Dirkjan Hupkes

Sharpshooter
DISC Type : DC

Founder at FundingCoach.ai

Den Haag, Zuid-Holland, Nederland, Netherlands

Overview

Dirkjan Hupkes is a passionate advocate for closing the gender funding gap, leveraging over 20 years of experience in finance and risk management to support female founders. He is the founder of FundingCoach. ai and True Story Company, and hosts the "Women Disrupting Tech" podcast to amplify the voices of women in the industry.

Outside of his professional mission, Dirkjan enjoys running to stay fit and attending soccer games. He also finds time to support a friend, who is also a female founder, by helping out in her art gallery. His colleagues describe him as social, empathetic, and an integer individual.

After two decades in financial services, he quit his job to create a more direct, positive impact, dedicating his career to addressing startup funding inequality.

Personality Overview

Thorough Evaluator

Rigorous & Demanding

Fast But Analytical

More than the product, they care about the effectiveness of the product.  They are very proud of what they do. They like to act fast and expect others to do the same.

Topics They Care About

Gender Funding Gap
His primary mission is to close the funding gap for female-founded companies by 2032, a topic central to his podcast and entrepreneurial ventures.
Women in Tech
Hosts the "Women Disrupting Tech" podcast, providing a platform for female founders and leaders to share their stories and inspire others in the tech industry.
Fintech & Compliance
Utilizes his 20+ years of experience in financial services, risk management, and compliance to help Fintech startups and scale-ups grow.

Media Appearances

Dirkjan has no verified media appearances

Work History

10-2025
Founder at FundingCoach.ai
10-2019 - 9-2025
Reputation Engineer at Meds2go
9-2019 - 9-2025
Founder at True Story Company
1-2017 - 12-2020
Social Media Buddy and Blogger at Your Social Media Buddy
3-2015 - 2-2018
Senior Operational Risk Manager at Nationale-Nederlanden

Education

1991 - 1996
Bachelor from Hanze
2018 - 2018
Facebook Business Mastery from Facebook Marketing Academy

More Information

Social Presence :

Prographics :

Exp : 10 Location : Den Haag, Zuid-Holland, Nederland, Netherlands Job Level : Leadership Designation : Founder at FundingCoach.ai
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Insights For Selling To Dirkjan

During A Call Or A Meeting

DO's

  • Refer to testimonials from well-known industry leaders
  • Make sure that you circle back fast on any action items, it wins their trust
  • Help them weigh the risks by sharing objective proof points without becoming too analytical

DONT's

  • Don’t focus on process and rules, give the impression of being a ‘gets it done’ person
  • Do not back off when challenged, respond with a confident, objective answer instead
  • Do not spend too much time focusing on product tech or features

When Cold Calling

When Writing An Email

While Negotiating & Closing

    The secret to closing fast with Dirkjan is

  • Conviction around the impact matters the most to them, followed by a sense of achievement and ROI.
  • Will you ever get a clear answer from Dirkjan

  • If they decide not to use your product, they will say no clearly.

Insights For Deal Planning

    How fast (or slow) will Dirkjan move?

  • They can take decisions very fast if you manage to convince them.
  • Can Dirkjan take some risk or not?

  • The risks don’t matter much to them.

You And Dirkjan

Personality Compatibility


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