Meet The EMBA Class Of Entrepreneurs: Executives Today, Founders Tomorrow 

Tars Van der Vaerent
Vlerick Business School 

Venture name: RAPP-APP
Date of founding: 2025 
Program: Vlerick Executive MBA  

Tell us about your career background: I started out as an entrepreneur in 2015, exited after a year, then transitioned into consultancy as a freelance business analyst across a range of industries. Alongside that, I was part of a circus collective, touring internationally, managing productions and helping to build and grow it. Two very different worlds, but both running in parallel. In 2023 I enrolled in the Vlerick EMBA, and by the time I graduated, I had launched RAPP. Right now I am scaling that while laying the groundwork for a second company I plan to launch next year. 

What is your business/venture? RAPP is an app that helps students study for their theoretical driving exam. Younger generations absorb information differently and expect far better design and interaction than previous generations, yet the study materials on the market had not moved in decades. RAPP addresses that gap directly. The focus is on making the process more intuitive, more engaging and genuinely effective. We are now at the stage of testing whether the model can expand into new markets. 

What inspired you to found this business? It started with a friend in her late thirties who was studying for her driving theory test. Watching her work through those outdated materials, old books and clunky formatting with no real engagement, I found it hard to believe nothing better existed. From there I ran a market analysis and built a full business plan around the idea as part of my EMBA knowledge in action project. When the validation came back positive, the decision was straightforward. The best ideas often come from the most obvious problems hiding in plain sight. 

 Why did you enrol on the EMBA? Several reasons came together at once. I was craving a community of people who genuinely understood what it means to build and grow something, people I could have real conversations with about the complexity of running a business. At the same time I wanted more rigour around finance, budgeting and strategic frameworks. Not the broad academic kind, but pragmatic tools you can actually apply when making decisions under pressure. The EMBA at Vlerick made sense because of the calibre of people it attracts. Entrepreneurs, executives, people already doing serious things who choose to invest in their own development. That is the kind of room I wanted to be in, and the Executive MBA delivered exactly that from day one. 

 How has the EMBA helped you/your business? More ways than I anticipated going in. Feedback I received during project presentations genuinely shifted how I operate. One piece of criticism around going deeper on the financials sounds like a small thing, but it changed how I pitch, how I plan and how I approach fundraising. On top of that I now have a peer group I can speak with in the same language of business, people who understand what scaling actually looks like from the inside. The frameworks I took away are things I use constantly to monitor performance, make decisions and think about the next stage of growth. 

 What’s the one thing about the EMBA that you think is undervalued? The word network gets used so often it has almost lost its meaning. People hear it and picture a list of contacts or a LinkedIn connection, someone who vaguely knows your name. What I actually gained was access to people with deep expertise, real experience and a genuine drive to do something meaningful. That quality of connection changes how you think about your own ambitions. In the Executive MBA specifically, everyone in the room has already been through something. They have made decisions, failed at things and figured things out the hard way. That kind of lived experience in your peer group is simply not something you can replicate in a full-time Program, and I think it remains seriously underestimated. 

 What’s next for your business? Internationalisation is the immediate priority. The Netherlands comes first as a way to test whether the RAPP model translates across different licensing systems, with France to follow given the scale of the market there. Alongside that expansion, M&A possibilities are on the table and I am building the foundation for a second company set to launch next year. The EMBA taught me to do the analysis, validate properly and then commit fully. That is the approach being applied to everything right now. 

 Would you recommend the EMBA to other entrepreneurs? If yes, why? Yes, though with some nuance. It worked exceptionally well for me because it fitted precisely what I needed at that point in my career. My recommendation would be aimed at people with a genuine drive to create something and contribute something meaningful, not in the clichéd hustle sense, but those who feel they have real value to offer and just need the right environment to develop it. Anyone who is hungry to grow but feels they are missing the experience, the connections or the frameworks to take the next step will find that the EMBA can be exactly the thing that unlocks it. 

NEXT PAGE: Victoria Wells, UNC Kenan-Flagler 

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