Welcome to Tunnelday! I’m Ralph, the creator of this site, where I share insights and musings on topics that fascinate me: entrepreneurship, self-improvement, and productivity. While I don’t claim to be an expert, my journey so far has been filled with significant learning and experiences. I hope you find something here that resonates or inspires you. If you enjoy the content, feel free to drop a note.
After selling my company, I found time for reflection and to read extensively. This was a period of soul-searching following 15 years dedicated to building a business. While I felt more relaxed, a sense of emptiness also emerged. I missed creating and sharing knowledge and ideas with others. It was then that I conceived the idea of creating Tunnelday as a platform to share my thoughts, learnings, and experiences.
The name “Tunnelday” is inspired by my personal phrase, “I will be in my tunnel now,” which refers to my practice of entering a zone of intense focus on a particular project. For me, this involves preparing some yerba mate, putting on my noise-canceling headphones, and listening to a playlist to get into the zone. Let’s start digging!
My personal background
I grew up in a small Dutch town before moving to Arnhem to study Business and Marketing. My journey took me to Dublin and Barcelona for some time, and eventually, I settled back in Arnhem, buying my first home there. Now, I live near Barcelona with my wife, a native of the area, and our son.
In 2007, I graduated and landed my first serious job as an online marketer for a major travel website in the Netherlands. It was an ideal start, working alongside a talented group of young professionals. I’ve always aspired to run my own business, and feeling the need to broaden my experience and knowledge, I took on two more roles: one as an online marketing consultant and another as an SEO specialist. These experiences gave me the confidence to pursue entrepreneurship full-time.
Alongside my day job, I embarked on various side hustles with a close friend. We mainly focused on building affiliate projects. While many of these ventures didn’t work out, a few did succeed, and the entire experience was immensely enjoyable and educational. Eventually, we launched our digital marketing agency, Pure Internet Marketing, funded by our side projects. This financial cushion allowed us to leave our day jobs and dedicate ourselves entirely to the agency.
Interestingly, on the day we updated our website’s content, we received our first lead for the new business, a client who would stay with us for years. The lead never even saw our website and it was completely unrelated to the changes we made. However it was a fun fact we ofter looked back at.
We managed to build a significant client portfolio and learned crucial skills for business development. Eventually, we faced a decision: to expand our team or continue as a small freelancer setup. Driven by the ambition to grow, we decided to hire our first employee, a daunting yet ultimately rewarding decision.
This step enabled our agency to grow and become more efficient in our business strategy. Over the next years, we slowly expanded to 14 full-time employees, developing our client portfolio and learning valuable professional and personal lessons, many of which I’ll share on this blog.
My co-founder and I occasionally discussed the possibility of an exit, as we both harbored ambitions to explore new ventures. This idea remained a thought until we were approached by a potential buyer. Their approach resonated with us, promising a positive outcome for both our team and our clients.
In 2022, we sold our first company, marking the end of an era. After the sale, I left the company in the summer to start a new chapter. This transition included relocating with my family to Spain for a fresh beginning. And here I am, ready to embark on this new journey.
Note: Writing about myself isn’t my strongest suit, as I prefer to stay humble and not focus too much on my own story. However, I find personal tales from other founders truly engaging, which encourages me to share my own experiences despite the inner voice urging me to hold back.
