Cordys

Jan Baan (Born in Rijssen, 9 March 1946) is a Dutch entrepreneur and venture capitalist, known as the founder of the Baan Company, a software company providing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software. After selling the company, he founded Cordys, a company to provide web-related ERP products.

Baan was born and raised in Rijssen as eldest son in a family of ten. His father was a carpenter, and his grandfather on his mother's side was cofounder of a regional bus company.

At the age of 16, Baan started working at a meatworks, leaving secondary school without a degree. After serving in the military, Baan got a job at an accounting firm. In 1970, he started working for a wholesale firm, where after two years he became head of the accounting department. When the company bought their first computer, Baan got acquainted with automation. Mid 1970s Baan started working as a consultant, and shortly managed the financial department of a large company.

In 1978, Jan founded The Baan Company, a software company providing ERP solutions, which became a major player in the ERP software industry. Jan Baan left the Baan Company in 1998. After his efforts with the Baan Company, Baan became a venture capitalist and invested in companies like Top Tier and WebEx; both were eventually valued above $1billion. Top Tier was later sold to SAP, while WebEx was sold to Cisco. In an interview, Baan said that "... with WebEx and Top Tier I was an investor. Baan, and Cordys, I do for life. I am not a serial entrepreneur at all."

In 2005, Baan wrote a book on his life as an entrepreneur, called The Way to Market Leadership.

The Baan Company was founded in 1978. With the development of his first software package in 1979, he commenced his career in the ERP industry. His brother Paul Baan joined him in the management of the company. Under Jan's stewardship, the company made good market in the field of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software and grew from a $35 million company in the early 1990s to $680 million in 1998.

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