I Slept in the Office After the Collapse Paolo Maria Pavan That is an ugly sentence, but it is the true one. The company had already broken in the formal sense. The numbers had spoken. The damage was no longer hypothetical. People were waiting, some patiently... Founder Journal Paolo Maria Pavan May 6, 2026 FOUNDER JOURNAL
Dutch Growth Has Almost Stopped Paolo Maria Pavan What is the situation ? Dutch GDP grew only 0.1% in Q1 2026, down from 0.4% in Q4 2025. Exports fell 0.6%, consumer spending was flat at 0.0%, and manufacturing dropped 1.8%. These sector shifts frame... Paolo Maria Pavan TODAY'S MARKET PULSE May 5, 2026 MARKET
Missing Tax Discipline Becomes Governance Exposure Paolo Maria Pavan What happened ? The Advocate General at the Dutch Supreme Court issued a conclusion on 17 April 2026 in a tax case involving a taxpayer active in real estate who had not filed Dutch income tax and hea... COURT CASE COURT RULING Paolo Maria Pavan May 5, 2026 RULINGS
VAT Exemption Requires Formal Recognition Paolo Maria Pavan What happened ? On 27 March 2026, the Advocate General at the Dutch Supreme Court advised rejecting the cassation appeal of Stichting [X]. The foundation supplied teachers to primary schools between 1... COURT CASE COURT RULING Paolo Maria Pavan May 4, 2026 RULINGS
What Panic Taught Me About Control Paolo Maria Pavan I thought it belonged to people who could not carry pressure, people who lacked discipline, people who were too soft for responsibility. I was wrong. Panic did not arrive because I was weak. It arrive... Founder Journal Paolo Maria Pavan May 4, 2026 FOUNDER JOURNAL
Oil Shock Reopens Industrial Cost Pressure Paolo Maria Pavan What is the situation ? Dutch industrial output prices rose 1.4% year on year in March 2026 after four months of decline. The monthly jump was sharper: 3.4%, the largest increase since early 2022. Oil... Paolo Maria Pavan TODAY'S MARKET PULSE May 4, 2026 MARKET
Labour Market Cooling Changes Small Business Risk Paolo Maria Pavan What is the situation ? CBS Q1 2026 figures show 378,000 vacancies, down 6,000 from the previous quarter. Unemployment rose by 3,000. The labor market tension ratio is now 91 vacancies per 100 unemplo... Paolo Maria Pavan TODAY'S MARKET PULSE May 1, 2026 MARKET
The Day Driving No Longer Felt Normal Paolo Maria Pavan Not because I was drunk. Not because I was on the phone. Not because I was reckless in the obvious way people recognise. I was simply elsewhere. My body was in the car. My hands were at ten and two. T... Founder Journal Paolo Maria Pavan May 1, 2026 FOUNDER JOURNAL
Inflation Is Now Cost-Structure Specific Paolo Maria Pavan What is the situation ? April 2026 inflation in the Netherlands hit 2.8%. The main signal is divergence: energy rose 7.8%, services 3.6%, food 1.5%, and industrial goods only 0.3%. Looking at the rece... Paolo Maria Pavan TODAY'S MARKET PULSE Apr 30, 2026 MARKET
Minimum Wage Pressure Becomes Structural Paolo Maria Pavan What is the situation ? The Dutch minimum wage reached €14.40 per hour in H2 2025, up 33.2% since 2020. That is faster than inflation at 25.2% and collective labor agreement wages at 25.1%. CBS, the D... Paolo Maria Pavan TODAY'S MARKET PULSE Apr 29, 2026 MARKET
The Fear of Opening the Next Email Paolo Maria Pavan Not metaphorically. Physically. My shoulders would tighten first. Then my jaw. Then that small hard drop in the stomach, as if I had missed a step in the dark. I remember one morning in particular. Th... Apr 29, 2026 FOUNDER JOURNAL
Investment Stalls, Assumptions Tighten Paolo Maria Pavan What is the situation ? Dutch business investment recorded 0% year-on-year growth in February 2026, after a 0.9% contraction in January. By April, conditions weakened further as consumer confidence fe... Paolo Maria Pavan TODAY'S MARKET PULSE Apr 28, 2026 MARKET
