About Us

OUR HISTORY

Apollo Executive Search was established in 2016 by former strategy consultants and entrepreneurs Peter Zeeuw van der Laan and Maarten van der Kwaak.

The company started out by connecting some of the most successful private equity funds and fastest-growing scaleups in the Netherlands to top-tier candidates exiting strategy consulting through a members-only platform ConsultancyExit.com.

In the years that followed, Apollo has expanded its services and established itself as one of the foremost executive search partners for investors and founders of mid-size growth companies in the Dutch market who are seeking to attract local or global C-level talent.

We have built an especially strong track record through lasting partnerships with many well-known investors both in the Private Equity and Venture Capital space. To date, we have partnered with 100+ clients and have successfully completed 200+ searches.

CAREERS

We are always looking for prospective colleagues with a background in business or consultancy and a strong interest in a diverse set of industries.

Our own backgrounds are wide-ranging from a former CFO of a SaaS scaleup to a Harvard-educated PhD to former consultants, and we very much welcome additional diversity.

If you are an experienced professional with a strong interest in business and people you can get in touch by emailing peter@apolloexecutivesearch.com.

Our Consultants

Peter Zeeuw van der Laan

Managing Partner

Peter works with entrepreneurs and investors across industries and functions, specialising in private equity (portfolio companies), technology scale-ups and strategy positions.

Peter is Managing Partner and co-founder of Apollo and has worked in executive search since 2016. Prior to Apollo, Peter worked as a consultant at McKinsey (between ’10 and ’15) and as Managing Director / co-founder of Carmudi Indonesia with Rocket Internet. 

Peter graduated cum laude from TU Delft with an MSc in Applied Physics after exchanges to Zurich, China, Singapore and Barcelona. 

Peter enjoys sailing and cycling through the French countryside with his girlfriend Lisette.

Contact: peter@apolloexecutivesearch.com +31683620129

Maarten van der Kwaak

Managing Partner

Maarten works with entrepreneurs and investors across industries on C-level executive searches and succession plans. Maarten works closely with especially Private Equity on their portfolio operations.

Before co-founding Apollo, Maarten built a number of successful recruitment businesses including Legal Top Talent that he founded as a student, The Legal Bench, ConsultancyExit and MatcHR, which serves leading tech companies worldwide. He began his career as a strategy consultant at Roland Berger in Amsterdam.

Maarten has MSc degrees in both Law and Economics (with distinction) from the University of Groningen and an MBA from INSEAD (Dean’s list).
Maarten as a former skiing instructor is a skiing enthusiast and has been holding a season ticket at Ajax with his father for years now.
Contact: maarten@apolloexecutivesearch.com +31630569794

Nadine Collet

Partner

Nadine works with CEOs, founders/ entrepreneurs and investors across a broad variety of industries. Her specialism (and passion) is building successful management teams in complex settings such as the next phase of growth in start-ups/ scale-ups, or family-owned companies in need of transformation (often triggered by a change of ownership).

Prior to joining Apollo, Nadine was CFO at SecurityMatters, a VC-backed cyber security software scale-up, where she helped, next to her finance function, significantly to form the management team, build the advisory board and lead the strategy development. She started her career as a strategy consultant at L.E.K. Consulting in London and Shanghai.

Nadine holds a BSc in Economics from the University of Heidelberg, in Germany and has an MSc in International Management from ESCP-EAP Business School in Paris, France.

Together with her husband and children, Nadine loves the outdoors and can be found all-year round running (with and after her children), playing Tennis, skiing and biking.

Contact: nadine@apolloexecutivesearch.com +31621487503

Mayke van Gelder

Executive Search Consultant

Mayke works with entrepreneurs and investors across industries on executive search and executive assessments including for a range of senior strategy roles.
Mayke joined Apollo from Eden McCallum, a leading freelance strategy consulting firm where she was a Manager shaping and delivering successful consultant teams in strategy, operations and organisation for clients including 40% of the AEX. Earlier, Mayke had been Programme Manager at the Dutch Research Council focused on investments in groundbreaking innovative research.
Mayke obtained an MSc in Developmental Psychology from the University of Amsterdam.
Outside of work, Mayke loves to spend time with family and friends combined with good food and wine.
Contact: mayke@apolloexecutivesearch.com +31647408823

Jan Visser

Principal Consultant

Jan works with entrepreneurs and investors across industries on C-level executive searches as well as searches for senior strategy, commercial and operational roles.
Before joining Apollo, Jan built and managed a team of marketing & sales professionals at ANWB, growing some of the ANWB’s largest products and partnerships. Prior to that Jan worked as a strategy consultant and manager at Nolan, Norton & Co. and EY, focussing on growth strategies, strategic sourcing, commercial due diligence and organizational design. During his careers Jan has had the pleasure and opportunity to build successful teams in several capacities.
Jan graduated from TU Delft (MSc) as a transport and logistics engineer. During his career he further developed his management skills at TIAS and ESADE.

Jan enjoys family live with his wife and two children and likes to spend time on cooking, reading and running through Amsterdam’s parks.

Contact:
jan@apolloexecutivesearch.com +31653746563

Jessica Kraintz

Executive Search Consultant

Jessica works with entrepreneurs and investors across industries on executive search and executive assessments including for a range of senior strategy, commercial and operational roles in tech-driven companies.
Jessica joins from Avonwick Group and has over a decade experience in executive search within asset management and banking. Prior to recruitment she worked in structured finance at Newedge (Soc Gen), BGC and Crosspoint Capital. Jessica has also worked in fund raising for asset managers including the CLO manager Princeton Advisory, various hedge funds, private equity and most recently with Riverrock European Capital (a Roland Berger founded investment firm) in London.
Jessica received an MSc from the London School of Economics in Political Economics focusing on risk and regulation in developing countries. She received a First (Hons) on her dissertation which featured an in-depth socioeconomic field-study in Serbia where she worked with KMPG.
Jessica is originally from Seattle but hates the rain. She is very passionate about foreign languages and speaks French and Spanish fluently as well Italian, Serbo-Croatian and a bit of Slovenian with her family. Most of her spare time is spent in the gym, dancing salsa or trying out new vegan recipes.
Contact:
jessica@apolloexecutivesearch.com +33768340655

Thirza Wolfs

Principal Consultant

Thirza supports entrepreneurs and investors across industries on their C-level search and assessment needs.

Prior to joining Apollo, Thirza worked at FMCG multinational Diageo, focusing on Executive Hiring for the top 200 positions globally. Previously Thirza worked for 15+ years with international executive search firms Spencer Stuart and Russell Reynolds Associates. advising clients on leadership across the Consumer Goods, Retail and Technology sectors.
Thirza graduated from VU University Amsterdam (MSc) in Political Sciences.
She enjoys spending time with her husband and three children and is passionate about Italy, cooking, culture & art. She is a keen practitioner of outdoor activities including hiking, skiing, cycling and yoga.

Contact:
thirza@apolloexecutivesearch.com
+31655502942

David Jones

Executive Search Consultant

David works with entrepreneurs and investors across industries on C-level executive searches as well as searches for senior strategy, commercial and operational roles.
Before joining Apollo, David spent four years in a boutique executive search headhunting senior talent from Director to VP levels from tech companies, particularly recruiting from e-commerce and marketplace pure players, placing candidates into Fortune 500s in the Retail and Consumer Goods sectors across a broad range of functions. There he built the research function from scratch and enjoys working on challenging engagements that require a strong research focus.
David received his Ph.D from the University of York focussing on the comparative history of state formation and governance in the post-revolutionary Americas. He received both his Masters and Bachelors from York, receiving First Class Honours for his Bachelors, again in History.
David is originally from Wales but now lives in Barcelona, preferring the climate and comparative absence of rainy weather. In his spare time, David likes long hikes along the coast of Catalunya, swimming, and all things football-related.

Contact:

david@apolloexecutivesearch.com

Contact

To explore a potential partnership for a search, please contact one of our Managing Partners (Peter Zeeuw van der Laan and / or Maarten van der Kwaak)

CONTACT FOR CANDIDATES

If you are a potential candidate for one of our open positions, please visit our candidate platform below

Aside from highlighting your profile, seeing and applying to vacancies on our platform, you can reach us at info@apolloexecutivesearch.com or call us at +31 970102051

Our office adress:
Jachthavenweg 109-A
1081 KM Amsterdam
+31 970102051

Please respect our policy that we do not engage into conversation with candidates cold calling one of our Managing Partners if there is no prior relationship. We share our phone numbers to allow potential clients make contact and explore a potential partnership for a search.

If you are a candidate looking for contact, please sign up to our platform. As a candidate with a specific question, you can email us at info@apolloexecutivesearch.com or call at +31 970102051

FUNCTIONAL

Leadership positions

Investment roles

Non-executive board

Strategic positions

OUR TYPICAL CLIENTS

The Company we keep

We have successfully partnered for CEO, COO, CFO, CCO, CMO, CTO and strategy positions at