Marjolein ten Haaft
Manager
Marjolein is passionate about the heat and energy transition, she specializes in defining and rolling out the strategy and implementation plans for the challenges of heat companies, energy suppliers and grid operators.
Mark Knijnenburg
Manager
Mark is a results-oriented consultant who thrives on solving complex problems. He is positive, driven, and motivated to make a positive impact on clients.
Anouk Roosenschoon
Consultant
Anouk is an enthusiastic and eager-to-learn consultant with a passion for the energy transition, sustainability, and sports. She truly enjoys working with others and uses her adaptability and pragmatism every day to achieve successful results.
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It’s a familiar dilemma for consultants: should I choose the freedom of self-employment or the collective strength of a firm? nlmtd was founded so you don’t have to choose: as a self-employed professional, you can work on impactful projects as part of a close-knit team. Mark Knijnenburg, Marjolein ten Haaft, and Anouk Roosenschoon made the switch from a large firm to nlmtd. They share their experiences with the Amsterdam-based agency’s unique entrepreneurial model.
Bringing about change. It is one of the defining characteristics of the consulting profession. In 2018, Pieter Paul, Korik, Tom, and Mike decided it was high time to not only do this for clients but also to shake up the consulting industry itself. They came up with a completely new vision of what a consulting firm could be: nlmtd was born.
Eight years later, it’s clear they were on the right track: nlmtd now has nearly 160 consultants working out of Amsterdam and Copenhagen. Among them are Mark Knijnenburg, Marjolein ten Haaft, and Anouk Roosenschoon. After starting their careers at a large consulting firm, they decided to take the next step in their careers at nlmtd.
“nlmtd is a consulting firm for entrepreneurs who want to do impact-driven consulting work,” Mark explains. “We work as independent contractors, but together we form a single team. That way, you combine the freedom of self-employment with the strength and connection of a real firm.”
In a nutshell, this is nlmtd’s unique business model. But how does it actually play out in the day-to-day work of its affiliated consultants? We’ll walk through the three key ingredients of the formula—freedom, unity, and impact—with Mark, Marjolein, and Anouk.
Freedom, Responsibility, and Trust
First, there’s entrepreneurship. This comes with a great deal of freedom. “You decide for yourself how many hours you work, where, when, and at what rate,” says Mark.
“nlmtd focuses on carrying out impactful projects, regardless of how small or large the client is,” Marjolein explains. “I decide for myself where I want to add value. For example, I just helped set up an entirely new heating company. How often do you get the chance to do something like that at a large consulting firm?”
“Because we take an entrepreneurial approach as consultants, you end up working in a more pragmatic way,” Mark adds: “Fewer status meetings and more direct impact.”
Freedom goes hand in hand with responsibility. “Once you make a commitment, you have to follow through on it, of course,” Mark says. “But you’re responsible for the quality of your own work, and there’s no partner overseeing the project.”
“We operate on the basis of trust,” Marjolein adds. “Quality control is primarily focused on the front end—specifically, the thorough application process, which assesses whether you’re a good fit for nlmtd’s business model and culture.”
From left to right: Anouk, Mark, and Marjolein
That also means that experienced professionals in particular can start out as freelancers at nlmtd. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a place at the agency for other interested individuals or young professionals: nlmtd also offers the option of becoming a salaried employee. Anouk took advantage of this opportunity.
“I didn’t feel experienced enough to start my own business just yet,” she explains, “but now I can get a sense of it by observing others: What’s involved? What are the benefits and risks? And yet I now experience much more freedom and trust. For example, within projects, I’m given plenty of leeway to take responsibility on my own. Before, that was more strictly defined.”
One close-knit group
The second ingredient in the nlmtd formula is unity. “I may be self-employed, but I’m not alone,” says Marjolein. “That’s incredibly valuable to me. We’re a close-knit group—really fun to be around and great when you want to bounce ideas off an experienced colleague about an assignment. No matter what the topic is, there’s always someone who knows everything about it.”
“And despite the differences in seniority, there’s no hierarchy,” she adds. “That surprised me when I started. We do have titles, but they’re more for showing the outside world how much experience someone has.”
At the same time, nlmtd is indeed a genuine consulting firm. “With a permanent office and opportunities for training, coaching, marketing, business development, and so on,” Anouk sums up. “Thanks to the strong reputation we’ve built, you can also take on larger, more impactful projects than you could as a freelancer.”
All of these services (and more) are funded by the 20% of the hourly wage that all self-employed professionals pay to nlmtd. In addition, 12% goes to the person who secured your assignment. “It’s a very fair and transparent distribution of value,” says Marjolein.
The separate sales commission encourages consultants to actively seek out new projects. “Sales is an essential and challenging part of consulting, but learning how to do it well often remains somewhat implicit within traditional firms,” Mark notes. “Here, you’re much more encouraged to reach out and try it yourself, with the support of our senior colleagues’ vast network.”
It fits with the emphasis on entrepreneurship. In line with this, the entire team is also working together to build nlmtd. “Here, you’re very closely involved in the strategic decisions that are made and can actively contribute to the direction of the company,” Anouk explains. “nlmtd is driven entirely by its consultants.”
A Better World
The third and final ingredient of the formula is impact: working at nlmtd means helping to build a future-proof economy by contributing to the major transitions of our time.
“Our goal is for at least 80% of our projects to have a net positive impact,” Mark explains. “For every project, we conduct an impact assessment: to what extent does the client contribute to a better world, and what is the impact of the project itself?”
Mark, Marjolein, and Anouk, for their part, focus primarily on the energy transition. For example, Mark recently completed a major project for a grid operator that is working hard to upgrade the power grid.
Ensuring that we, as a society, can move forward is a very important motivation for me
“We’ve developed a methodology that allows us to determine, based on raw data, which parts of the low-voltage grid need to be addressed, when that should happen, how it should be done, and which implementation chain is best suited for the task,” he explains. “They are now using this methodology to proactively address grid congestion, one of the major challenges we face today.”
“That’s what appeals to me so much about this sector,” Anouk adds: “You’re directly helping to keep society running. If the grid reaches its limits, new homes can no longer be connected, businesses can no longer grow, and the transition to sustainability slows down. Ensuring that we, as a society, can move forward is a very important motivator for me.”
Doing Business Together to Make a Difference
Together with the other ingredients, this mission forms the formula that makes nlmtd unique: doing business together to make an impact.
“This is another thing we have in common,” says Marjolein: “We’re all energetic, intrinsically motivated people who want to do meaningful work. And by doing that together, we strengthen each other in that ambition.”
“I’m grateful that I had the opportunity to learn the trade at a large consulting firm and had a fantastic time there, but I’m also very happy that I subsequently chose nlmtd,” Anouk adds.
“We get to decide for ourselves how and where we add social value, are fairly rewarded for it, and benefit from the strength of a strong team,” Mark concludes. “That way, we combine the best of both worlds with what’s best for the world.”
