Booz & Co alumni interview

LED Lease alumni Founders LED Lease

Three alumni of the Amsterdam office: Eline de Rooij-Boerma, Bas van der Giessen and Gijs de Rooij Early in 2010 Booz alumni Gijs de Rooij, Bas van der Giessen and Eline de Rooij-Boerma founded LED Lease. LED Lease facilitates a risk-free switch to energy efficient lighting for professional users. Bas explains “We are independent of suppliers and offer only the best led products in hire-to-purchase deals and pay-per-lux service contracts.” In the first half of 2011, LED Lease attracted a large investment company. Can you briefly describe your current positions? Within LED Lease, Bas is responsible for finance and sourcing, Gijs for commerce and Eline for marketing. Gijs says “Led is a truly disruptive technology, which calls for a new distribution mechanism. Traditional importers, distributors, wholesalers and installers, for a large part, lack knowledge and add no value in the led supply chain. We source directly from our manufacturers, and are able to offer financed projects hardly above retail prices.” Did your experience at Booz & Company give you a strong foundation for your current position? What specific skills did you acquire at Booz & Company that help you most today? Several skills shaped at Booz came in handy in our later careers. Our strategy background allowed us to identify the LED Lease opportunity, write a very convincing business plan and acquire a strong financial partner. Eline adds “With input from our clients, we calculate the total cost of ownership (TCO) and cash flows for lighting. We have yet to meet a client who’s willing to switch to energy efficient technology just for sustainability reasons. The business case has to be clear.” Would you recommend working at Booz & Company? Booz is a pressure cooker filled with highly diverse, intelligent and funny people. For ambitious people who want to learn fast, it can be very exciting. Realize the unique environment you’re in, enjoy the people, and suck in all the stuff you can learn. But keep it in perspective: there is a world out there with lots of opportunities and many different ways to be fulfilled! To find out more about LED Lease visit their website.