Wetransfer founded
N: Bas has his own communications agency and he had built a basic version of what WeTransfer is today within his company in order to send large files and save on courier costs. MW: How did the idea for WeTransfer come about?
Now we use the same full-screen advertising model at WeTransfer. Around that time I met my partner and co-founder of WeTransfer, Bas Beerens. I did that by developing a unique advertising model for the blog which involved offering full-screen advertising to brands. I went to work for a creative agency, but after a year I was finding it boring so decided I was just going to focus on the blog to see if I could make a living out of it. I left school when I was 18, and because my blog was getting picked up by a lot of people I got job offers. I see myself as a digital native, given that I’ve grown up with the internet, and the blog was a way to discover and share interesting things that were happening online and connect with like-minded people.
N: I would describe the blog as ‘lifestyle for digital natives’. MW: How did you go from blogging to setting up the file sending service WeTransfer? Now I just use the name Nalden because it’s what people know me as. I decided to call my blog, which I started when I was 16, so the whole Nalden thing became the brand. When I was younger a friend of mine started calling me Nalden, which is sort of abbreviated from Ronald, and then everyone picked up on it. Nalden (N): I’m from the Netherlands and my real name is Ronald Hans. Marketing Week (MW): Firstly, where does your name, Nalden, come from?