, supported by ISO 27001 certification for enterprise security requirements, and was an early European adopter of Holacracy self-management in 2012 layered with OKRs, GTD methodology, and Asana for execution.

Springest operated a performance- and commission-based revenue model that reached stable profitability over its 14-year run, monetizing through B2B SaaS subscriptions to L&D teams and marketplace economics on individual course transactions. Following the divestiture, the Ruben brand functions as an impact-investing, advisory, and effective-altruism vehicle rather than an operating product company. Current activities include operational partnerships with Volt Europa (a pan-European political movement across 30 countries and 200+ chapters) and The School for Moral Ambition (launching in 15+ countries in 2025 with a US foundation being established), advisory work with IPE, and the deployment of approximately €500k of personal capital into impact startups and funds over the first two years after the sale, alongside a publicly pledged €500k charitable donation over ten years.

Name

Ruben

Legal name

Springest

Website

https://ruben.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Acquired

Short description

Ruben is the personal brand and advisory practice of Springest founder Ruben Timmerman, operating as an impact investor and operational advisor to organizations including Volt Europa, The School for Moral Ambition, and IPE following the 2021 sale of Springest.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Management Consulting

NAICS

Human Resources Consulting Services (541612), Other Management Consulting Services (541618)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Organization Design & Operating Model Consulting (BPAHAGAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Culture, Engagement & Employee Experience (EX) Consulting (BPAHAGAI), People Analytics, Assessment & Psychometrics Consulting (BPAHAGAH)

Keywords

• Online marketing consulting
• Self-management advisory
• Organizational coaching
• Impact investing
• Holacracy consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Amsterdam

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Learning Marketplace Commission: Springest operated as the biggest learning marketplace in Europe, facilitating professional learning transactions between providers and buyers (organizations and individuals). Revenue likely came from marketplace commission on transactions.
2. SaaS Platform for Organizations: Leading SaaS platform for organisations to empower their employees' learning. B2B SaaS revenue from organizations using the platform to manage employee development.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Ruben (Ruben Timmerman) is an individual-operated consulting and impact-investing practice that advises startups, NGOs, and foundations on self-management, Holacracy, OKRs, and online marketing. He also deploys personal capital into early-stage climate and social-impact startups and funds, and donates a portion of income under an effective altruism framework.

Product overview

Ruben Timmerman's personal brand and website represents his work as an impact investor, effective altruist, and operational advisor. The primary product mentioned is Springest, a learning marketplace that was acquired in 2021 after 14 years of pioneering online professional learning in Europe. Currently, he works with The School for Moral Ambition as an advisor/coach, supports Volt Europa, and invests in impact startups. The site functions as a personal portfolio and blog documenting his experiences with self-management, Holacracy, OKRs, and startup operations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Strategic and operational advisory for The School for Moral Ambition Hands-on operational, technical, and growth advisory for The School for Moral Ambition, a startup-to-scaleup NGO helping people increase the impact of their careers. Targeted at founders and senior leaders building pan-European and US non-profit operations.
• Technology and self-management advisory for Volt Europa Initiated and led the build of a new pan-European website platform for Volt Europa, and served as General Secretary for Tech and Way of Working with the ambition of moving the volunteer-based political organization toward self-management. Continues coaching former colleagues.
• Founder coaching and operational advisory for IPE (Instituut voor Publieke Economie)
• Impact investment program (climate and social startups and funds) Direct equity investments of €25-50k in early-stage climate, energy, and circular-economy startups (Polar Night Energy, Valyuu, Vaayu, Quatt, The Social Handshake, BIYU); €10-25k crowdfunding/certificate investments in mobility, plant-based consumer, night train, regenerative farming, and second-hand startups; and €200-250k fund investments in Fair Capital Impact Fund, iFund Foundation, and Carbon Equity.

Quantifiable outcome

• 8.3 happiness score vs 7.3 tech industry benchmark
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• The School for Moral AmbitioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRuben is building this organization from the ground up together with the founders. It's a startup to scaleup NGO launching in 15+ countries in 2025, including a local foundation in the US. Purpose and principles align nearly perfectly with his own.
• Volt EuropacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInitiated and led project to build new website platform for 30 countries and over 200 chapters. Serves as General Secretary for Tech and Way of Working with ambition to get closer to a self-managing volunteer-based organisation.
• IPE (Instituut voor Publieke Economie)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProgressive think tank publishing economic policy studies. Ruben coaches the founder for growing the organisation, plus provides operational and marketing advice to the team.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Degreed: Skills-development and learning-experience platform for enterprises; comparable to Springest's B2B SaaS play around employee learning and career development.
• Corporate Rebels: Pioneer in workplace innovation content and advisory, sharing case studies of self-managing organizations; a directly adjacent peer to Ruben's thought-leadership and advisory work on Holacracy/operating systems.
• The Ready: Organizational transformation consultancy that helps companies adopt self-management, Teal, and modern operating models; directly comparable as a peer advisory practice working on the same thesis as Ruben.
• Go1: Enterprise learning marketplace that curates and aggregates professional learning content for organizations, closely comparable to the historical Springest business Ruben's company was prior to acquisition.
• HolacracyOne: Founded by Brian Robertson (creator of Holacracy), HolacracyOne is the canonical consultancy helping organizations implement Holacracy self-management and is the most direct peer to Ruben's operating-model advisory practice.
• Management 3.0: Jurgen Appelo's practice and content community focused on Agile management innovation, leadership, and modern organizational design; comparable to Ruben as a thought-leadership-led consultancy on next-generation operating models.

Broad incumbents

• Udemy: Global online learning marketplace spanning consumer and enterprise learning; broad incumbent analogue for the historical Springest marketplace business in Europe.
• Coursera: Large global online learning marketplace serving both consumers and enterprises; the broad incumbent comparable to the legacy Springest learning marketplace business.
• McKinsey & Company (Organizational Practice): Largest global management consultancy with an organizational design, operating model, and culture transformation practice; sets the enterprise-tier benchmark Ruben's advisory sits beneath.

Emerging players

• Workplaceless: Remote/hybrid organizational consulting and training firm; overlaps with Ruben's expertise on distributed, self-managing teams and modern operating models.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xbsky.app/profile/ruben.org
• YouTubeyoutube.com/playlist?list=PLjMZXdddS7mwJXqlROt-KwQfv18YoKHXb
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/in/rubentimmerman

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ruben