Joost van der Mersch

Head of Sales Benelux & Middle East @ Stripe EMEA

Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands

About

I've spent 14 years in enterprise sales and sales leadership across the UK, Benelux, and Middle East — scaling teams, building pipeline, and turning complex multi-market territories into compounding revenue engines. At Stripe, I lead enterprise sales across two of EMEA's highest-growth markets: Benelux and Middle East. What I do: - Build and scale teams — hired, coached, and developed AEs from ramp to consistent quota attainment - Drive revenue growth — own full P&L accountability for multi-market territories delivering $50M+ in ARR - Shape go-to-market strategy — member of regional GTM leadership, influencing territory design, market entry, and cross-functional execution across sales, marketing, and partnerships - Sell at the C-suite — consultative, strategic, and fluent in the financial language of CEOs, CFOs and COOs - Navigate cross-border complexity — regulatory, currency, cultural Verticals: Fintech - SaaS - Retail - Platforms - AI Languages: Dutch - English - French - Spanish

Experience

  • Stripe (Full-time · 7 yrs 10 mos)
    • Head of Sales - Benelux & Middle East
      Jan 2025 - Present · 1 yr 6 mos

      Head of Sales for the Benelux and Middle East regions at Stripe. Key Responsibilities & Deliverables: - Consistently exceeded quota attainment targets, delivering over 130% of annual revenue goal across multi-market EMEA territories spanning Benelux and Middle East - Responsible for growing of $50M+ in ARR through a combination of new business development and strategic land-and-expand motions within enterprise accounts - Day-to-day leadership over 8+ full time senior Account Executives and dotted line leadership over cross functional teams (Solution Architects, Partnerships, Product Specialists) - Shaped and executed go-to-market strategy for two of Stripe's highest-growth EMEA regions, identifying whitespace opportunities and prioritizing market entry sequencing - Partnered with product, solutions, and partnerships teams to unlock cross-border payment infrastructure for merchants expanding across Europe and the Middle East - Navigated complex multi-market regulatory, currency, and localization challenges — positioning Stripe's fintech platform as the infrastructure layer for international expansion - Served as the voice of BNLX/UAE in regional leadership forums — contributing to P&L discussions, board reporting inputs, and cross-functional GTM planning - Collaborated closely with sales operations and revenue operations teams to optimize territory design, lead routing, and conversion analytics

    • Manager - Enterprise Sales UK
      Apr 2022 - Jan 2025 · 2 yrs 10 mos

      Leading Stripe UK's Enterprise Sales team. As part of the UK GTM leadership team, shaping Stripe UK's strategy and execution across sales, marketing and partnerships. Key Responsibilities & Deliverables: - Owned full revenue accountability for Stripe UK's largest enterprise accounts across Retail, Fintech, and SaaS verticals — driving both new business development and strategic land-and-expand motions - Managed and coached a team of 9 AEs responsible for $30M+ in ARR, consistently delivering against quota attainment targets through disciplined pipeline generation and forecast accuracy - Shaped Stripe UK's go-to-market strategy as a member of the regional leadership team — influencing territory design, market prioritization, and cross-functional alignment across sales, marketing, and partnerships - Built and maintained executive customer relationships with C-suite buyers across enterprise strategic accounts, serving as executive sponsor on the UK's highest-value commercial relationships - Drove team performance through structured coaching, deal inspection, and talent development — accelerating ramp time for new hires and enabling individual contributors to exceed targets - Partnered with sales operations and RevOps to improve pipeline quality, conversion analytics, and revenue forecasting accuracy across the team's portfolio - Delivered against dual mandate of net new revenue acquisition and existing user expansion/retention — balancing new business development with compound ARR growth from the install base

    • Team Lead - Enterprise Sales UK - Retail & eCommerce
      Jan 2021 - Apr 2022 · 1 yr 4 mos

      Accelerating the growth of Enterprise Stripe users in the UK and Ireland. From January 2021 onwards I acted as team lead for the Enterprise Retail/eCommerce vertical at Stripe in the UK, alongside my core role as sales executive

  • Gartner (London, United Kingdom)
    • Account Executive - Large Enterprises UK&I - Field Sales
      Jan 2018 - Sep 2018 · 9 mos

      Supported Enterprise High Tech clients (< $ 20 billion) to leverage Gartner resources on mission critical priorities around: * Marketing & Sales (CMO/VP of Sales/Analyst Relations) * Product Development (CTO/Product Management) * Go To Market Strategy (CMO/Channel Management) * Channel Strategy, Enablement and Success (Channel Directors) * Digital Transformation (CTO/CIO/CISO/Enterprise Architects)

    • Senior Account Executive - Midsized Enterprises - Benelux
      Jan 2017 - Dec 2017 · 1 yr

      Qualified for Gartner Winners Circle 2017 (October 2017) (> 130% Quota Over Performance) Supported End User clients (CIO/IT Manager) in the Mid-market (< $ 650 million) to leverage Gartner resources in the Benelux. * Digital Transformation * ERP/Data & Analytics/CX/Security * Vendor Selection * People & Processes Industries: Manufacturing, Professional Services, Legal, Insurance, Banking, Payment Services

    • Account Executive - Midsized Enterprises - Benelux
      Jul 2015 - Dec 2016 · 1 yr 6 mos

      Qualified for Gartner Club 300 (January 2017) - (Global Top 300 Sales - 300% Quota Over Performance) Qualified for Gartner Winners Circle 2017 (September 2016) (> 130% Quota Over Performance) Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is the world's leading information technology research and advisory company. We deliver the technology-related insight necessary for our clients to make the right decisions, every day. From CIOs and senior IT leaders in corporations and government agencies, to business leaders in high-tech and telecom enterprises and professional services firms, to technology investors, we are the valuable partner to clients in over 9,100 distinct enterprises worldwide. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, USA, and has 6,600 associates, including more than 1,500 research analysts and consultants, and clients in 85 countries.

  • Robert Walters (Amsterdam Area, Netherlands)
    • Senior Consultant
      Jan 2014 - Jun 2015 · 1 yr 6 mos

    • Consultant
      Apr 2011 - Jan 2014 · 2 yrs 10 mos

  • Intern at Stibbe
    Sep 2010 - Jan 2011 · 5 mos

    Internship at Stibbe - practice group Competition Law and Regulated Markets Thesis: 'The new vertical block exemption regulation no. 330/2010: striking a balance between e-commerce, suppliers and consumer interests?'

  • Workstudent at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
    Jun 2010 - Sep 2010 · 4 mos