About Arjen Maarleveld
I help leaders think clearly and work effectively.
Most of my clients already know what they’re doing. What they want is an outside perspective, the opportunity to think out loud, someone who’ll push back when it helps and someone to hold them to what they decided.
How I got here
I spent four decades in technology before I turned to coaching and consulting. It began on Sand Hill Road in the mid-1980s, at a startup that sold a little database product called Oracle. They sent me to Hong Kong to open up Greater China, and by the time I came back two years later the company had gone public and I hardly recognized it.
After that came Apple, in product management across Apple International, Apple Pacific and the R&D group in Cupertino. Then twenty years in telecommunications, supply chain and software: Telecom New Zealand, Alcatel and France Telecom (now Orange) in Paris, GS1 in Brussels and Esko in Ghent.
I went back to New Zealand as COO of Tait Communications and later as CEO of Vega Navigation, where revenue grew 47% and the business went from a loss to a profit. Then I became President of Avtec in South Carolina. I led the sale of both Vega and Avtec, in each case above what the shareholders had been expecting.
Most recently I co-founded a Canadian startup and set up its US operation. In 2021, I began the work I’m doing now.
During my years in tech, I did a lot of negotiating: M&A and post-acquisition integration at Alcatel, Esko and France Telecom/Equant, as well as a variety of client and partnership arrangements. Over that time I learned to see negotiation as both a science and an art, and now enjoy helping others to negotiate more effectively.
Why I do this work
Looking back, what I found most fulfilling was the time spent coaching colleagues and team members.
I often tell people I wish I had a coach earlier in my career.
What I offer now is clarity, challenge and a different way of looking at things, from someone who knows what it is to be responsible for revenue, people and strategy.
I also bring a network, built up across four continents over many years. When a client needs an introduction, a specialist or a name for a role they’re trying to fill, I can usually find one.
What I do now
The work now takes a few forms. I coach leaders one to one and with their teams, and I chair two Vistage peer advisory groups. Organizations bring me in to advise on strategy, partnerships and deals. I help leaders and teams prepare for the negotiations that matter, and I give talks on negotiation at no charge.
I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, hold American, Dutch and New Zealand citizenship and work in English, Dutch, French and German. I spent twenty-five years of my career outside the United States, which comes in handy more often than you’d expect, whether a client is leading an international team, negotiating with a counterpart abroad or moving into a market they don’t know.
“Arjen’s impact on both my strategic thinking and execution has been invaluable. His ability to challenge assumptions and hold me accountable in a way that is both constructive and motivating has been exceptional.”