Without dedication and passion, there is no success. Without friction, there is no shine. Our story is about roses with the occasional sour apple.
Join us on our journey?
A Bold couple
Bold was born in late 2012. Three colleagues from a prominent Magento agency left their permanent jobs and started their own company with the motto "this can and must be better." And thankfully it was.
Encouraged by customers who have supported Bold from the start, we got off to a flying start and cautiously smoked our chimney. We focus on reliability, quality, and delivering what we promise.
The Tennis.nl news platform is launched as a startup venture in Drupal, but from day one the focus was on Magento.
We rented our first unit in the red business complex on the Panamalaan: pipe rack number 5G. Bold is up and running!
Foundation and farewell.
Hard work is being done.
We build the online shops of Krasloten.nl and PrimaOuders.nl. We also built the shops for the Dutch broadcasters NOS and NTR.
We maintain the five online shops of SportShopsDirect and those of outdoor shoe manufacturer Hi-Tec.
We hire our first employee and welcome interns, some of whom will later join us.
The foundation of Bold has been laid, but we also face a difficult and painful decision: we say goodbye to our third partner.
Bold continues as a tandem.
And that feels good: with two captains on the ship, we experience renewed energy and eagerness.
We build the online shop for NTR SchoolTV for EDG and Hygienepapier.nl on behalf of Keytoe. We take on the maintenance of wine trader De Gouden Ton.
As one of the first Magento agencies in the Netherlands, we eagerly continue to work on an automated development path.
The formula of building new shops and then taking them into technical maintenance is paying off: our support department forms our stable undercurrent.
We’re moving.
To the front of Panamapair West: the much larger space 5A which breathes much more: light, space, and view!
We are building, among others, the European webstore of Tabasco and the webshops of the commercial broadcasters NET5, SBS6, and Veronica.
We are giving the webshops of SportShopsDirect a thorough facelift in the form of a responsive redesign.
Bold is frequently flown in as an external, independent expert: we evaluate webshops built by third parties by testing them both functionally and technically.
We are building an extensive license management system for NTR SchoolTV that offers both digital and physical teaching material in a subscription format to schools.
Next-level Commerce.
In collaboration with designer Jasper de Ridder and online marketing agency AdResults, we are building the webshop for MediPreventie.nl. A beautiful end result but also a reality check for Bold: we struggle with the detail (and therefore size) of the front-end, which not only looks very different on mobile than desktop, but also needs to be very search engine friendly.
Although we pay a learning fee and have to technically bend here and there, this shop sets a new benchmark for us: our bar is set higher again.
We take our first step into the world of Magento 2 with the webshops of Van Der Eng: immediately a technically challenging project with many backend processes that are seamlessly connected by our Sidney to their production department.
Control and Agility.
The projects we undertake are becoming more extensive and complex, so we are departing from the traditional waterfall method and fixed-price projects to make way for SCRUM and post-calculation.
For the Dutch Lottery, we are rebuilding Krasloten.nl using Magento 2, integrating it with their online payment portal, the NLO Wallet. The design is being handled by BrandBuilders.
We are starting to get a handle on Magento 2 projects, and it is also clear that Magento 2 shops cannot be sold for the same price as Magento 1 and require a customer with a stronger wallet.
Internally, we are improving our automation processes, thereby strengthening our technical foundation.
Catapult against rust.
Shops are rolling off the production line and our trick is becoming routine: monotony threatens to take hold. We ring the alarm, it's time for a new impulse, a higher gear.
We bring in Forward Mentor Stephan van Bolderik and from that moment on, Bold takes flight. Together with Stephan, we remind ourselves of our identity, our values, our strength, and set ambitious goals for 2018.
What makes us happy? What type of project and client belongs (not) to that? Terms such as tailor-made, high-end and fashion are on our wishlists. We agree: we are working towards a boutique commerce agency with attractive clients who want to speed up.
Aware of our course, we choose to say goodbye to a number of clients where we miss the emotional connection to work with more care and attention for clients whose hearts beat faster. Less is more.
The pieces are falling into place.
Before the year even begins, we already know that this is going to be our most beautiful year so far, with three challenging Magento 2 Commerce projects on the horizon.
It will also be an exciting period with a lot on our plate. We're bracing ourselves: it's time to show our muscle and demonstrate what we're made of.
To get our capacity budget right, we hire two men through recruiter Sterrk who will strengthen our team for three-quarters of a year.
5A proves to be too small with 11, sometimes 12 people at the lunch table. We move to the other side of the road: Panamalaan 4B.
Seven League Boots.
We work tirelessly on the B2B and B2C webshops of Vlisco and do exactly what we are good at: customizing what is loose and tight to seamlessly integrate Magento into the organization.
For high-end fashion brand My Brand, we launch a new Magento 2 Commerce webshop with a (again) challenging design by Jasper de Ridder.
For VoorKappers.nl, we build a B2B webshop based on a design by Greymen&Co, supported by online marketing agency DLVR. We also put together an ERP connection with King Business Software.
The webshop of Krasloten gets a new look based on a design by Fabrique.
Get out there!
We realize that we have not given ourselves enough visibility. We prefer to code than to tell big stories on stage. Thanks to good word of mouth, we have never been short of clients or projects. As a result, we have not shared enough that at Bold, we are doing some really great things.
We are often told that we are too modest. We respond to this by partnering with Alexander de Kleermaeker, who screams it from the rooftops and helps us put Bold on the map.
"To PWA or not to PWA?"
Progressive Web Apps are in trend. The entire Magento community is talking about it, but we are doing it: Magento 2 PWA!
With De Voorhoede taking care of the frontend, Bold is building a headless Magento 2 backend for the women's fashion icon Loavies.
For mobility specialist Mango Mobility, we are taking on technical management, providing a redesign and a significant boost in performance and SEO.
SportShopsDirect also took the leap of faith, and we built a brand-new Magento 2.3 Commerce shop.
With the arrival of new faces, we are starting to grow out of our shell. The search for a new location has been opened for some time, but we have only caught empty hands so far.
A new coat of paint
At the beginning of 2020, we finally found our new base of operations in the form of Teleport Boulevard 128 (the One20 building): over 300 square meters, right next to Sloterdijk station. A breath of fresh air. This gives us the opportunity to always observe the one-and-a-half-meter rule even when we are fully staffed.
Former colleague Monique de Boer joins Bold. She not only brings a huge amount of e-commerce experience in the role of senior project manager but also strengthens Bold's management team.
We are so enthusiastic about Headless PWA that we are working internally on our own PWA platform. This platform will form the basis of future projects for us.
Corona bings new business opportunities for existing customers.
Although several customers immediately hit the brakes in the first week that Corona took hold in the Netherlands, we observed the opposite trend in the months that followed: our customers' online revenue went through the roof.
Therefore, 2020 was marked by new business opportunities for existing customers who wanted to give it their all, from extensive team clothing functionality and a redesign at Passa Sports (formerly SportShopsDirect) to a new website for JanvanderLeek on the VoorKappers platform.
Our entire development capacity is consumed by what are essentially support activities. There are no new construction projects this calendar year, which is a first in Bold's history.
Fresh Meat.
While it's amazing to facilitate the tumultuous growth of our clients, we also secretly crave a new task for a new client: that fresh breeze, the ability to tackle something new.
Our wish list for 2021 therefore includes (at least) two new clients with great names.
The first to arrive is Akzo Nobel, for whom we are developing the B2B webshop Sikkens Center Online based on Hyvä.
Soon after, we received growth light to work with Jasper de Ridder to build the Datona webshop in Magento 2. A great task for Bold as we traditionally do a lot that is not visible (backend), but this project is mainly frontend-heavy and therefore very visible. Let's go!
Level-up.
As we grow, so does the need for more structure, frameworks, and overview. We respond to this by, among other things, clarifying the mutual role division within the management team and sharpening our way of working and communicating.
2021 is the year in which our "new way of working" goes live: a way to set up our support department in a Scrum-like manner, with the goal of (even) more control over quality and results through better communication, QA, knowledge transfer, uniformity, and transparency. Part of this includes Peer Estimations.
We are also busy setting up our training program, "The Bold Academy," which allows us to train colleagues, interns, and graduates internally to become Magento experts, whether as developers, project managers, or consultants.
Thom and Julian form our marketing tandem and shout from the rooftops on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram about what's happening at Bold.
LinkedIn, Twitter en Instagram
Bold goes global.
In mid-2022, we landed an ambitious and beautiful Adobe Commerce project for an Italian client based in Milan. With a focus on "bleeding edge" technology, we approached this as a PWA, our first project with a headquarters not located in the Netherlands or surrounding countries.
"Be Brave, Be Bold." Looking back at recent years, it's clear that we are living up to our name: we have been pioneers in several areas, including the first in-production Hyva checkout (still in Alpha) and a PWA shop based on a pre-release Vue Storefront 2. Taking technological risks and pushing the boundaries is more important than ever to our identity.
Bold turns 10 this year.
Wow, our adventure has already lasted a decade. Time flies, but we enjoy it. Bold turns 10 in the heart of winter, but we won't celebrate big until the summer.
We are clearly getting more bulk: not only in terms of developers but also in other disciplines, we welcome various new colleagues. This is also the ambition of the management team for 2023: to work much more on than in Bold to support our growth goals.
Our "new way of working" has borne fruit: because we are well organized and streamlined, the vehicle that is Bold is scaling better than ever, without sacrificing agility or attention. Attention to each other, our shops, and our customers.
Where does our adventure and yours intersect?
Dial 020 - 303 50 76 on your phone and press 'Call' or email to [email protected]. Stop by as well: go to the Teleportboulevard in Amsterdam and ring the bell at number 128.
Join us for lunch and a good conversation about Magento?