Roy Spit on making an impact based on pure intention

This story was first published in the Next Icons Magazine. You can read the entire magazine here.

Welcome to the club, Roy! Do you feel at home yet?

Roy: "Thank you! And yes, it was a warm welcome. Of course, I was already familiar with the organization, as Qredits is the executor of the TOP loan for entrepreneurs with a connection to the University of Twente. So I knew that the culture here revolves around helping entrepreneurs. It's not about returns, it's about serving the target group. In that sense, Qredits and Novel-T are the same. I hadn't planned to leave Qredits yet, but I was toying with the idea of ​​exploring my options. Because if I get rid of my old shoes, what do I get in return? Novel-T was the first opportunity that came along, and it instantly felt good."

So Novel-T and Qredits share the same attitude, but there are also many differences. How much affinity do you have with entrepreneurship after a whole career in banking? 

Roy: "My drive is not to make a profit myself, but to help others make a profit. When I worked at the bank, we increasingly said goodbye to entrepreneurs who were not profitable enough for the bank to support. For example, a couple of contractors needed money for a new machine. If you looked purely at the figures, the bank would tell me not to put too much time into it. However, those guys were passionate about what they did, and they truly needed that money. If you hinder that, you hinder someone's well-being and prosperity. In a pilot project, we helped those entrepreneurs, with a focus mainly on social return. Because I believe that if someone feels good about themselves, they can contribute to the economy. That's why I wanted to work with entrepreneurs, and every entrepreneur is different.”

Now, Novel-T mainly focuses on innovative entrepreneurship. How enthusiastic does that make you?

Roy: "Very enthusiastic. Here you see the developments that will have an enormous impact in the future, not only nationally, but also worldwide. Those companies are a lever for the economy. If just a single one of those businesses makes it big, you have a huge impact on employment, prosperity, and the economy. These innovative companies truly create a 'multiplier effect'."

What experience from Qredits do you bring with you to support innovative entrepreneurs?

Roy: "Qredits is unique because training and coaching are an important part of the support, and not just the credit. When you guide someone in the right way, with the right intentions, you can always find money to help an entrepreneur further. I have done that so often that I have a lot of experience in that. And whether that is support for a researcher with a fantastic technology or for an SME with AI in a production environment, that doesn't matter. We have those specialisms in-house. It's about bringing together the right people with the right networks to help an entrepreneur take the next step.

So you don't get nervous about the five founders of Novel-T that you have to keep happy? 

Roy: "No, that wouldn't be good if I got nervous about it. Besides, you don't have to be afraid as long as you have a pure intention. In my opinion, you can hardly disagree with what Novel-T stands for. You must ensure that people recognize your genuine intention and join in. You should only get afraid if you do something that you don't fully support. Then it's just work. But for me, this is much more. I can sense that in the people here, too."

By ‘more’, do you mean a sense of purpose?

Roy: “The word ‘purpose’ isn’t one I would personally use, but that’s essentially what it comes down to. I just want to do good things and help people without having to mince words, because there are commercial, business, and other interests at play. As a foundation, we strive to utilize every euro we receive to the best of our ability to support people. We have to do that smartly. The foundation doesn’t belong to anyone, not even to me. I just have to ensure that I manage the organization effectively, and that means doing everything possible to support the entrepreneurs. I only have one interest, and that is that of the foundation.”

How do you view the role of Novel-T in the broader ecosystem? Do you go for collaboration, or is it ‘Novel-T first’? 

Roy: “Then I would say collaboration. You must seek out collaboration to achieve real impact. The challenge for the region is to showcase these collaborations further. We tend not to pat ourselves on the back too much, but we do have to show what we do. Think of the groundbreaking collaboration we have with REACH. The world is bigger than Twente alone, and we have to dare to look beyond that border.”

Are you saying that the world is at our feet?

Roy: “In a sense, yes, but the risk is that we see too many possibilities. We do a lot, but with such a small team, you have to make the right choices consistently. It is better to set three dots on the horizon and make sure that there is a head and a tail to them, than to work on fifty initiatives at the same time that do not come full circle. And certainly, if a roast chicken flies by, you have to seize that opportunity. But the most important thing is that you always come back to your core and then ask the question: “Okay, and what now?” Ultimately, it's about what you do. With Novel-T, we have something unique in our hands, and we have to convey that story authentically. I don't want to turn the organization upside down tomorrow; that's not my intention. I want to look critically at what can be improved, but also certainly cherish what is already there."

About Roy Spit

Roy Spit (50) was born in Losser. He began his career in Gouda in 1997 due to the challenging labor market, at the Boeren- en Tuindersbond as an advisor in the field of insurance, investments, and credits. When he met his wife, he moved back east to Enschede, where he began working at ABN Amro (formerly known as Generale Bank). When he became office manager in Zwolle, they moved with their son and daughter to Hardenberg, where they still live today. He began to derive less satisfaction from his work in the industrial sector, which led him to establish the Qredits foundation in 2009. There, he supported entrepreneurs with credit, coaching, and training for 16 years before transitioning to Novel-T in early 2025.