Building a billion dollar business starts with something deceptively simple: fully understanding customer pain. But where do you start? Whom do you talk to?

What challenge is your business already well-positioned to solving? For a handful of ventures, Senior Venture Builders Matthieu Bodin and Dennis List outline the brief they were given, the customer pain they discovered, and the successful businesses they incubated.

Dennis is a hands-on expert in early stage venture strategy with over 18 years of experience in a variety of roles across tech and consumer products. At Mach49, he contributes strategic expertise that helps clients develop the capabilities to become better leaders and run successful businesses.

Hailing from a family of entrepreneurs, Dennis got his first taste of entrepreneurship on a global scale when he co-founded the music hardware startup, Rocki, in 2013 and later became its CEO. Prior to joining Mach49, he worked as a Program Manager at Techstars, where he was responsible for driving and developing 3 cohort-based accelerator programs in Singapore and Amsterdam. After 5 years in the Singapore startup scene, Dennis became especially in tune with innovation and corporate ventures in Southeast Asia.

Through his extensive international venture experiences, Dennis developed a passion for helping founders navigate the foundational challenges that new companies face. Whether he's coaching New Venture Teams in how to tell their story, build a customer-centric product, find the right funding strategy, put together an effective team, or leverage networks to bootstrap early stage growth, Dennis has a gift for helping entrepreneurs create and scale disruptive organizations.

Dennis continues to mentor a handful of startups in his spare time, and currently lives in The Hague with his wife and 2 daughters.

Matthieu Bodin has both startup and corporate experience as a Venture Builder. He helps client teams maximise their strengths and drive real growth. Before joining Mach49, Matthieu was COO of a cleantech startup and worked in corporate innovation in Greater China for 9 years. Matthieu continues to be involved in the startup ecosystem through coaching, mentoring, and speaking engagements. He enjoys reading, running, and lives in the Netherlands with his family.