Interview VOKA Magazine with CEO Dirk Deroo: “Every entrepreneur must embrace change”

14 July 2023

Dirk Deroo, founder and driving force behind Dataline, is a man with a plan, with a mission and with mountains of ambition. He is working hard to roll out a European strategy in the niche sector of ERP software for print production companies, print media companies. Deroo is now fully angling for acquisitions. The target for 2023 is 8.5 million euro turnover, of which 32% must come from countries outside the Benelux, where Dataline is already incontournable.

Has there always lurked a tech entrepreneur within you?

"My parents were certainly also entrepreneurial individuals. That definitely helps to be able to think in a certain direction and also to understand that hard work and quality lead to added value. Nevertheless, I also knew from childhood that I would never become a pastry chef like my father. My fascination for everything to do with technology and automation was there early on. It was only logical that I went in that direction for my higher education as a software engineer in Kortrijk as well."

Before starting your own company, you were working at Apple. What did you learn there?

"Steve Jobs taught me how to think and act disruptively, and I learned the challenges of the printing industry inside out. In the 1990s, that sector was all about a major turnaround, from the classic page layout systems, which were then the standard in the printing industry, to the migration of Apple hardware and software."

Take a closer look at the meaning of that all-important little word 'disruptive'.

"Disruptive thinking means being able to think completely differently from what is mainstream. I still get goosebumps watching the 1995 Apple commercial 'The Crazy Ones'. Instead of specs about the latest Apple Macintosh, it shows people who have been so important in history because they have, in their way, changed the world: Ghandi, Bob Dylan, Picasso, Martin Luther King, John Lennon,… They are trailblazers, rebels, troublemakers. They have no respect for or feeling for the status quo. Whether you are for or against them, you can never simply disregard the ideas of these kinds of people because, as it happens, they influence the whole of humanity by stirring things up. I cannot compare myself to them but I do feel akin to their thinking. Change must be there, and deep down every entrepreneur must embrace change. That's how I started in 1995 with a totally new story. I wanted to offer the printing industry a software application to make a very crafty industry more efficient, profitable and process-driven."

Nicely put, but it took you 2 years to write that software for graphics companies and get it on point. How do you overcome something like that as a start-up?

"A lot of tech companies once started in the garage. I aimed higher and secluded myself in my attic room for 2 years. I lived extremely frugally and was mentally prepared for such a life. Give it your all, but don't give up."

You often hear start-up entrepreneurs say that doubt is their worst enemy. How do you deal with that?

"I have known that doubt too. But doubt can also give strength. Every entrepreneur, start-up or not, should dare to question themselves. There is nothing wrong with that; on the contrary, it leads to new insights. As long as you are critical enough of yourself, opportunities will always present themselves. A few years ago, I revisited my 1995 story, and set myself apart - thanks in part to corona - to write a new and pioneering MAS audit software that analyses all business processes and calculates the maximum cost of an automation and what it should yield."

Typical of Dataline is its extremely rapid growth in recent years. 15 to 20% is no small feat. What is the hardest thing about growing fast?

"Growing is creating chaos and still remaining focused. Thinking long-term and doing short-term. Specifically, you also have to keep anticipating change. But there is also more: those who grow fast have to look for the necessary pivotal moments for the business. You need such moments. Failure is not fatal but success is not final either. In a growth process, you must always have the desire and courage to continue on the momentum achieved."

In your opinion, what is the straightest path to success?

"I see a number of determining factors. One: only go for business relationships that generate measurable value for both parties and are based on mutual trust and understanding of each other's business. Two: outsource where it is useful. Specifically, this translated into hiring a general manager, Andy Willaert, at the beginning of this year. I think I succeeded as operational manager, but I get more energy from the role of entrepreneur. 

Managing and entrepreneurship together took double shifts in my schedule. You can keep that up for about five years but never the rest of your days. And then you have to ask yourself which role gives you the most energy and what you are better off passing on to someone else who might be better than yourself."

You are now pursuing a buy and build strategy at the European level. How do you start this?

"Everything starts with a good SWOT analysis of our own: what are our strengths, where do the dangers lie, who are our competitors and how effective are they? Regarding the latter, I invested months of time analysing the European sector to the bone. In Belgium and the Netherlands we are now well and truly the market leader with our ERP software for the graphic industry. We are currently active in 24 European countries and our software is available in 13 languages. But to be really successful in these countries, we need to move faster. After all, we need to have our in-house employees who speak the language of each country. Recruiting in each of those European countries is possible, but involves too many risks. That's why Dataline has no choice but to invest in competing ERP suppliers. To reinforce this ambition, we are already at an advanced stage of acquiring another four European companies this year. We have one or more competitors in every country, the vast majority of which are small SMEs. Dataline has adjusted to the rapidly changing market more effectively and has the scale, employees, technology, business structure, market insights, competitive screening, knowledge and experience to play a more dominant role in Europe. Through mergers and acquisitions, Dataline will capture and convert the momentum that is there now."

On your bucket list, besides the obligatory countries, Ukraine is also surprisingly listed. That demands a word of explanation, right?

"What has been going on in Ukraine for 2 years now has not only turned the world economy upside down, but also pushed the country itself into a new reality. Compare it to what Western Europe looked like after World War II. Everything will have to be rebuilt, including services and industry. A kind of Marshall Plan will follow. In our case, the opportunity may well be there for the taking, because all the software of the past came from Russia and that story is already being renounced."

The bigger Dataline gets, the more you are also in the spotlight and the more likely you are to be acquired yourself, right?

"That chance is rather small, but I cannot deny that a lot of private equity players have already offered their services. If they can add value, I will consider it. I am very level-headed about this: I myself should never be the brake on Dataline's growth and ambitions. The company is indeed appealing but we have worked very hard for that for 25 years. If the European Digital Press Assocation (EDP) has awarded our company the most important award in the entire industry for 5 years in a row based on our annual innovative developments, there must be a good reason. Everyone always oversimplifies growth. But things like realising added value with our customers or playing at the top in terms of innovation remain so much more important."

The modern CEO must be a jack of all trades, they say. He must be both techie, HR expert, marketer, financially savvy and so on. Isn't that too much for one person?

"But that versatility makes it all the more fascinating, right? Merely writing software would give me too little satisfaction. I am like so many entrepreneurs: a specialist who also needs to be a generalist. That is something you have to learn, step by step. I learned most of it by doing. Today, I mainly feel like a primus inter pares; the people around me are as important as I am. But of course, as a leader you have a model function. The better you fulfil it, the more you succeed in stimulating your entourage to bring out the best as well. As a leader, I never wanted to be a kindergarten teacher. I totally believe in self-managing teams that carry the same business DNA. One of my all-important missions consists in inspiring other people. I like to surround myself with people with passion, perseverance and grit."

Can we say that over the years, your role evolved primarily from a leader to a strategist?

“Taking on two roles at once has made me grow as an entrepreneur. Strategy is the compass and gives direction to the organisation. It has always been my ambition to work on my own redundancy. It may sound strange, but one of my motivations as a manager is to let my people excel. Sometimes with direction, sometimes with giving them confidence. I want to instil faith in my people so that they achieve their goals independently. And then I myself am redundant. In doing so, I leave success to the team and will soon enough be asked to apply my approach to other areas. I am convinced that managers who can make themselves redundant create space to take their business to the next level. Roughly six years ago, we were with a 25 staff and today there are 70. From recruitment to job interviews and from training to integration, I am still the driving force. 

Furthermore, through the intense contacts with my team leaders, I can now let go of many things that I used to have to do myself. I think a large part of my working weeks of 80 hours goes into coaching (new) employees and scouting and negotiating company acquisitions."

Ouch, 80 hours is a lot. What about the necessary work-life balance?

"It comes down to being able to set your mind to zero from time to time, and rest assured, I do that too, you know. For one thing, by watching Netflix series for about 45 minutes every morning while running on my treadmill at home. And then there is plenty of time left over for a trip or city break and I like to discover a new restaurant, music group or stand-up comedian. I aspire to die with worn-out senses."

Originally published in VOKA magazine "Ondernemers", 16/06/2023.