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M
arco van Aggele is a Dutch
serial entrepreneur, concept
creator and father, who first
came to Vietnam back in
2004. A year later he decided to move
here with his wife and start a new jour-
ney. He has two children (aged 3 and 5),
both of which were born here. To him
and his family, Vietnam is now home,
and so long as life stays exciting they do
not plan on moving anytime soon.
With a background in social psy-
chology, his success here can be at-
tributed in part to his understanding
of human behaviour. When it comes to
business, Marco tries his best to think
both practically and outside-the-box.
He strives to bring added value and in-
novation to his companies whenever he
can by keeping an eye on the customer
experience as well as the bottom line.
To Marco, success is all about keeping
concepts simple.
“When we develop a concept, it’s
very important to be different,” he says,
“but to be different doesn’t mean that
you have to reinvent the wheel. Often
the ideas I incorporate into my concepts
are extensions of things I believe would
make my own life more enjoyable. If
I find that other people can relate to
it, then I know that idea has a good
chance to be successful.”
ONLINE VENTURE
One of these concepts is the re-
cently launched website, PassedOn
(
www.passed-on.com
). As a young fa-
ther, Marco created this online platform
hoping that his little children will one
day understand what it was like to see
them grow up. “PassedOn is a private
place where you can express your in-
nermost thoughts and wishes to the
ones you love. Every now and then
I take a few minutes to write down
messages and upload files that capture
special moments I have with my kids.
the insider
For
Marco van Aggele
, CEO of
SerenityHolding,goodconcepts
fulfillexistingdesiresrather than
creating newones. He speaks to
Timeout
about his methods and
his latest venture.
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timeout
Concepts, simplified