This is the final post in our 3-part series about shifting from iSeekMe to the movement behind Gide-nuhs. If you haven’t read Part 1 and Part 2 yet, make sure to check them out for the complete story.

Rethinking Success: Did I Fail?

Have you ever built something you were proud of, only to realize it lacked a true connection to the world around it?

That’s exactly what happened when we were working on iSeekMe. For a long time, I struggled with how to define success. When iSeekMe didn’t take off as we’d hoped, it was easy to feel like we’d failed.

It was a strong product, technically speaking, but something was missing. Sitting in an office on the fifth floor in Rotterdam, I realized something critical: we were a bunch of nerds with good intentions, yet we were disconnected from the community we were trying to serve.

And because of that, the work started to feel less meaningful. We needed more than a good product, we needed real connection.

Redefining Success: A Lesson from Martin Koolhoven

Around that time, I happened to see filmmaker Martin Koolhoven on TV. After the success of his film Oorlogswinter, he spoke openly about how it took him seven years just to finance and organize his next project, Brimstone. Seven years. That stuck with me.

If someone as established as Koolhoven could spend seven years laying the foundation for a single project, maybe success isn’t supposed to be fast. It taught me that success isn’t only about hard work or achieving a goal quickly; it’s about the depth of the journey.

That moment helped me reframe what I was going through: not as failure, but as the start of a deeper, more patient kind of growth.

Success: Rooted in Patience & Connection

When we began working on Gide-nuhs, that realization also impacted our approach. It became clear that for true growth, we needed more than just ambition and speed; we needed to ground our work in patience, connection, and meaningful relationship.

We had to be intentional and actually connect: to listen, to learn, and to build with the people we hoped to serve, not just for them.

The past 2.5 years has been a slow and steady process of connecting with friends, colleagues, and people in Curaçao who truly understand the problem we’re tackling. The relevance is much stronger now, and it’s only through this network that we’ve experienced what I call “experiential flow”: the powerful moment when opportunities begin to unfold naturally because you’re in sync with the community you are serving.

That shift made all the difference.

It’s no longer about fast wins or perfection. It’s about building something meaningful, something that grows organically with the people and places it’s meant for.

The truth is, real success doesn’t look like the flashy ‘highlight reels’ we see on social media. It’s not about instant recognition or quick wins. It’s about the quiet, consistent growth that happens over time, through setbacks, persistence, and collaboration.

Success is now reflected in the relationships we’ve nurtured, the impact we’re making together, and the space we’ve created where people feel seen, supported, and empowered.

Because when you’re building with people, not just for them, success becomes a shared experience. Growth becomes steady, grounded, and most importantly: real.

Written by: Steven de Lira
Founder of Gide-nuhs

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