richvandoorn

Most people talk about vision the way they talk about weather. Something vague. Something inspirational. Something you nod at and move past. That’s not vision. That’s decoration. Real vision is costly. It narrows your options. It slows you down in rooms where speed is rewarded. And it forces uncomfortable decisions long before the payoff is visible. I’ve watched enough ventures flame out to say this plainly: vision is no longer a slogan—it’s the only competitive moat that hasn’t been...

Most bad decisions don’t start with bad intentions. They start with reasonable ones. Good opportunity. Smart people. Plausible upside. On paper, everything checks out. That’s usually when we slow down. At Van Doorn Ventures, there’s a question we ask before we say yes to anything—an investment, a partnership, a new initiative: “What will this require us to become in order to sustain it?” Why This Question Matters Most people evaluate opportunities based on outcomes: revenue potential growth...

Most ventures fail quietly. Not because the idea was bad. Not because the market wasn’t there. They fail because no one ever slowed down long enough to ask why the work mattered—or who it was actually meant to serve. I’ve spent enough years building, leading, and watching things break to know this much: growth without conviction is just movement. It looks impressive right up until it collapses. Van Doorn Ventures exists because I got tired of seeing good people build fragile things. We Are...