// about_third_vector
The work of building and funding companies, done AI-natively.
Third Vector helps you build and fund businesses faster and smarter. AI does the heavy analytical work, people own the judgment, and Canopy, our method, brings both into the same room: as products you run yourself, or in hands-on engagements with us.
// the_company
Product and advisory, one method
Third Vector is a Rotterdam-based firm built on a single method: Canopy, an AI-native way to build and fund businesses, faster and smarter.
The principle is simple. Automate the intelligence, elevate the judgment. AI does the heavy analytical work. People set the intent, weigh what matters, shape how the ideas are framed, and catch the gaps in context, then sanity-check the whole thing against the gut. Canopy brings both into the same room.
That method reaches you two ways. As products: packaged AI skills built by domain experts, paired with workshop methods that sharpen the human judgment layer. The skills are yours to improve and tailor to how you work. And as advisory: hands-on engagements with founders, companies, and the people backing them.
The two feed each other. Advisory tests the method against real businesses and real capital. What holds up gets packaged, so every engagement sharpens the products, and the products make the next engagement faster.
// people
People
founder
Tim de Rooij
Tim built his corporate-finance foundation at Keijser Capital and Deloitte's M&A practice, then moved into enterprise AI at Tamr, running Professional Services across the US, APAC, and Europe.
At 5CA he was Chief of Staff and Head of Product & Innovation, where he led the product and go-to-market build of AICX, an AI platform for customer support now live at 10+ global gaming studios and consumer brands.
operator advisor · gtm, scaling & ai
Friso Paping
Friso started out in investment banking and went on to co-found Sentinels, a transaction-monitoring scale-up acquired by Fenergo.
At Third Vector he advises on go-to-market, scaling, and applied AI, and co-writes The Blueishprint, the Substack on AI-native venture development.
// why_third_vector
Why Third Vector
Building and funding a venture has always demanded rigour: a sound investor case, honest economics, a market read that holds up. Agentic AI now lets that work happen faster and sharper than the traditional advisory model allows.
The advantage is in the combination. Corporate-finance depth, hands-on experience delivering enterprise AI, and a product builder's instinct for what actually ships. That combination is rare in one team, and it is the intersection Third Vector is built on.
// selected_work
Selected work
venture lead
AICX (5CA Group)— AI-native CX product live in production across 10+ global gaming and consumer brands. Tim led product management and go-to-market as 5CA's Chief of Staff and Head of Product & Innovation.
What are you building next?
If you are building or backing a venture, there are two ways in: pick up the products and run the method yourself, or bring us in alongside. Either way, we'd like to hear what you are working on.