PEPIJN VLOEMANS

Lives in Amsterdam
Writes a newsletter on progress and other underrated ideas on Substack
Startup storyteller. Worked at Fastned and Farmless and wrote for Cradle and others
Maintains a list of the most ambitious European hardware startups
Likes to visit severely underrated countries (such as Somaliland, Sudan, Eritrea, Yemen and Djibouti)
Reads books and writes mini reviews
Founded the Geefrevolutie to popularise the idea of effective giving using charity evaluators (as opposed to traditional charity fundraising which is decoupled from actual success of the charity)
Maintains a list of beautiful Dutch words
Official credentials

WHAT I BELIEVE IN

The only limits to human progress are the laws of physics
The world has gotten much, much better over the past centuries for most people
NOW is the best time to be alive
Humanity should expand throughout the galaxy
Taking naps is underrated
Humans are the only animal with a capacity for universal morality. We should cultivate this towards other people and animals.
Strong moral convictions: (1) the way we treat animals for food, clothing and materials is utterly wrong (2) we should eradicate preventable diseases globally, not just in rich countries (we know how to do this and it would not cost much) (3) if you want to change something, anything, you should probably start with yourself
Developing smaller, cheaper, simpler and lower-maintenance tunnel boring capacity is underrated and we need more startups working in this field
The ultimate bottleneck for Europe’s future is cultivating and attracting ultra-ambitious founders
Aesthetic minimalism has peaked — beauty and tradition in architecture and design of everyday objects will make a comeback

Affordable space tourism. At least low earth orbit, but preferably the moon
Mass drivers on the moon
Huge ass telescopes on the dark side of the moon for 1000X higher resolution images of the universe
First permanently inhabited Mars base
Supersonic commercial flight
Fully electric VTOLs
Tunneling startups drilling hundreds of kilometres of small-form tunnels per day
Eradication of all cheaply preventable diseases like malaria and vitamin deficiencies
Large scale land reclamation of the North Sea
A majority of global energy generated by solar
Synthetic fuels (solar power to methane / methanol) outcompete fossil fuels
Fermented proteins outcompeting animal derived proteins

When choosing a startup to join, look for the most obsessed, determined, formidable founder
A startup should be like a cult or a religion with a secret at its core
Embrace daily doses of pain, confusion and messiness as the price of your freedom
Ego is the enemy. Make a point of writing down your mistakes to the group.
Present information starting with the conclusion
You can just do things, there is no need to ask for permission
Always question the requirements that are handed to you. Chances are they were made up in ten minutes just before you joined.
See what happens when you delete parts or processes — humans are hardwired to add, not remove
Celebrate wins — it signals what you value and shows there is progress despite all the things that go wrong
Say the difficult or stupid things no one else dares to say
Be nice and spread joy

Ask questions, be genuinely curious above all else
Say the things you cannot say or that are uncomfortable to say
Tolerate silence, even if it’s mildly uncomfortable
When you disagree with someone, instead of stating your opinion, ask: what’s the best argument against this? Or: how would you summarise your opponent’s position as charitably as possible?
Raise someone’s ambitions. It’s free, it’s underrated and it works.