Thijs Kraan

Value Positioner

We turn your work and expertise into founder-led content that attracts a steady flow of high-value projects from the right clients. A partnership for design agencies that want growth without the heavy lifting.

Send me a message if you want to learn more.

Founder

Hatch Conference

Growth Partner

Soldep

Designed websites, brands, content strategies, and funnels for SMBs to turn more visitors into customers.

Designer

UMC Utrecht

UMC Utrecht is an academic hospital. Designed a mobile app for nurses to streamline internal communication, documentation, and automation, so they had more time to take care of patients. Estimated workload decrease of 2 to 10%.

Product Designer

Essense

My graduation internship at Essense focused on understanding service design, customer experience, journey mapping, and customer research. I worked on a project (which I acquired myself) for UMC Utrecht.

Ahold Delhaize

Worked for Albert Heijn, the largest Dutch supermarket chain. Designed 2 products, including all marketing materials that led to a launch with 35k+ users in one week. Both MVPs were scaled into the larger product eco-system and now saves around 4.5M kilograms in annual food waste

I help designers sell their expertise through writing content.

Before 2023, 100% of my design clients came from referrals.

→ I had zero control over when my next project arrived

Today, 88% of my clients come through LinkedIn – inbound.

Learning “how” took me 1065+ days of sharing expertise:

- Positioning & articulating the value of my expertise
- Experimenting with writing high-performing hooks
- Converting attention into inbound business leads
- Talking to 1000s of designers and design leaders
- Finetuning my profile for the highest conversion

I was a poor design student, so I self-studied:

- I consumed 1000s of posts & 100s of videos
- I read 100s of books & 100s of articles
- I wrote more than 1200+ posts

Obsessed with mastering the nitty-gritty of content.

And that meant making countless mistakes:

- I tried appealing to everyone, so I never got to stand out
- I wasted 100s of hours on meaningless content iteration
- I pivoted direction 50+ times so nothing compounded
- I got 3M+ impressions without winning a single client
- I ignored 1000s of hand-raisers right in front of me

To this day, I still learn new things every day.

Even after investing 3 years in learning:

€10k+ on courses/coaches
1000+ hours on reading
2500+ hours on writing

But now, I've turned everything into one framework to:

- Share your unique expertise more effectively
- Become the go-to expert for your audience
- Start getting inbound leads (on auto-pilot)

My LinkedIn Growth Framework. 

After 10+ iterations, I'm confident it works:

- A design founder added €100k+ in revenue (in 6 months)
- A design leader landed a new €150k+ job (in 3 weeks)
- And many designers won new 5-figure project deals

All from sharing their unique expertise (on LinkedIn)

So, if you want to learn from my biggest mistakes.

Take my free 5-day LinkedIn Growth Strategy:

growexpertise.com/linkedin-growth-strategy
(or click my LinkedIn profile buttons above)

PS. For 1:1 help, DM me or visit valuepositioner.com

Design Content Consultant

I help design leaders, founders, and freelancers do 4 things:

1. Understand & position your unique value
2. Create your design content strategy
3. Systematize content creation
4. Start creating habitually

By:

1. Analyzing your existing customers, content & data
2. Strategizing toward your ideal future positioning
3. Producing content for authority, talent & leads
4. Upgrading your content, profiles & funnels

Together, this will help you:

- Get inbound leads
- Attract new talent
- Build authority

Want to learn how? 

Send me a message.

I met the design founder behind Polarsteps, a travel app with 18M+ users. 
 
From day one, Job Harmsen was the Head of Design:
 
He didn’t invent a new category, he made it beautiful
He bet on great experiences over growth hacks
He built for 11+ years alognside 3 co-founders
 
A design founder at heart. 
 
Short-film coming soon.
 
Made by Luc, Lars, and me. 
 
PS. Job is hiring a Senior Product Designer. If you're interested, reach out to him!

Back from a week in Paris:

- Visited nearly all the historic places
- Took the crown jewels from Louvre
- Drank a bunch of coffees in cafés
- Endulged in the French cuisine
- Quality time with my partner
- Loved the city's architecture
- Enjoyed some great wines

My favorite city trip so far.

It's what I love about having my own business.

I have full control over how I spent my time.

Not always easy, but definitely rewarding.

Now, it's time to get back to work:

- Kicked off a new big project
- Starting a 30-person cohort
- Finishing a few projects

A few busy last months.

All ready for 2026.

Let's go!

I’m a slow starter.

I didn’t start hitting the gym 5x a week
I started hitting the gym once a week

I didn’t start publishing 7x a week
I started publishing once a week

I didn't start reading 7x a week
I started reading once a week

Every habit had a few failed attempts.

But I know they're habits for life.

Don’t always be in a rush.

Start slow, finish faster.

I got my 1st client with luck.

I got my 2nd client with luck.

I got my 3rd client with luck.

All local businesses.

Over 7+ years, we did 10+ projects.

I was lucky to *accidentally* start a business:

- Learned to manage my clients and projects
- Learned to charge for outcomes, not hours
- Learned the basics of business by doing

But my 4th client came from intentional effort.

I published consistently for more than a year.

And then, I shared my 1st post with an offer:

→ That resulted in 20+ leads and 2 clients

That’s when growth finally felt in control.

By sharing my expertise on LinkedIn:

I built an invaluable network from scratch
I attracted many inbound opportunities
I won 88% of my current client base

All while I was a design student.

That’s the power of LinkedIn.

Take control of your luck.

You don’t need the perfect strategy.

You don’t need the perfect website.

You don’t need the perfect brand.

You don’t need the perfect plan.

You don’t need the perfect idea.

Perfection doesn't exist. 

Waiting for it is a trap.

All you need is:

- A specific customer
- A painful problem
- A good solution
- An action bias

We overcomplicate everything. 

Just do “simple” things well. 

Start small and iterate.

We're lucky. 
 
Being alive means we already won the lottery.
 
That's blind luck. Luck we didn't work for. 
 
Other types of luck come from:
 
1. Hustling
2. Preparation
3. Authenticity
 
When you share what you know, luck compounds: 
 
- You learn about what interests you
- You get inbound project requests
- You meet like-minded designers
- You open doors you didn't see
- You find experts to mentor you
- You gain free audience insight
- You can test & validate ideas
- You build a referral network
- You develop your character
- You iterate upon your ideas
 
That's why you should: 
 
Share consistently.
Prepare deeply.
Be authentic.
 
It's how we create our “luck.”

I made a mistake 4 years ago.

Not sticking with what worked:

→ Building websites

I sold websites for €5k to €17.5k/each and I built each one in 30 to ~90 hours.

That's when I faced a few wrong beliefs:

- Web design is a race to the bottom
- Tools will replace website-building
- Websites are often not important
- Building websites isn't leveraged
- Too many people build websites

So, I decided to do a hard pivot, and I tried finding a new:

- Audience = ICs → leaders → founders → businesses
- Market = design industry (only worked with designers)
- Offering = program → growth sprint → growth retainer

Took 2-3 years to find what worked, and I still iterate every day. 

Sure, I make more than I need, but if I wouldn't have pivoted:

→ I would've made at least 5x to 10x more, easily

How do I know? A few friends sell websites for €20k - 80k+

And I'm confident I delivered similar quality 4 years ago.

But I wasn't willing to double down on “boring” work:

- Prioritize one market and audience
- Build a predictable growth engine
- Systematize for higher efficiency
- Learn to hire → delegate → scale
- Do more work and do it better

So, if you're thinking about pivoting. Please think twice. 

When something works → Don't pivot, just do more. 

The grass is always greener on the other side.

Szechwan Kitchen

– Developed and maintained a consistent brand identity across all marketing materials, ensuring alignment with the restaurant’s values and target audience for the local favorite Restaurant.
– Created and executed a comprehensive social media strategy, increasing the restaurant's online presence and follower engagement on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.
– Engaged with customers on social media by responding to comments, messages, and reviews promptly, enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty.
– Designed marketing materials such as flyers, posters, and signage to promote menu items, events, and special offers.
– Focused on enhancing the overall customer experience through thoughtful design choices, from seating arrangements to lighting, to create a welcoming and comfortable environment.
– Designed and implemented promotional campaigns, such as seasonal specials and loyalty programs, drove traffic and sales by 55%.

Marketing&Graphic Design Consultant

Apple

– Assisted in reviewing final deliverable and ensuring that layout, images, text, and links are flawless and 
   finalized to be ready for handoff.
– Coordinated training of new team members with support from Leads to be ready for upcoming project work.
– Produced pixel perfect exports for use on Apple Inc.’s global website
– Produced final exports in quality accordance to Apple GP standards
– Updated product imagery and UI elements in Photoshop compositions and 
   output web graphics
– Worked closely with designers, producers, traffic, publishing, and international 
    teams to meet project goals and ensure efficient file hand-offs for localization.

Senior Graphic Production Designer(via Hogarth)

My Party Album Inc.

As the Design Lead, spearheaded innovative design solutions for the for the Product Design Project at Party Albums. With a focus on user-centric design principles and cutting-edge technologies, I led a talented team of designers to deliver exceptional digital experiences that surpassed client expectations.

Lead Product Designer

Creative Circle

Worked as a Product designer and Graphic Design consultant on various projects for companies in different industries including Commercial Real Estate, Education, Medical, Non-Profit, Creative, and etc. 

Clients include:

CBRE
Chandler-Gilbert Community College
Alliance Residential
Spears Education
Parker&Madison Design Studio

Product&Graphic Designer

CBRE

– Servicing 200+ sales professionals from Pacific Southwest area by using Adobe Suite to design offering memorandums, proposals, pitch decks and presentations.
– Assisted sales team by designing offering proposal and pitch decks benefited in winning multi-million dollar projects with top companies such as LG Electronics
– Spearheading a partnership with Liquid Galaxy, an open source project founded by Google for data visualization
– Designing presentations using platforms such as Google Earth, Cesium, and Liquid Galaxy’s content
management system
– Worked in a fast pace environment and prioritized, managed and executed the projects in a timely manner
– Responsible for production and marketing work such as map development, banner and other in house projects

Graphic Designer

Chapman Automotive Group

Collaborated with media director and marketing coordinator to conceptualize 
and design monthly projects including website banners, email blasts, social media
graphics, newsletter prints, digital signages, print ads, direct mail, brochures,
promotional items, signage, vehicle graphics, multi-page magazines and etc.

– Produced pixel perfect exports for use on Apple Inc.’s global website
– Produced final exports in quality accordance to Apple GP standards
– Updated product imagery and UI elements in Photoshop compositions and 
   output web graphics 
– Structure Photoshop comps to optimize efficient production design and localization 
   work-flows using slices, smart objects, and layer comps
– Worked closely with designers, producers, traffic, publishing, and international 
   teams to meet project goals and ensure efficient file hand-offs for localization

Graphic Production Designer(via Hogarth World Wide)

American Express

– Worked as a key contributor for internal products and application design projects for 
     multiple departments at American Express
– Main task including redesigning and developing internal website application used daily 
   by American Express staff for improving working speed and efficiency
– Designed wire-frames, storyboards, user flows, prototypes and high-fidelity interfaces.
– Partnered with creative directors, PMs, developers, and business operation staff to design 
   high quality UI/UX experiences from conception until launch
– Designed side projects include infographics, power-point presentations, information designs,    	   and excel chart designs for internal communication and marketing purposes

Visual Designer (Contract completed)

Project Connect at ASU

– Worked within a creative team and collaborated with creative director, PMs, 
   faculty staff, and marketing strategist on the redesigned product branding for Project 
   Connect including branding logo and interactive cards
– Led efforts in conducting user research, defining use cases and personas, as well as 
   testing in various product development phases
– Collaborated with engineering students in the designing and development and of the 
   Project Connect Mobile application–Class Links

Graphic Designer / UI Designer

Arizona State University

– Worked as the main web designer and collaborated with a marketing communication 
   Strategist, faculty and staff, ASU branding office as well as University Technology 
   Office, and redesigned and developed the School’s official website under the School 
   of Social Transformation
– Worked as a graphic Designer and designed marketing materials including event 
   posters, brochures, flyers, and banners for the school

Web Designer/Graphic Designer

Dedicated to crafting immersive digital experiences and bringing ideas to life through a blend of UI/UX design finesse, production design prowess, captivating graphic design, and innovative product design concepts.

As a versatile professional, I thrive in dynamic environments where I can leverage my expertise across various design disciplines. My passion for multimedia design extends beyond the screen, driving me to explore the intersection of art, technology, and human interaction to create meaningful experiences that leave a lasting impression. I excel on collaboration, drawing inspiration from diverse perspectives and disciplines to push the boundaries of creativity and innovation.

Let's connect and explore the possibility for collaboration to bring your design visions to fruition and create impactful digital experiences that resonate with your audience.

Please check out my portfolio @ https://www.joy-minimal-design.com/

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Thijs Kraan

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The Battle

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Thijs Kraan's LinkedIn Performance

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