Yvar Verseef

Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Yvar, and I am one of the founders of Mantawise and Salessims.ai. We solve real business challenges and save resources with our AI automation solutions.

One of the projects is Salessims.ai - a smart, interactive training tool that simulates realistic and personalized sales conversations with potential customers. It helps you and your reps to:

• Master objection handling through tailored, AI-driven roleplay;
• Practice industry-specific pitches in a risk-free environment;
• Get instant feedback to improve performance faster.

What did it take/how did you get started?

Me and Freek started Mantawise after I worked as a sales team lead at a fast-growing SaaS company in The Netherlands.

During my time there, I noticed that a lot of work could be done more efficiently by using AI. Originally, we started focussing on selling AI Voice Agents to relieve customer service departments during their peak hours.

But one of the most time-consuming challenges I observed during my time at my previous company was the onboarding of new sales colleagues. New sales hires take months to become truly productive, but role-plays feel awkward and colleagues don't have time or are too expensive to dedicate to training new team members. Since we had already built AI Voice Agents for customer service departments at Mantawise, we decided to apply that same knowledge and expertise to create an AI Training Agent for sales teams.

What does the future look like for you and your business?

The AI space is rapidly evolving, and every week there are new developments. This also means that we cannot really predict what the future holds for us, but although still being positioned as a full service AI Agency, we would like to develop ourselves further in AI Voice training.

What drives / motivates you on a daily basis?

I'm motivated by driving meaningful impact and helping companies operate as efficiently as possible. There's something incredibly fulfilling about identifying inefficiencies in business processes and then creating solutions that genuinely transform how teams work. I'm also motivated by the broader potential of technology to solve real-world problems.

Having experienced firsthand the challenges of scaling teams and processes in a fast-growing company, I understand how small inefficiencies can compound into major obstacles. Being able to leverage AI and innovative solutions to remove these barriers feels like contributing to something much larger than any individual project.

What advice would you give someone interested in doing what you do?

My advice is to start with genuine curiosity and self-reflection. Begin by watching YouTube tutorials and educational content to learn the fundamentals of automation. There's an incredible wealth of free resources available that can teach you the basics without any technical background required.

What has been the hardest part of your business journey?

The hardest part of starting my business has been overcoming the perception challenges that come with being a 27-year-old founder in the B2B space. There's an unfortunate reality that age often gets conflated with experience and credibility, especially when you're trying to sell enterprise solutions to established companies.

However, I've been incredibly fortunate that my co-founder Freek was excited to join the journey with me. Freek brings something invaluable to our partnership - he previously ran his own successful company for 14 years and has built an extensive professional network during that time. His experience and established relationships have been crucial in opening doors that might have remained closed to a young founder working alone.

How have you managed burnout thus far?

I haven't experienced it yet!

What are a few resources that you'd recommend?

I would recommend tools like N8N and make.com, and to watch YouTubers like Liam Ottley and Nick Saraev.