74-Year-Old Entrepreneur Jos de Wael on Building a Logistics Empire

Dr. Niklas Richter · 2026-04-30

### From Truck Driver to Logistics Leader Jos de Wael is 74 years old. That makes him the most experienced entrepreneur ever featured on this podcast. It's not impressive because age proves anything. It's impressive because at 74, he still talks about business with genuine excitement. About building. About investing. About looking forward. Jos dropped out of school at 16. He started as a driver in his family's company. He bluffed his way into his first big order with Delhaize using a stock of pallets that didn't actually exist yet. He walked into the Boerentoren bank in his blue work overalls to ask for money, surrounded by bankers in tailored suits. From there, he built ODTH into a logistics company with four locations and 160 employees. ### The Five G's That Guide Everything Jos lives by his five G's: Goesting (passion), Gezondheid (health), Geld (money), Geluk (happiness), and Geduld (patience). These aren't just words to him. They're the framework that has guided sixty years of entrepreneurship. - **Goesting** - Passion for what you do every single day - **Gezondheid** - Health as the foundation for everything else - **Geld** - Money as a tool, not a goal - **Geluk** - Finding joy in the journey - **Geduld** - Patience to let things grow  ### Surviving a Devastating Fire in 1989 One of the most powerful stories Jos shares is about the fire that destroyed his facility in 1989. Most people would have walked away. But Jos saw it differently. He saw an opportunity to rebuild smarter, stronger, and better. He kept investing even when everything was ashes. > "You don't build a business by avoiding problems. You build it by deciding how you'll respond when they hit." That fire taught him something crucial: resilience isn't about avoiding disaster. It's about choosing to move forward when disaster strikes. ### 33 Years of Service with Procter & Gamble Jos spent 33 years providing top-tier logistics services for Procter & Gamble. That kind of long-term relationship doesn't happen by accident. It happens because you deliver value consistently. Because you build trust over decades. Because you treat every interaction as part of a bigger picture. ### The Difference Between Making Money and Building Value This conversation covers so much more than business tactics. It's about guts. It's about responsibility. It's about family, authenticity, and the real difference between making money and building something that matters. Jos talks openly about his mistakes. About the times he took risks that didn't pay off. About the discipline it takes to keep going when things get hard. And about the relationships that made everything possible. ### What American Entrepreneurs Can Learn from Jos For entrepreneurs in the United States, Jos's story offers a fresh perspective. He didn't have a fancy MBA. He didn't have venture capital backing. He had grit, determination, and a willingness to learn from every failure. His approach is a reminder that business success isn't about having the perfect plan. It's about having the courage to start, the wisdom to adapt, and the patience to keep going. ### Final Thoughts Sixty years of entrepreneurship distilled into one conversation. Mistakes. Courage. Discipline. Relationships. And above all, character. Jos de Wael proves that age is just a number when you still have the fire to build, invest, and look forward. For more episodes, visit the podcast website. Special thanks to our partners: Teamleader and Cloudpoint.