What you saw from the outside was only part of the story.
Together with my brother Milan, I built Soly on a conviction: solar energy should be accessible to everyone. What started small grew into an international energy company operating in nine countries.
Today, 14 October, we are announcing our book: Ondernemers onder hoogspanning.
For the first time, Milan and I share the full story of our entrepreneurial journey. From our first customers and international expansion to funding rounds, a €200 million acquisition offer that fell through, and the eventual bankruptcy.
What happened behind the scenes? What choices did we make, why did we make them, and what lessons are we taking with us?
We write about the moments we are proud of. But also about what we learned, the doubts we faced, and the personal price of spending years building a company that becomes such a big part of your life.
We want to share what really happened and what we learned from it. For everyone who runs a business, wants to become an entrepreneur, or wants to understand what life inside a scale-up is really like.
Ondernemers onder hoogspanning, by Patrick and Milan van der Meulen, with a foreword by Ruud Koornstra.
Patrick van der Meulen
Founder & Operating Partner