Listen Here

| |

Conversation
Highlights

 

Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech’s most innovative B2B founders. In today’s episode, we’re speaking with Geert Van Kerckhoven, CEO & Co-Founder of Oper, a mortgage tech platform that’s raised over $15 Million in funding.

Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:

  • Oper’s Mission: Oper is revolutionizing the European mortgage process by digitizing the journey for both borrowers and lenders. The platform aims to improve the experience from initial contact to final contract, reducing paper-based processes and streamlining mortgage underwriting.
  • Founding Story: Geert’s 20 years of experience in fintech and banking, combined with frustration from a personal mortgage process, inspired the creation of Oper. He saw a clear gap in the market for a modern, scalable solution for mortgage lenders across Europe.
  • First Customer Acquisition: Within three months of starting, Oper landed its first client who acted as a design partner, enabling the company to generate revenue from day one.
  • Early Challenges: While securing a first client quickly, the challenge was to avoid building a proprietary solution for just one partner. The focus shifted to scaling the product and acquiring more clients to broaden its market presence.
  • Go-to-Market Strategy: Oper focuses on enterprise sales with a team of experienced account executives managing relationships with banks. Additionally, they leverage partnerships with system integrators for larger, complex implementations, a key element of their growth strategy.
  • Marketing Strategy: Geert emphasizes the importance of content marketing. Oper creates in-depth reports and thought leadership pieces that educate the market, helping them scale their knowledge beyond face-to-face meetings.

 

Actionable
Takeaways

Prioritize Speed in Early Customer Acquisition:

Oper secured its first paying customer within three months of founding by leveraging an existing network and focusing on a clear, well-defined product vision. For early-stage founders, having a design partner or initial customer is a powerful way to gain traction quickly and validate your offering. It also allows you to start generating revenue from day one, which is crucial for momentum.

Avoid Dependency on Single Customers Early On:

Geert emphasizes the importance of quickly acquiring a second client to avoid building proprietary software for just one partner. Founders should be mindful of this trap and focus on scaling their product to serve multiple customers from the beginning, ensuring the solution has broad market appeal.

Content-Driven Marketing Scales Expertise:

Oper's marketing strategy focuses heavily on producing high-quality, expert-driven content. By publishing reports and sharing best practices, they’ve been able to position themselves as thought leaders. This approach allows them to scale their insights to a wider audience, building credibility without relying solely on direct sales interactions. For founders, content creation can be a strategic way to establish authority and expand reach.

Full-Stack Sales Teams Over SDRs for High-Value Deals:

Oper made a strategic decision to eliminate SDRs, instead relying on experienced account executives capable of handling the full sales cycle. This approach is particularly effective for enterprise sales with high ticket sizes. Founders should evaluate whether their sales team structure aligns with the complexity of their deals and consider moving toward more senior, full-stack sales roles where appropriate.

Founder-Led Sales is Crucial for Long-Term Success:

Contrary to the advice that founders should eventually step away from sales, Geert believes in the power of maintaining strong, direct relationships with key clients, even as the company scales. Founders involved in sales build deeper trust with customers, especially in enterprise markets. For B2B founders, staying close to sales—especially with big clients—can help ensure the company stays customer-centric and continues to win major deals.

Recommended Founder
Interviews

Snorre Jordheim Myhre

CEO and Founder of Plaace

Snorre Jordheim Myhre, CEO & Founder of Plaace: $6 Million Raised to Build the Future of Location Intelligence

Christelle Rohaut

CEO of Codi

Christelle Rohaut, CEO of Codi: $23 Million Raised to Power the Future of Modern Workspace Solutions

Luca Zambello

CEO of Jurny

Luca Zambello, CEO of Jurny: $12 Million Raised to Create a More Seamless Hotel and Airbnb Check-In Experience

Steve Berneman

CEO and Co-Founder of Blueprint Title

Steve Berneman, CEO of Blueprint Title: $24 Million Raised to Build the Future of Title Insurance Management

Biju Ashokan

CEO of Radius Agent

Biju Ashokan, CEO of Radius Agent: $19 Million Raised to Power the The Real Estate Agent of the Future

Joonas Ahola

CEO and Founder of MeetingPackage

Joonas Ahola, CEO and Founder of MeetingPackage: $8 Million Raised to Transform Venue Management

Justin Miller

CEO of Showplace

Justin Miller, CEO of Showplace: $2 Million Raised to Build a New Category of Tools For the Vacation Rental Management Market

Matt Giffune

Co-Founder of Occupier

Matt Giffune, Co-Founder at Occupier: $16 Million Raised to Build the Future of Tenant Lease Management

Tim Quirk

Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer of Final Offer

Tim Quirk, Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer at Final Offer: $11 Million Raised to Build the Future of Real Estate Negotiation

Humphrey Bowles

CEO and Founder of Superhog

Humphrey Bowles, CEO & Founder of Superhog: $7 Million Raised to Power the Future of the Vacation Rental Industry

Marc Minor

CEO & Co-Founder of Higharc

Marc Minor, CEO & Co-Founder of Higharc: $80 Million Raised to Build the Home Building Cloud Category

Cameron Steele

CEO and Co-Founder of Prophia

Cameron Steele, CEO & Co-Founder of Prophia: $16 Million Raised to Power the Future of CRE Data Management

Ned Hill

CEO and Founder of Position Imaging

Ned Hill, CEO and Founder of Position Imaging: $75 Million Raised for Revolutionary Package Management and Asset Tracking

Etrit Demaj

Co-Founder of KODE Labs

Etrit Demaj, Co-Founder of KODE Labs: $38 Million Raised to Reimagine the Building Experience

Jon DeWald

Jon DeWald of CEO and Co-Founder

Jon DeWald, CEO and Co-Founder of HELIXIntel: $17.6 Million Raised to Build the Future of Building Management

Jonathan Sukhia

CEO and Co-Founder of Topkey

Jonathan Sukhia, CEO & Co-Founder of Topkey: $7 Million Raised to Build the Future of Financial Management for Short-Term Rentals

Robert Kozikowski

Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of Tensorflight

Robert Kozikowski, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of Tensorflight: $7 Million Raised to Build the Future of Commercial Property Inspections

Michael Brown

CEO of Skyline Robotics

Michael Brown, CEO of Skyline Robotics: $10 Million Raised to Bring Automation to High-Rise Window Cleaning

William Sankey

CEO and Head of Product, Co-Founder of Northspyre

William Sankey, CEO and Head of Product, Co-Founder of Northspyre: Over $32 Million Raised to Revolutionize Real Estate with Proactive Intelligence