New Face, Familiar Face: Meet the Duo Now Steering Lendahand

Behind your impact-investing platform sit around 16 enthusiastic, driven professionals. Recently, a new duo took the helm: familiar face Daniel van Maanen and newcomer Bauke Buikstra. No more CEO and CFO. Instead, two Managing Directors sharing leadership as equals.

Time for a double interview: how is their collaboration going, and what vision do they have for Lendahand?

Two Managing Directors: Here's How You Make That Work

When Bauke was hired as Chief Product & Marketing Officer (CPMO), the intention to grow into a management role was already clear. But who do you put at the head of a small team,  one with barely any hierarchy, where everyone knows exactly what's expected of them? After a period of shrinking, headcount was slowly growing again, and the moment had come to answer that question properly.

Last March, during an evaluation, Daniel and Bauke both said yes without hesitation — yes to carrying leadership together, as equals. Both are now Managing Directors, each responsible for one of the two worlds Lendahand connects: investors and borrowers. Bauke represents the interests of the investors, Daniel those of the borrowers, and together they represent Lendahand. The new leadership structure was quickly approved by the supervisory board, the shareholders, and the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM).

Daniel: "What I've seen change is that we're slowly moving from a start-up culture to an established one. We've become a bit more serious, and more tightly organized. What we all share is the drive to contribute, every day, to more opportunity and more equality in the world. That progressive, hopeful, world-facing outlook is something we want to hold on to. Lendahand has always had a spark of rebellion, a bit of youthful recklessness. I hope we don't lose that."

Meet Bauke

Bauke spent ten years shaping growth strategy for digital consumer platforms like Picnic, Catawiki, and Funda. For four years he worked on strategy at Vinted, based in Vilnius and Berlin, until the organization grew too big for his taste and it was time for a radical change of pace. Bauke bought an old warehouse and turned himself into a builder-slash-project-manager for a full renovation.

With a dry, solid roof over his head, the itch to make a clear, positive impact on society returned. Bauke: "I was looking for a role where I could make decisions and take on real responsibility, ideally in a sector I didn't know yet. When I saw the CPMO vacancy at Lendahand, I felt an instant click."

Bauke, According to Daniel

Daniel: "Bauke is a strong people manager and communicator. For tricky challenges on that front, I happily push him forward. Lendahand is really three companies in one: an investment institution, a retail business with an online service, and a platform. My expertise lies in investments, Bauke's in retail and platforms. He knows the platform economy inside out: how you find and keep customers, how you measure our success, and when to step in. At the same time, Bauke and his teams wouldn't attract many customers without a strong product. In our case, that means solid investments that deliver both social and financial returns. So it makes perfect sense that both disciplines are now represented at the boardroom table."

What can the team always wake Bauke up for?

Bauke: "They can call me if the website goes down, or if there's a security risk involving our investors' data or investments. Thankfully that hasn't happened yet, but we do practice for it."

Looking ahead: what's next for Bauke?

Bauke: "Right now we're mainly focused on running as efficiently as possible, with minimal spend. At the moment, a lot of projects sell out fast, so the focus is more on being able to offer new projects than on attracting new investors. That balance will shift at some point, so we're running all kinds of small tests to make sure we stay efficient once marketing spend goes up. We also hired Hanna in February, who's steadily improving all our investor communication by answering questions, sending proactive emails, running events, and refining the website pages."

Meet Daniel

Daniel will soon celebrate seven years at Lendahand. At the company level, he's weathered plenty of challenges and celebrated some major wins along the way. From the very start, Daniel has worn multiple hats: financial director, and a member of the Investments Team.

Daniel: "In the beginning, I was part of a management team made up mostly of founders. My role on the board was smaller than it is now, where Bauke and I are truly responsible for both shaping and executing the strategy." On the investment side, he now spends more time leading than executing, though Daniel always tries to stay closely involved in at least one or two deals.

"It only slowly dawned on me that Lendahand is simply a consumer business too. I used to see Lendahand as an investment company delivering impactful investments across the Global South. What I've increasingly come to realize is that it's the crowd — our loyal group of private investors — that makes our company unique. I never expected the balance between the businesses raising funds on our platform and the investors backing them would turn out to matter so much."

Daniel, According to Bauke

Bauke: "Daniel has lived through quite a few highs and lows at Lendahand, and he's deep into the world of microfinance. Before that, he spent years in finance too, so he's a real expert on the substance. Personally, we click really well. We're both transparent, we don't mince words, and we can make decisions fast. I've trusted him fully from day one. Where I'm still the naive optimist who wants to try everything, Daniel can draw on hard-won lessons from the past. Between the two of us, we'll get there."

What can the team always wake Daniel up for?

Daniel: "If a quick decision is needed on whether to list a new project on the platform. Offering loans is the heart of Lendahand because without these projects, there's no growth in investors, no financial or social return. At the same time, it's crucial that we do our homework properly and only offer projects we fully stand behind, both in terms of financial risk and our conviction in the positive impact a business makes. Those are sometimes tough calls, but I'm happy to make them."

Looking ahead: what's next for Daniel?

Right now, the platform's pressure point sits with the Investments Team, who need to onboard financial institutions faster and in greater numbers. Daniel: "We've already expanded the team, we're deep into using AI, and we're taking a critical look at our internal processes and controls to move faster. I'm hopeful that in the coming months we'll be able to offer some great new projects, including from Armenia, Sri Lanka, Mongolia, Benin, and Uganda."

Meet the Team

Lendahand has been through some tough years. The team has seen colleagues leave, both involuntarily and by choice, and the financial room is still tight. Knowing that, you'd expect a heavy atmosphere the first time you meet the team, some fatigue or low morale. But what Bauke found surprised him: "The opposite turned out to be true. The people at Lendahand are intrinsically motivated to make the world a better place. Responsibility, trust, and transparency within the team, combined with the shared goal they're working toward, are powerful drivers. Plenty of people could earn more elsewhere, but here you see the cliché that a high salary alone isn't everything actually played out in practice. There's something uniquely motivating about Lendahand."

Daniel: "Over time, the members of the Investments Team have scattered. They now work from Spain, India, and Sierra Leone. On one hand, that's a shame, since it means one of Lendahand's most important departments is less present at our Rotterdam office. On the other hand, it really shows the international character of the company, and it's genuinely valuable to have people 'in the field’."

A Day in the Life at Lendahand

In meetings, every voice carries equal weight. If someone's facing a challenge, they say so; if someone has an idea, they share it with the group. And if it's an idea worth pursuing, things can move fast. That's exactly what draws Bauke to working at smaller organizations like Lendahand: "I discovered that I actually enjoy small, digitally-driven companies the most, because things can move so quickly."

The monthly Pulse meetings are living proof of that. Daniel: "We literally take stock with all teams on where they stand, and share knowledge and experience with each other." That's how, for instance, the idea of offering guarantees on new investors' first investment came together in no time. "You get heard, and a spontaneous brainstorm just happens," Bauke agrees. "How great is that?"

For the two of them, the road ahead feels clear again. Together with the team, they're building a Lendahand that's charting a steady course once more, under its own power.