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Nele Van Damme
co-CEO, founder & believer @Upgrade Estate
Professional Background
Nele Van Damme is a dynamic entrepreneur with a passion for social intelligence, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and enhancing employee satisfaction. As the founder and co-CEO of Upgrade Estate, Nele has showcased her leadership skills and dedication to driving innovation in the real estate sector. With a rich history of founding various successful ventures, Nele has consistently demonstrated her entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to improving the workplace environment.
With a keen interest in ecology, branding, customer centricity, and innovation, Nele embodies a holistic approach to business. Her innate ability to combine strategic thinking with empathy allows her to understand both the needs of her company and the aspirations of her employees. Nele's remarkable blend of skills is underscored by her top talents identified through Buckingham's Strengths Finder, which include strategic thinking, achievement orientation, empathy, lifelong learning, and the ability to activate ideas into actionable plans.
Nele's professional journey is marked by her fearless pursuit of new challenges. She has a unique ability to transform hobbies into substantial and innovative business concepts, showcasing her creative entrepreneurial mindset. Her dedication to personal and professional growth is evident in her diverse educational background and her commitment to continuous learning. Nele's approach to entrepreneurship is not just about profit; it's about creating a positive impact on society and fostering sustainable development.
Education and Achievements
Nele Van Damme has an impressive educational background that has equipped her with the necessary skills to excel in her career. She studied a Masterclass in Digital Business at Karel de Grote Hogeschool, which provided her with insights into leveraging digital technologies for business growth. Additionally, she completed a postgraduate program in Project Management with distinction at Thomas More Hogeschool, emphasizing her strong organizational and leadership capabilities.
Nele further honed her legal knowledge by studying Real Estate Law at KU Leuven, where she graduated with distinction. This knowledge has proven invaluable in her role at Upgrade Estate, allowing her to navigate the complexities of the real estate industry adeptly. Her Bachelor's degree in Business Management from Arteveldehogeschool, also achieved with distinction, laid the foundational knowledge necessary for her entrepreneurial ventures.
In her pursuit of sustainable business practices, Nele attended a postgraduate program in Sustainable Development at Hogeschool West-Vlaanderen - Vlaamse Autonome Hogeschool, enhancing her understanding of ecological considerations in business operations. This focus on sustainability complements her other interests and is a testament to her commitment to responsible entrepreneurship.
Moreover, her participation in an Innovation Bootcamp at nexxworks highlights her dedication to staying ahead of industry trends and fostering creativity within her organizations. Nele's continuous investment in her education showcases her drive for excellence and her commitment to making a meaningful impact in her fields of interest.
Notable Ventures and Contributions
Nele's entrepreneurial journey is marked by her pivotal roles in several groundbreaking ventures:
- Upgrade Estate: As the founder and co-CEO, Nele leads this innovative real estate company, focusing on sustainable projects that align with modern ecological values and customer-centric design.
- Upliving: Nele co-founded Upliving, where she aimed to enhance urban living through unique residential solutions. Her leadership skills were instrumental in establishing a brand known for its community-focused initiatives.
- Upgrade Academy: As the founder of Upgrade Academy, Nele created a space dedicated to professional development, encouraging individuals to grow and adapt to the changing business landscape.
- Upkot: Nele's initiative with Upkot provided vibrant housing solutions for students, focused on community building and quality living environments.
- Park Inn by Radisson Brussels Airport: As a co-owner, Nele contributed significantly to the hospitality industry, ensuring that guests received outstanding service and a memorable experience.
- Prullenbos: An innovative venture where Nele combined her love for creativity and business, further showcasing her diverse entrepreneurial skill set.
Nele's work reflects her commitment to fostering environments that prioritize employee satisfaction, social responsibility, and ecological awareness. Her innovative mindset and strategic approach have positioned her as a thought leader in the intersection of entrepreneurship, sustainability, and employee engagement.
Personal Life
Beyond her impressive professional achievements, Nele is also a proud mother of three. Balancing her career and family life, she brings the same enthusiasm and dedication to her family as she does to her professional endeavors. Nele's ability to manage multiple roles effectively serves as an inspiration to many aspiring entrepreneurs who aim to achieve a harmonious work-life balance.
Nele’s personal interests and hobbies are also an extension of her professional philosophies; she is passionate about activities that promote innovation and creativity. Her holistic approach to challenges and her commitment to turning “hobbies into substantial and innovative business concepts” emphasizes her belief in lifelong learning and adaptation. This perspective not only applies to her personal interests but also permeates her work ethos, inspiring those around her.
In conclusion, Nele Van Damme stands out as a beacon of innovation and responsible entrepreneurship. With her extensive background in education, diverse professional experiences, and a passionate commitment to making a difference, she exemplifies the modern entrepreneur who values both economic success and social responsibility. Whether through her ventures or personal commitments, Nele continues to inspire many with her vision for a better, sustainable future.
Achievements
Nele Van Damme has many notable achievements, including:
- Founding Upgrade Estate, focusing on innovative and sustainable real estate solutions.
- Co-founding Upliving, enhancing urban living for residents.
- Developing Upgrade Academy for professional development opportunities.
- Leading Upkot to provide quality housing for students.
- Successfully co-owning Park Inn by Radisson Brussels Airport, emphasizing exceptional guest experiences.
- Establishing Prullenbos to combine love for creativity with business entrepreneurship.
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Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
- Network Strength: Visualizes the strength of your relationships relative to others in your network
- Timeline: Shows your relationship history with each contact
- Smart Search: Allows you to search using natural language like "People I know at the NYT" or "Designers I've met in London"
- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Mesh is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Mesh as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Mesh offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
Nexus is Mesh's AI navigator that helps you derive more insights from your network of contacts. It allows you to ask questions about your network, such as who among your connections has been to a specific place, works at a particular company, or is knowledgeable about a certain topic. Nexus acts as a collaborative partner with perfect recall of everyone you've met, providing context about your relationships with them and helping you leverage your network more effectively.
Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Mesh isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Mesh instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Mesh is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Mesh can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.