All mentors

Roland Jansen

CEO & Fractional Executive | Strategic Advisor & Sounding Board for Founders | Listener and Problem Solver

Munich, Germany (+01:00 UTC) Dutch, English, Germanfrom Eindhoven, Netherlands
Usually responds in 8 hours
Free
Price per hour
30 min
Time Blocks Available
5.00
14 reviews / 19 sessions
Wed
04
Next availability

Roland was extremely helpful in guiding us through high-level strategic thinking for our e-commerce business. He gave us clear, practical advice on setting meaningful goals and building effective business plans. We came away with much more clarity and a strong sense of direction. Highly recommended!

Chris Kiddey

I had the most incredible invaluable session with Roland. I came in with six products and a lot of questions about what to launch first, and he helped me see a completely clear and extremely strategic path forward. What I appreciated most was how quickly he understood both the products and the bigger vision behind the brand. His recommendations completely shifted the way I was approaching my launch strategy. He gave me practical ideas around bundling, pricing, sampling, repeat purchases, and how to prioritize without overwhelming the customer or myself. Roland is smart, thoughtful, strategic, easy to talk to, and incredibly generous with his ideas. I left the call with actual decisions I could act on immediately, not just more things to think about. I already have a second session planned because there is so much more I want to work through with him. Highly recommend Roland, especially for anyone who has a product or idea and needs help turning it into a clear, actionable strategy. I am so grateful for him.

Annetta Fooks

Roland helped me pinpoint a potential target for my software.

Sean Weisbrot

Bio

Originally from the Netherlands and now based in Germany, I bring a mix of Dutch directness and German structure - which turns out to be a surprisingly effective combination when building and scaling companies. Over the past eight years, I’ve worked across SaaS, software and e-commerce, often at the intersection of commercial strategy, product, technology and operations. I’ve worked closely with founders and C-level teams on everything from go-to-market, partnerships and pricing to product strategy, organizational scaling and turning new ideas into something customers actually want to use and pay for. I’ve led commercial and technical teams ranging from 4 to 22 FTE and have experienced many of the challenges that come with scaling first-hand: finding product-market fit, building repeatable commercial processes, making the right strategic bets, developing teams and leaders, navigating change, and figuring out what to prioritize when everything seems important. Today, I work with startups and scale-ups through fractional leadership and strategic advisory assignments. I enjoy stepping into different environments, understanding what is really holding a business or team back, and helping turn complex challenges into practical actions and measurable outcomes. As a mentor, I’m not here to pretend there’s one playbook for growth. I like to listen first, ask questions, challenge assumptions when needed and share experiences from situations I’ve encountered myself. Sometimes you need a framework; sometimes you need a second opinion; and sometimes you simply need someone to help untangle what’s in your head.

Expertise

  • Building a team

    Building and scaling winning teams is about more than hiring great people. Combining hands-on leadership experience with a background in recruitment, I’ve grown teams in fast-paced environments and learned how to create the conditions for people to succeed. From hiring and team structure to ownership, culture and development, my focus is on building teams that perform today while developing the people and leaders needed for the next stage of growth.

  • Go to market strategy

    A strong go-to-market strategy turns ambitious ideas into practical execution and measurable growth. From defining the right customer and positioning to choosing channels, building partnerships and creating repeatable commercial processes, my focus is on connecting strategy with execution. There’s no single GTM playbook - the right approach starts with understanding your market, customers and capabilities, then building a model your team can actually execute and scale.

  • Leadership

    I believe winning teams are built on strong culture and great leadership. I help leaders turn company values into everyday behaviors, build trust and accountability, and develop people into confident leaders themselves. From shaping culture and leadership principles to creating high-performing teams, I’m happy to challenge your thinking, share my experiences and help build an environment where both people and the business can thrive.

  • Mindset coaching

    Leadership and entrepreneurship don’t always leave much space for the softer side - the doubts, pressure, uncertainty and thoughts that are harder to put into words. I create room for those conversations by listening without judgment, asking thoughtful questions and offering a trusted sounding board. Sometimes the most valuable outcome isn’t an immediate solution, but greater clarity, a different perspective and the space to find your own way forward.

Industries

  • SaaS

    Over the past eight years, I’ve worked in SaaS and software businesses across different stages of growth, from scaling an international platform to building and leading early-stage ventures. My experience spans commercial strategy, GTM, partnerships, product strategy, pricing and operations. Working closely with founders, product and technical teams has given me a practical understanding of what it takes to build, commercialize and scale SaaS products.

  • E-Commerce Platforms

    E-commerce has been at the core of my career, working across the ecosystem with platforms, SaaS providers, agencies and technology partners. I’ve built partnerships with leading commerce platforms, helped merchants and partners navigate complex technology decisions and worked on solutions across shipping, migrations and storefronts. This has given me a broad view of how platforms, technology, partners and merchants come together to build and scale successful e-commerce businesses.

  • Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

    I’ve worked closely with a wide range of ERP vendors, building partnerships around integrations that connect ERP systems with e-commerce, shipping and other technology platforms. My experience covers both the technical and commercial side - from identifying integration opportunities and aligning product teams to developing partnerships, go-to-market strategies and commercializing integrations across different markets and customer segments.

  • E-Commerce

    I bring 8+ years of experience in e-commerce, working with established brands and fast-growing businesses on scaling how they sell and position their products online. My experience spans e-commerce strategy, GTM, brand positioning, customer journeys, channel growth and partnerships. I’ve worked closely with brands to translate ambitious growth plans into practical commercial strategies that strengthen their market position and drive sustainable growth.

Experience

  • rolandjansen

    Strategic Advisor

    Working with startups and growing businesses on strategic and hands-on projects across business strategy, go-to-market, commercial growth and partnerships. Depending on the challenge, I step in through fractional leadership, strategic advisory or project-based assignments - working closely with founders and leadership teams to define direction, solve specific business challenges and turn plans into execution. My focus is on bringing structure, momentum and practical experience to businesses going through growth, change or a new phase of development.

  • Someone you know - SHOPIFY PREMIER PARTNER

    Chief Executive Officer (Interim)

    Leading SYK’s strategic direction and growth, with a focus on strengthening the agency’s positioning, commercial proposition and long-term development within the digital commerce landscape. Focused on helping e-commerce brands accelerate growth through Shopify by combining strategic consulting, scalable digital experiences and custom commerce solutions. Redesigned the pricing strategy with a stronger focus on margins and profitability, while aligning the commercial proposition and delivery model with the company’s strategic direction. Working across strategy, commercial and delivery teams to translate this direction into execution and sustainable business growth.

  • Syncer®

    Chief Executive Officer (Interim)

    Leading Syncer’s strategy and growth, with responsibility across product, commercial development and international expansion (partner-led). Focused on helping e-commerce brands and agencies transition to Shopify through scalable migration technology, automation and AI-powered innovation. Introduced a new pricing strategy focused on improving margins and commercial scalability, while developing a new product strategy to better align platform development with customer needs and market opportunities.

  • Sendcloud

    Global Head of Partnerships

    I was leading Sendcloud’s partnership / ecosystem team (15FTE). Covering all our 8 regions and focussing on the SMB and mid-market segment. We were combining Sendcloud's shipping core with agencies, platforms and custom 3rd party solutions - creating a self-sustaining ecosystem. Partnerships in 2022 - 2024 🎯 15% of Sendcloud's revenue was generated via agencies Transformed from a 'self-build' to a 'build-by-partners' strategy (73 plugins) 18% of our parcels came via our ecosystem (build-by-partners) Launched 7+ strategic partnerships with key players in the e-commerce space

    SaaSB2BE-Commerce

  • Sendcloud

    Head of Partnerships

    Partnerships in 2020 - 2021 🎯 13% of Sendcloud's revenue was generated via agencies Released 30 official Sendcloud integrations and maintained over 50 plugins Hired, ramped and developed a team of 18FTE

    SaaSB2BE-Commerce

  • Sendcloud

    Partner Manager

    Partnerships in 2018 - 2019 🎯 Launched our agency proposition in Benelux, DACH, France and Spain Released 14 new integrations on our platform Hired, ramped and developed a team of 9FTE

    SaaSB2BE-Commerce

  • The Search Company

    Account Manager

    The Search Company is a recruitment agency for IT and software companies. Within The Search Company I was responsible for acquiring new clients, managing my own customer portfolio, finding and assessing suitable candidates and supervising the entire recruitment process.

  • HAAN Industrial Group

    Marketing Manager

    HAAN Industrial Group is a technical service provider when it comes to mechanical engineering, maintenance of machinery and provision of technical support. Within the HAAN Industrial Group, I was responsible for the online presence of HAAN (developing a new website, content and website management, developing a strategic policy for Social Media, SEO and SEA) and the optimization of a corporate-wide internal communications strategy.

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