Buff Greebe was working in Mexico City for pharmaceutical giant GSK PLC. His kids were nearing high school age. And, he and his wife, also a globetrotting consumer brands leader, were wondering what they should do next to give their kids the best start in life possible.
The children had been going to American international schools, so the U.S. made sense. Meanwhile, the couple had been watching the consumer goods industry evolve from a battle of big players to a game of big players scooping up startups in order to give customers the innovative products they demand.
"That game was shifting because digital transformation came to CPG," he said. "Literally, you'd see CPG companies pop up over the weekend on Amazon... So in that environment that we observed, we said, 'Okay, do we want to play that dinosaur game for the remainder of our careers? Or, are we going to jump the fence, start to understand and learn about startups?'"
The family moved to Austin at the end of 2016.
"We have never regretted," Greebe said. "We love Austin."
Greebe's career has brought him around the globe, from his formative days in a small village near Eindhoven, Netherlands, to his early days with Unilever in Switzerland and bigger roles with Coca-Cola in the Czech Republic and Indonesia.
Those stints in far flung places has also helped shape his concept of a nice, long European dinner, his tastes for locally-owned coffee shops and a passion for classical music.
Now, as the new executive director of nationally-known consumer packaged goods startup accelerator SKU, he's on to his next challenge – helping dozens of CPG startups build successful brands at a time when venture dollars are scarce.
"We know for every super successful startup, there's 99 failures," he said. "It's part of the game, but it is sad. But I always say 'every challenge or every crisis is also an opportunity.' So if you are there, let's say in the snack food market and you have like 100 startups that you're competing with, that's hard to get your place on the shelf. But if 50 of those are not going to make it and you can make it and you have the funding, then all of a sudden it becomes easier for you to be successful. So you can always look at it from both sides."
SKU is gearing up to showcase two batches of startups, one from its pet care-focused cohort, another dedicated to BIPOC founders. That's slated for November 14. Meanwhile, Greebe said SKU is preparing for its next cohort of startups, which will be open to all verticals, in the spring.
What was your first job?
We had what's called a fraternity there in the Netherlands. I played a very active role there. I ended up being the treasurer of that organization, and it had about 2,000 members and we had, in those days, like $2 million guilders of revenue. So I had to run a real business. It was almost like a startup. We had staff. I was like 21, and I had the responsibility of running that business, doing all the finances, the P&L, collecting debts and all of that stuff. So that's where I got the first inspiration that I knew that I really wanted to go into business.
Before that, I had done multiple things – washing dishes, working as a tutor for students and picking fruits with the farmers where I could eat for free.
If you didn't get into business, what career path do you think you might have taken?
I would probably say musician. I am an amateur flute player, although I haven't done it for a long time. I come from a family where everybody plays either the piano or the violin, and in my case, the flute. Classical music is one of my big hobbies and pursuits. The problem is to really make it, you have to be so extremely good. It's a very, very tough pyramid to get to the top and then even then there's not much money. But I would have been passionate about that.
Who are some of your favorite music groups or musicians?
For me, it's in classical music. I very much focus on piano. That's what I love the most. I would say, top of my mind, Angela Hewitt. She's Canadian. She's still very active. Murray Perahia, he's a pianist. He's probably towards the end of his career, but I've always enjoyed his music.
Do you have any other hobbies that you pursue outside of work?
If you have three kids, four dogs and an international career, there's not much time left, right? But I try to stay fit. I walk a lot. Actually, my wife and I, we try to walk one hour every single day, go through the forest. It's healthy for your body, but it's also very healthy for your mind. That's a good way to reflect and bounce off ideas, discuss. And then there's just the other things in life that are pleasant, like traveling, going out for dinner, having a glass of wine, stuff like that.
Do you have a favorite Austin restaurant?
I love the U.S. I am very happy to be here. But one of the things I like more in Europe is the eating and drinking culture. People take more time for dinner. It's more like a social event. It's not only the function of feeding yourself, it is about being together with friends, with family, having a drink, it can take easily two hours. Whereas in the U.S. everything is very efficient.
I'm not criticizing it at all. It's just different. But, as an example, there's this Italian place downtown, Numero28. It's, for us the only authentic Italian restaurant we've had so far. They tried to recreate the European atmosphere, and that's why it's a very simple but great atmosphere. I love it. I also love places like True Food Kitchen because it's very nice and they have good food and service.
Do you have a favorite movie or TV series?
I am very much into historical fiction, but also historical documentaries, especially since the beginning of the 20th century. I'm very interested in geopolitics and history. So I will watch anything, and I recently watched "Oppenheimer," which I thought was an absolutely amazing movie.
When I was in Mexico, I started watching "Narcos." That's amazing, and it's so true. I always try to bring things in perspective and make the connections to real life.
Title: Executive director, SKU
Age: 60
Family: Wife, Carolina; kids, Alex (23), Helena (21) and Thessa (18)
Education: University of Groningen, The Netherlands
Email: buff@sku.is
