About me
Welcome to my website, where I attempt to escape the tight norms of university web presences. I’m a data-driven social scientist working at the intersection of strategy, marketing, organizational sociology—and just a little bit of chaos theory. My research explores how entrepreneurs manage the balancing act between standing out and fitting in—what scholars like to call optimal distinctiveness. I’m especially interested in how they use cultural tools like narratives, imagery, and video to navigate this space. I rely on large-scale digital data and computational methods like NLP and image recognition to make sense of how entrepreneurial ventures behave. If it’s messy, unstructured, and vaguely text-adjacent, I probably want to analyze it.
Professionally, I’m a bit of a journeyman. Born and bred in Aachen, where I completed both my studies and PhD (because why not?), I’ve since wandered through Vancouver’s stunning Sea-to-Sky corridor, Oslo’s majestic fjords, and Siegen’s deep forests before settling into my current academic home in Tilburg, The Netherlands. Taking a scenic route—from the Rockies, over Scandinavian mountains, down to a country famous for being below sea level—has made me something of an expert in downward trajectories — both geographic and academic.
On this site, you’ll find my blog — The Accidental Data Scientist — along with a peek into my research and the occasional random thought I feel like sharing. Dive in, and enjoy the ride!
How to find me
Come visit me at our lovely JADS campus in Den Bosch!
If you don’t like what you read here, feel free to show up in person and file your complaints.
We’re just a five-minute stroll from the central station — long enough to reconsider your opinions, but short enough not to change your mind.