Leadership in transformations
Connect with the essence of your organization
Board advisor · Non-executive director
Two decades in high-pressure executive roles — CFO of Bugaboo, CFO and Managing Director of CarNext, VP Finance at Philips — and, alongside them, a deep personal transformation. That combination is what I bring to boards, CEOs and investors when the stakes are highest.
Where boards bring me in
Building a standalone business while the old one keeps running.
Preparing the company, the numbers and the people for a transaction.
Restoring cash, focus and confidence without breaking the organization.
Bringing shareholders and leaders back to a shared purpose.
Capital, operating model and team for the next life stage of the company.
A finance function that connects vision to operational reality.
Track record
Plans don't transform companies. People who own the plan do.
Philips Scandinavia
The situation
A 20% growth target, a third fewer people, and two divisions to merge. A rigorous plan met quiet resistance.
The outcome
Restarted with the organization instead of for it. The co-created plan reached 34% growth at substantially lower cost.
Bugaboo
The situation
Founders disagreed on strategy, putting the company’s direction at risk.
The outcome
Brought the founders back to their shared goal. Prepared the company for the 2018 sale to Bain Capital.
CarNext (LeasePlan)
The situation
Separating a digital used-car business from its parent while scaling across Europe. Then showrooms closed.
The outcome
Built a standalone company in 12 countries, raised €500M+, moved sales online and matched pre-crisis volumes.
Boards are trained to look outward — markets, capital, structure. The decisive shift often starts with a quieter question, turned inward.
Under pressure, many leaders decide from fear: of losing the deal, the board or their position. Seeing that fear clearly is the first step to deciding well.
Ambition, the need for control, wanting to be liked: unexamined drives quietly steer strategy. Leaders who see their own patterns make cleaner calls.
Ten quiet minutes before a key decision is not soft. It is how you separate signal from noise — and a daily practice of mine.
Teams take on the state of the person at the top. A leader who is clear and steady builds an organization that can absorb change.
References
“Maarten played an instrumental and leading role in the successful carve-out from our growth scale-up division. He fostered good relationships with all stakeholders and worked diligently on structural improvements, yielding strong results. His innate ability to build strong teams, collaborate and serve as a connector made him an invaluable asset during the carve-out.”
“Maarten showed immediate leadership with strong, direct impact — building a complete high-performing finance function while redefining strategy and restructuring the business. He entered when the organization was struggling and showed extraordinary, very natural leadership. He had a pivotal role in the successful carve-out.”
“A strong CFO, with great work on strategy and restructuring of the organization. Focus and drive for delivery of strong results. A great, enthusiastic team player.”
“Holistic and strategic CFO and leader. Strong leadership in a founder-based company. A bridge builder who lets people discover for themselves that difficult decisions are sometimes needed, and creates the support and connection that people want to run for.”
“His impact on transforming our organization towards high performance has been exceptional. Through his pleasant and mature communication style, he gained the full trust and cooperation of all key stakeholders.”
“High energy, fast, smart, commercially astute and technically adept. Maarten builds great teams, forges strong relations and always takes an outside-in view. He goes for stretch and gets the job done.”
For boards, chairs and investors
Non-executive and advisory roles in scale-ups, corporates and private-equity portfolios. Independent counsel when a transition must succeed.
Explore board advisory ›For CEOs, CFOs and executives
ICF-accredited coaching for leaders carrying a transformation. Direct, clear, and grounded in having sat in the same chair.
Explore coaching ›
Why Mauna
Mauna means both. For me it stands for leading from a clear, quiet core — especially when the pressure is highest and everyone else is reacting.
It is also a personal story. Early in my career, a carefully built restructuring plan ran into a wall. Pushing harder would have broken the organization. Stepping back — and inviting people in — made it work.
Read the full story ›Start with a confidential conversation. You'll leave with a clearer view — whether we work together or not.
