Name: Steven Nelemans 

Function: CEO 

Joined: Summer 2015 

Favorite quote: “It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.” – Steve Jobs 

Can often be found: Talking on the phone.

Steven is our “man with a vision”. At once playful prankster and inspirational leader, Steven says that he brings ambition and the “will to achieve” to the company. We think, however, that he also adds an aspect of cheerful confidence that strengthens the team and carries us forward. There’s something to be said for self-fulfilling prophesies.

Why are you working at Amber?

“It sounds cliché, but for me, sustainability is the most important aspect of what we’re doing. We have the chance to dramatically reduce the pollution caused by the personal transportation industry. That’s the real reason I’m doing this. But otherwise I also think it’s really cool to ‘build’ things; to go from an idea to a tangible product, or in this case, a company. One of my sources of motivation now is seeing the Amber cars driving around on the road. I see them and I’m like, “we did that!” We took something and built it up together and expanded it. It’s gotten to the point where instead of people saying, ‘Are you sure you want to do this? Why don’t you just finish your studies’, they’re saying, ‘Oh, wow! It’s really growing and going well!’”

So you’re happy to have been able to prove them wrong?

“Well not really. That’s not my main motivation. It doesn’t really interest me if someone says ‘you can’t do that,’ because I’ve heard enough of that from people. I’m used to it. But the fact that we did this together as a team – from an idea with the four original founders to a team with more than 20 people, all with the same mission and vision – I think that’s amazing.

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What do you think is the most important contribution that you bring to the team?

“The will to always do things bigger and better. We can never go fast enough. Never be ambitious enough. That will to always go a step further – that’s what I can contribute.”

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What in your past experience or education do you think has prepared you to work at Amber?

“The combination of what I did. The fact that I studied electrical engineering but was also the team manager for TU/ecomotive was particularly helpful, I think. I was not only thinking about the technological innovation, but also ways to turn it into a real product.

When I was about halfway through high school, there was one year that I almost didn’t pass. All my friends were making fun of me because they thought I wasn’t going to make it, and my mentor at the time said something to me that I remember pretty clearly. She said, ‘You know what, I’ll probably see you again next year because you probably won’t make it,’ Then something in my brain flipped and I thought, ‘I’ll show you.’ I passed. I enjoyed watching her reaction as I walked up to her with a report card that showed an 8 (A) average instead of a 5.5 (C-). From then on I did a 180-degree turnaround.”

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What have you learned so far at Amber?

“Nothing is impossible. To see Amber go from something where it was just the four of us with an idea, saying, ‘OK, let’s just see what happens; we’ll see if it works,’ to where we are right now and what our potential is, it’s amazing. The fact that people on the other side of the world see us as a competitor for Uber, Tesla, and all these other big companies; that we’re even mentioned in the same breath as these big international players? I take that to mean that nothing is impossible if you truly work hard to make it work.”

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What do you like to do in your spare time?

“What free time? [laughs]. No actually, I like to read, and I want to be able to do that more. I also watch a lot of Netflix series, talk with a lot of people, and of course also spend time with my girlfriend [sorry ladies, he’s taken!]. I’m reading this book right now that’s really good – it’s called ‘Homo Sapiens’. It’s part of a series by Yuval Noah Harari.”

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What’s a fun fact about you that you can’t learn from your LinkedIn profile?

“Not many people know this, but I’ve played the piano since I was 13.”