Robert Gaal

Current

• Co-founder/CEO at Wakoopa
• Owner at 53MILES
• Co-founder/Advisor at The Roomware Project

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Past

• Founder/Chief Editor at BlueAce
• Senior Developer at Stillpoint Media
• All-round Developer at De Internet Programmeurs

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Education

• Self-taught

Recommended

7 people have recommended Robert

Connections

459 connections

Industry

Internet

Websites

• My updates

Robert Gaal’s Summary

All-round web developer and entrepreneur with a background in design and writing. Co-founder and CEO of Wakoopa, an online software discovery platform. Focus on social web applications, international business and product development.

Robert Gaal’s Specialties:

Back- and front-end web development, interface design, weblogs & writing, business development, marketing, product management

Robert Gaal’s Experience

• Co-founder/CEO

  Wakoopa

  (Privately Held; Internet industry)

  January 2007 — Present (2 years 11 months)

  Wakoopa is an online social network that helps people discover the best software, games and web applications on the market. I co-founded the company together with Wouter Broekhof in 2007.
  
  Wakoopa is a social network that helps people discover the best software, games and web apps on the market. Sign-up, install a small tracker on your desktop and automatically create your online software profile that you can share with friends and the world, also through widgets. Wakoopa keeps you updated about what your contacts are using, and sends you smart recommendations. Games, audio & video players, instant messengers or office tools: Wakoopa knows what's hot.

• Owner

  53MILES

  (Internet industry)

  October 2006 — Present (3 years 2 months)

  53MILES (previously named M80) is my own personal holding company. The name comes from the rough distance between my birth village Sliedrecht and my current location Amsterdam.

• Co-founder/Advisor

  The Roomware Project

  (Internet industry)

  August 2006 — Present (3 years 4 months)

  The Roomware Project is an open-source framework for interactive spaces. It allows developers of multiple origins to enhance any venue or event using technologies such as BlueTooth and RFID. "Roomware" is an application running in a defined space. For instance: linking people's photographs to the screens of a club, sharing musical tastes with the DJ, etc.
  
  James Burke, Tijs Teulings and me founded the project in 2006. It is currently developing people filtered art startup NARB (http://narb.me), and I've staid on board as an advisor.

• Founder/Chief Editor

  BlueAce

  (Internet industry)

  March 2005 — January 2008 (2 years 11 months)

  BlueAce was the leading Dutch weblog on technology startups and Web 2.0. I founded the blog in 2005. We also organized the Dutch Web 2.0 Awards every year, where over 150 business and 50.000 voters participated in. It was acquired by The Next Web in January 2008, and integrated into their blog.

• Senior Developer

  Stillpoint Media

  (Internet industry)

  February 2006 — September 2006 (8 months)

  Helped build and manage numerous projects like FilmTotaal, eKudos and OriginalSignal.

• All-round Developer

  De Internet Programmeurs

  (Internet industry)

  September 2003 — January 2006 (2 years 5 months)

  Worked with clients such as Osram, The City of Dordrecht and Lips on their back- and frontend presentation.

Robert Gaal’s Education

• Self-taught

  Autodidacticism , Information Sciences, Economics

  After finishing high-school I started on web development immediately. I never looked back.

Additional Information

Robert Gaal’s Websites:

• My updates

Robert Gaal’s Interests:

Technology, entrepreneurship, web applications, digital culture, mobile apps, social software, open source, interface design

Robert Gaal’s Groups:

STIKK

•    the Belgian Association for Quantitative and Qualitative Marketing Research
•    Kings of Code | A Gathering for Web Developers
•    The Next Web Conference & Blog
•    Young Scum
•    The Roomware Project
•    Dutch Creative Industry Fund - DCIF

Robert Gaal’s Honors:

Businessweeks Europe's Top Young Entrepreneur, 2007
The Next Web Awards Onstage Startup, 2008
Spinaward Best Mobile Concept, 2008
Sprout Top 25 Under 25 #1, 2008

Robert Gaal’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

• new ventures
• job inquiries
• expertise requests
• business deals
• reference requests
• getting back in touch