Amsterdam is not the city that waits for you.
There’s competition everywhere. Young entrepreneurs on every corner. Ambitious people who talk fast, move faster, and have no problem telling you exactly what they think of your idea before you’ve finished explaining it. Passion, arrogance, directness. All in the same room, all at the same time.
So how do you survive here when you’re starting something from nothing?
Let’s be honest about the options
A bit of luck? Maybe. Born into money? That helps. Connections from day one? Sure, that opens doors.
But what if you don’t have any of that?
Then you grind.
Not the Instagram version of grinding, but the real one. The version nobody photographs. The early mornings, the late nights, the months where nothing external confirms that you’re on the right path. Just you, the work, and the decision to keep going anyway.
In Amsterdam, that’s the only currency that matters when you start with nothing. Because the city doesn’t care about your plans. It only responds to what you actually do.
The Amsterdam mentality
If you’re not willing to go for it, wait, because everyone else will pass you by.
That’s not a threat. That’s just how it works here. The city moves. People move. Opportunities move. And if you’re standing still waiting for the perfect moment, the right conditions, the green light from someone who believes in you. You’ll be waiting long.
The mentality here is simple: you don’t think about whether it’s going to work. You already know it’s going to work. And you’re busy getting there.
Not hoping. Not wondering. Knowing, and moving accordingly.
What actually separates the ones who make it
It’s not talent. Amsterdam is full of talented people who never built anything.
It’s not connections. You can build those.
It’s not even the idea. Ideas are everywhere in this city.
What separates the ones who make it is the combination of two things: they believed it before there was any proof, and they kept showing up after the proof took longer than expected.
That’s it.
Show me what you see when you think about your goals. Not the words, but the action that follows the vision. Because in Amsterdam, talk is cheap and everyone has a story. What matters is whether you’re building one.
If you’re here, building something — this is for you
L’EMPIRE started in Amsterdam. Not with investors. Not with a safety net. With the conviction that what we were making deserved to exist, and the willingness to do the work until the world agreed.
The city tested that conviction every step of the way. It still does.
But that’s the thing about Amsterdam. It doesn’t break the ones who are serious. It filters out the ones who aren’t.
If you’re serious, than keep building. The city will recognise it eventually.
THE EMPIRE JOURNAL — Built on discipline. Written with intent.