Field Notes · 2015 — Present

Maxime Vanden Berg.

Builder. Some things landed. Most taught me something useful about how to build the next one.

Bangkok Brussels Hong Kong Kigali Luxembourg
The journal
A note before you read
Started writing this journal in Bangkok, May 2026 — a decade after the first event.

This isn't a résumé. It's a field journal — a working record of what I've tried since 2015. Two stacks: my own ventures, and the engagements I've delivered for others. Events, food, sourcing, education, cannabis, wellness, AI. Some things shipped. Some paused. A few simply broke.

The pages below say what each project actually was, what I built, what broke, and what each one cost to learn.

I don't hide the projects that didn't work. They're proof I've been close enough to execution to understand what actually breaks.
The work

Two stacks. Hover any line for a one-line read; click for the full chapter — what I built, what broke, what it taught me.

Ventures

9 projects of my own — founded, co-founded, owned.

01 / 09 2024 → Research Terra P — private wellness research Long horizon, no commercial intent. With a senior collaborator in Hong Kong.
02 / 09 2026 Stand-by GINGR. — ginger concentrate, Thailand Concept ready. Waiting for the cash structure the category demands.
03 / 09 2025 → Active RF+UD — human-led, AI-accelerated, command-governed Launch partner & operator for serious ventures. Partner at rfud.io.
04 / 09 2024 — 2025 Explored Cannabis Ventures — Union, genetics & brand, Thailand Backed an operator I believed in. The market broke us. Tuition paid.
05 / 09 2022 — 2023 Shipped Intego Academy — co-founder & MD, 15-person training co., Kigali Sold workshops to UNDP, the World Bank, BRALIRWA (HEINEKEN), the EU Delegation Rwanda, and Rwanda's Ministry of Youth & ICT.
06 / 09 2019 — 2023 Built Creadustry ASBL — creative entrepreneurs, Belgium Nearly four years bridging artistic projects to business structure.
07 / 09 2019 — 2021 Paused Take It Fresh — connected-fridge food brand A food brand built on connected self-service fridges. COVID killed the placement thesis.
08 / 09 2018 Shipped The Snow Trip — self-organised group ski trip, Belgium The first structured venture. Sold, coordinated, delivered — age 18.
09 / 09 2015 — 2018 Shipped Events & Nightlife — promoter at 16, then ran my own The apprenticeship in selling, coordinating, getting paid.

Engagements

5 projects delivered for others — via RF+UD or as consulting work.

01 / 05 2026 Active Yoopi — the fresh market at your door, Waterloo A weekly curated fresh-market delivery, co-developed via RF+UD for a Waterloo founding team.
02 / 05 2026 Delivered Pasta & Basta — frozen sauces, Bangkok A premium frozen pasta sauce brand delivered for a client via RF+UD.
03 / 05 2023 Delivered Paramour ASBL — cultural hub, Brussels A pop-up cultural space tucked inside the European Quarter — I worked on the launch.
04 / 05 2021 — 2022 Delivered Carexperience — consulting, Luxembourg A founder asked for my read. I stayed twelve months to help him launch.
05 / 05 2020 — 2021 Delivered XML MED — PPE deals & CBD joint venture Privileged PPE supplier to the Belgian government. Led a 6-month JV with Greenhouse.
Lessons

Six things I learned the hard way. Each one cost something.

These lessons cost real money, real time, and a few real friendships. They earned their place here.
01

Vision creates momentum. Focus creates results.

From — Take It Fresh, Cannabis Ventures
02

Underfunded doesn't only mean financial pressure. It changes the quality of every decision.

From — Take It Fresh, GINGR.
03

Validated skills aren't validated execution. In regulated markets, operator resilience has to be locked before pressure arrives — not after.

From — Cannabis Ventures
04

A brand without distribution is just a nice presentation. Product, channel, and repeat purchase come before aesthetics.

From — Pasta & Basta, GINGR.
05

An MVP isn't meant to impress. It's meant to test the riskiest assumption — usually: will someone pay for this twice?

From — almost everything
06

Selling time isn't the same as building a system. The real business is in owning the contract, the delivery, and the margin.

From — Carexperience, Intego Academy
Currently

Three threads running, plus an open door.

RF+UD
Human-led, AI-accelerated consultancy for serious ventures. Launch partner & operator — turning business chaos into governed execution. Partner at rfud.io.
Active
Yoopi via RF+UD
The fresh market at your door — weekly, in Waterloo. Co-developed via RF+UD for a founding team already operating the delivery network. Launching summer 2026.
Active
Terra P
Private research thesis in wellness, with a senior collaborator based in Hong Kong. Long horizon, no commercial intent for now.
Research
Open for via RF+UD
Consulting mandates where execution is the gap — positioning, launch, operations, AI integration. Human-led, structured, outcome-driven. Brought through RF+UD or direct.
Open

Let's talk

Got something you're building?

A venture, a side bet, a project that needs a second mind — I'm easy to reach.