Spargle meets Gijs Raaijmakers
Interim Business Analyst & Product Owner at Bidfood
Podcast: ‘Wisdom from the top’ by Guy Raz
Book: ‘Steve Jobs: A Biography’ by Walter Isaacson
Documentary: ‘The last dance’ by Jason Hehir
“What I appreciate about freelance work is the opportunity to take on various time-bound projects and always find new challenges.”
What is your current role, and have you done this before?
I’m currently working at Bidfood as both a Product Owner and Business Analyst. I’ve held similar roles before, my career began in consultancy: five years at ITDS, where I worked as a Business Consultant and eventually Associate Manager, fulfilling multiple roles at companies as Business Analyst, Product Owner, and Test Coordinator.
After that, I joined bol.com as a Senior Business Analyst. I often stepped in as an interim Product Owner when needed, which gave me more experience in that area. Later, I worked at Channel Engine and Vattenfall, again sometimes combining both Business Analyst and Product Owner responsibilities. I often join a company in need of a Business Analyst, but needs or roles change and I also take the role as Product Owner.
Ideally, these are separate roles, but in compact teams, a Product Owner can also take on Business Analyst duties. The two roles complement each other well: the Product Owner sets priorities and liaises with the business, while the Business Analyst handles the details and translates Business requirements to user stories for development.
What’s your background, and how did you get into this field?
I actually started in psychology, focusing on business and organisational psychology. After my bachelor’s, I moved on to business studies in Amsterdam, completing a master’s with a strategic focus. The transition wasn’t difficult, because of the overlap with my earlier studies.
From there, I joined a consultancy traineeship at ITDS, where I was introduced to the IT side of things. That’s where I started linking business and IT. I like being in that intersection, especially working on implementation projects. That’s also what I appreciate about freelance work: the opportunity to take on various time-bound projects and always find new challenges.
How did you start your own company, GIZMO?
At bol.com, my team was responsible for building the tools for partners selling on the platform, and I wanted to look deeper into what it actually takes to be a seller. Early on, bol.com encouraged employees to sell products themselves to better understand the customer experience. So, I started my own bol.com shop, and after a while, it did quite well and grew significantly. I always had the ambition to be an entrepreneur, and this was a nice low-risk first step into this world.
Eventually, I decided to leave my job and pursue it full-time. That decision was also influenced by a shift in company policy, so it became less acceptable to sell on bol.com while working there. I felt it was the right time to focus fully on GIZMO.
I ran the business full-time for about eight months and started exploring the idea of designing my own products. I felt most pet products, especially for cats, are often very ugly. I wanted to offer pet products that were both functional and added value to your interior. Starting with the biggest eyesore: the litter box.
Designing and producing a new product turned out to be a long and expensive process. It had to meet factory standards, and creating production molds is expensive. That’s when I decided to take on freelance work again to support the development and keep myself busy in the meantime. As most of my business, such as fulfillment, is outsourced.
“In a Business Analyst role, you’re constantly breaking down large features into smaller, manageable tasks.”
What knowledge helped you build your company?
Good question. My experience as a Business Analyst really helped. In that role, you’re constantly breaking down large features into smaller, manageable tasks. I used the same approach when building my business: setting a goal, mapping out what’s needed, and dividing it into actionable steps.
That said, I’m not skilled in every area. For example, marketing isn’t really my strength, I’m more analytical and tend to focus on the thinking and planning side rather than the creative. In areas where I lacked experience, I tried to manage things myself as much as possible, but sometimes I could ask for some help.
Fortunately, tools like AI have made a big difference. It’s incredibly helpful for entrepreneurs today, because some tasks that used to require external support can now be done independently with the right tools.
You said you’re currently doing two roles. How do you avoid developing a one-sided perspective?
At Bidfood, that’s a bit easier to manage because there’s a counterpart to my Business Analyst role on the implementation partner’s side. We’ve divided responsibilities in a way that works well: I can define my time clearly between Product Owner and Business Analyst tasks.
As a Business Analyst, I focus more on future functionalities, which needs a deep understanding of Bidfood’s internal business. The counterpart Business Analyst focuses more on how to translate the current functionalities into features for the new system we’re building. This division helps keep perspective and balance. Meanwhile, as a Product Owner, I can weigh both and try to maximize the value of what we are delivering.
“Sometimes new technologies open up entirely new ways for driving value.”
What big challenges are you encountering in your role(s)?
Although I can’t really get into details on it, the project itself is quite large. That’s already a big challenge in and of itself. But it’s not just about replicating what we currently have; it’s also about improving and adding real value.
We try to improve user experience and introduce smarter, more frictionless interfaces, while also prioritising new functionalities that may take more effort but also provide much more value.
A project like this gives us the opportunity to adopt new technologies and capabilities that weren’t previously possible. Sometimes these open up entirely new ways for driving value. The key challenge is balancing the need to replicate core functions without delaying delivery, whilst still integrating features that generate real impact. For example, if a feature might slow the timeline slightly but might increase revenue significantly, it’s certainly worth exploring.
What are some ways you try to strike that balance?
At Bidfood, I’ve tried to introduce more structure through a product development cycle. It’s a framework to capture and evaluate high-value ideas, which can evolve into standalone projects. Similarly we introduced the WSJF model: a formula that helps evaluate and compare projects, even if they’re very different. Each project is scored based on various factors: effort (how much work is involved?), enablement (does it unlock future opportunities or value, even if its own value is limited?), value (what revenue or impact does it bring?), time sensitivity (is it urgent?) and lastly complexity (how complex or uncertain is it?). This provides a method to compare projects of all variations with different use cases and needs. We will be using it to guide product development decisions more objectively and transparently.
What trends do you think are important in the current market?
At bol.com, we already worked with a microservices architecture. And you have been seeing more and more companies over the years taking a similar approach moving towards a composable architecture, meaning you can replace or upgrade specific components without having to replatform the entire system. This trend has been growing across many companies for a while now. I think bol.com was quite a front-runner in that area, and it’s interesting to see other organisations and SaaS Solutions following suit.
Of course, I also see growing potential in AI. Not necessarily in replacing our work, but accelerating our work. It’s definitely something business should focus on right now, otherwise you are missing big opportunities. At Channel Engine we immediately started looking into how to integrate AI in the tooling to make customer’s work processes easier.
“I always try to observe what I admire in others and adopt those skills or qualities myself. Maybe that’s the Business Analyst in me.”
Who inspires you and why?
I find inspiration in a lot of people, so there’s no single role model for me. It could be a well-known figure, or it could just as easily be a colleague, friend or acquaintance. I always try to observe what I admire in others and adopt those skills or qualities myself. Maybe that’s the Business Analyst in me trying to break down people’s strengths and see how I can apply them to my own growth. It’s about picking the best elements and building on them.
What’s your favourite documentary, podcast, and book?
I really enjoy Wisdom from the Top by Guy Raz. He interviews CEOs and leaders from a wide range of industries and backgrounds. I find those stories and insights very inspiring.
When it comes to books, I really like biographies, especially those about entrepreneurs. I found the biography of Steve Jobs really interesting. I guess that ties in with what I mentioned earlier: I don’t have one fixed role model, but I like to learn from many different people.
As for documentaries, I really liked the one about Michael Jordan, I think it was called The Last Dance. It was fascinating to see his mentality, how he faced setbacks and single handedly turned around games. That kind of resilience is really powerful.
