The founder of INC. Business Matchmakers is building a model around prepared introductions, personal trust and a clear commercial purpose.
Ton van de Ven’s turning point came when he recognized a problem inside his own business. He had been questioning the value of conventional networking, yet his organization was still bringing people together through online meetings and offline events. By the end of 2019, he concluded that organizing gatherings was different from helping business leaders find the people they actually needed.
The value, he recalls, came from taking a sincere interest in members and understanding their businesses. That realization became the foundation of a personal introduction model that now underpins INC. Business Matchmakers, where he serves as Founding Partner and CEO.
Today, van de Ven says the company is making its first introductions for business leaders in the Miami area. As it develops its Florida presence, he plans to add two Miami-based business matchmakers to the team in the coming months.
His proposition begins with a question that can get lost in a busy calendar of business events: What, exactly, are you trying to achieve?
For van de Ven, a useful introduction starts with a specific answer.
“We work backward from the signature,” he says.
That means identifying the contract, partnership or acquisition a leader wants to pursue, then determining who has the authority and a relevant reason to discuss it. INC. works with business owners and C-suite decision-makers, connecting entrepreneurs, major corporations and financial partners around those objectives.
The approach explains the company’s change of name from INC. Networking to INC. Business Matchmakers. Van de Ven wanted the name to describe the work more accurately. His philosophy, “No more networking—accept the match,” reflects that shift toward introductions prepared around both the company and the person leading it.
He still sees considerable value in a large network. His concern is whether those relationships are strong enough to produce a response when someone needs help. Thousands of connections offer limited practical support if none will pick up the phone.
In his view, the more revealing measure is whether people know enough about one another to help, recommend a service or explore doing business together.
That understanding takes work before a meeting ever reaches the calendar. Van de Ven says INC. holds in-depth conversations with members to learn about their businesses and needs. Both parties receive information before an introduction is arranged, and he or another matchmaker joins the meeting to introduce them personally.
The matchmaker’s involvement supplies context and an existing relationship on which the conversation can build. Van de Ven describes this as transferring trust: helping each participant arrive with the credibility of a personal introduction.
He calls the resulting relationship a “Golden Triangle,” with INC. connecting two business leaders. Across the wider network, those introductions can bring entrepreneurs to financial partners, or corporations to business owners whose products and services address a particular need.
The model depends on how people behave after they gain access. Van de Ven identifies discretion, confidentiality, reciprocity and trust as essential, supported by a code of conduct. He says most new members arrive through introductions from existing members, alongside research into their suitability.
One example he offers concerns longtime member Elisabeth Beukers, whose business provides gifts intended to help employers show appreciation for their employees. INC. introduced her to companies with teams of at least 50 people, matching her service with organizations that had a relevant employee base.
According to van de Ven, the resulting business took between four weeks and six months to materialize across different introductions. He reports that those introductions accounted for 20% of her company’s total sales in 2025, with repeat business expected in 2026.
The example also illustrates the patience involved. A carefully prepared meeting can establish a useful connection, while the commercial outcome may still take months to develop.
Van de Ven points to other possibilities, including business owners who formed a company together six months after an introduction. He also says INC. has helped entrepreneurs access working capital through its relationship with BridgeFund in the Netherlands.
For members, he argues, the benefit can include time recovered from searching for contacts. He cites business leaders who have saved up to 10 hours a week by directing their requests to his team. That is his account of individual experiences, rather than a standard saving promised to every member.
Miami is the next setting in which he wants to develop these relationships. Van de Ven sees the city’s connections between North America and Latin America as a reason to build a presence there, with opportunities to connect those markets to Europe and beyond.
His expansion strategy begins with Florida and local relationships. Knowing which leaders to approach, he argues, is the necessary first step toward creating useful opportunities across borders. The planned recruitment of two Miami matchmakers would support that work on the ground.
For entrepreneurs entering a new market, his advice is to be precise about the introduction they need. He believes leaders often try to attend everything while overlooking people already in their network who could help. Without a clear purpose, even a willing contact may struggle to make a suitable introduction.
That emphasis on existing relationships also shapes his view of technology. INC. uses technology and artificial intelligence to help identify possible introductions and save time, he says, allowing the team to focus on the personal work involved.
He expects those tools to increase the number of introductions the company can facilitate. Yet he describes finding and developing the right matchmakers as its hardest scaling challenge, because he is unwilling to compromise on quality.
His advice to business leaders remains rooted in a simpler practice: stay in touch with people who have already trusted you. Past clients and established business relationships deserve attention alongside the search for new contacts.
As INC. develops its presence in Florida, van de Ven wants interested leaders to begin with a conversation about their own objectives and the people who could help advance them. The question he wants them to bring is specific: Who do you need to meet, and why?
Written in partnership with Tom White
