Sybe is a pre-master student of business administration and management at the University of Twente. He is also an ambassador at DSIF, where he works on marketing projects.
It is essential to understand what a DSIF ambassador does before discussing whether it is actually worth it or not to become one. As an ambassador, you work on projects related to the organizational activities of the fund. The board members of DSIF provide you with the necessary guidance, expertise and inspiration to carry out these projects. The type of projects you will be doing depends on your interests and capabilities. For example, as an ambassador, you can help DSIF by writing blogs or by providing support to one of the startups in our portfolio
Ambassadors of the fund focus on several projects related to DSIF’s key activities. There are five categories in total:
1. Brand/Marketing Ambassadors
The marketing team of DSIF is responsible for social media presence, website maintenance, blogging, designing. It is the creative side of DSIF, where ambassadors will work on brand awareness. If you want to enhance your creative side, join and contribute as a writer, designer, photographer, videographer or data analyst. At DSIF, we create data-driven creative content.
2. Network Ambassadors
Becoming a part of the network team means that you will actively scout new possibilities to expand the organisation. That includes looking for new partners to collaborate with, where you, as an ambassador, will practice communication skills with that! Also, the network team is responsible for event organisation, either internal training or external events for which you will be working on as well.
3. Finance Ambassadors
Finance is a vital part of the organization. Being the finance ambassador, you will add value by contributing to both the internal management of DSIF’s finances and external by looking for financial subsidies to our fund and searching for new shareholders.
4. Deal-flow Ambassadors
Looking from a broader perspective, deal-flow is about overseeing startups that either contact us directly or apply for funding through the website. In short, it is about monitoring startups that come to the deal-flow funnel, assessing them and if we see a potential, then assisting through the DSIF investment process. As a part of a deal-flow team, you, as an ambassador, will assist startups in the investment procedure, start-up monitoring and new one scouting.
5. Portfolio Ambassadors
The portfolio team manages the current DSIF startup portfolio, by keeping in touch with them and looking for their follow-up investments and subsidies. The fund has provided funding for startups such as Clairify and LoCoMogo. As an ambassador, you will contribute to the success of our portfolio startups by actively looking for startup subsidies, follow-up investments, and other activities contributing to the growth of portfolio startups.
Becoming an ambassador of DSIF is the perfect way to develop yourself as a professional and as a person. First of all, you will gain a lot of in-depth knowledge by working on one of our challenging projects. Because DSIF is an investment fund, you will certainly learn a lot about venture capital and start-ups.
Moreover, becoming an ambassador of DSIF is the perfect opportunity to expand your network. You will be cooperating with board members, other ambassadors, portfolio startups and startup investors. During the meetings, you will be able to discuss your projects and talk about all the interesting developments at DSIF. Becoming an ambassador at DSIF is also the perfect opportunity to get to know people from various backgrounds. Currently, the full team of board members and ambassadors consists of 11 different nationalities!
Finally, you will be an important part of contributing to the realization of the fund’s mission and vision. With your help, we are able to support student entrepreneurs in the region of Twente to develop their start-up!
DSIF ambassadors can be of great value to the investment fund. First of all, everyone is encouraged to share their vision and ideas. This benefits the organization greatly, as each business area is improved with new contributions that are developed by the ambassadors. Moreover, with your help on the projects, the organization can significantly enhance its key activities. Finally, DSIF ambassadors contribute to the improvement of the start-up ecosystem in the region of Twente. In short, ambassadors are vital for the Dutch Student Investment Fund. Will you be our next member?
It is not surprising that in order to contribute, time and effort is required. Luckily, the workload of DSIF ambassadors is manageable. The average amount of hours spent on DSIF projects is around 4 hours a week. Some weeks you will be busier than others. For example, during the exam periods, you have the possibility to fully focus on studying, while during the holiday you can choose to carry out more tasks for DSIF. Normally, the deadlines set by the board members indicate when you have to finish your task or project. You can then freely choose for yourself when you would like to work on them.
As a marketing ambassador, I personally got the opportunity to work with a great team of DSIF members with the same interests. During my time at DSIF, we worked on making the website more informative and appealing. In addition to that, we wrote several interesting blogs regarding various engaging topics. In meetings, we ensured that everybody is on the same page and that progress is being made. With the support of the brand director, in my case Emilija Banytė, there was always someone available to provide me with guidance and useful feedback. In my opinion, becoming a member of DSIF is a great way to develop yourself professionally and to contribute to an inspiring organization!
Do you believe that you can contribute to the Dutch Student Investment Fund? Visit this page and apply!
Any questions, feedback or requests?
Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. We’ll respond within a few days.
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