Emre Namlı is co-founder of sixtynine, the Rotterdam digital marketing and branding agency he started with Elie Kaat in 2022. A naturally curious, self-taught entrepreneur, he heads technical development and spends much of his time bridging the gap between what clients have in mind and what the team builds, with a constant eye on how new technology and AI can be applied across very different industries.
This profile is a short, honest interview about how he thinks, the decisions he makes, and where he wants sixtynine to go. If you want the frameworks themselves, his guides on the real cost of a website and on outsourcing SEO put that thinking to work. What follows is in his own words.
Emre at a glance
- Role: Co-founder, heads technical development at sixtynine
- Based in: Rotterdam, Netherlands
- Focus areas: Technical development, marketing strategy, applied AI, growth
- Background: Self-taught entrepreneur, several ventures before sixtynine
- Co-founded sixtynine: 2022, with Elie Kaat
What sixtynine actually does
Q: If you had to explain sixtynine to your grandma, what would you say?
A: "I actually tried once: she didn't understand. But here's the simple version: sixtynine has two muscles. One helps companies present themselves and tell their story. The other makes sure that while you're growing, you don't need to grow in manpower. You use technology to work smarter."
A day in the work
Q: What does a typical day look like for you?
A: "I usually do a lot of very different things in one day, so this is hard to answer. More and more, I'm doing meetings, understanding what people have in mind, trying to bridge the gap between the client and the developers. Because of the nature of sixtynine and our team now, I'm heading technical development. I'm also constantly doing research about AI updates and then thinking about how I can apply what I see working in different industries to our clients' cases."
Q: How do you like working across so many different industries?
A: "I love it, because it gives us knowledge of very specific things. For example, e-commerce is very good at adapting new technologies because you need traffic and conversion on the website. But when you learn how to work with an e-commerce company, those tricks can also apply to offline businesses where conversion happens offline but traffic still needs to happen online, like a car dealership. You can apply what you learn in one industry to a completely different one using the same techniques."
How Emre decides: the 60% rule
Q: You have something you call the "60% rule." What is it?
A: "If you think there is at least a 60% chance that you can do something, then you should start. The other 40% comes in the process. If you're brave enough and at least 60% confident, you should try. Below that, it becomes risky. There's always excitement from doing something you haven't done before."
Where sixtynine is going
Q: What is your vision for sixtynine?
A: "I want us to be more than an agency that simply sells certain services. Instead, I envision sixtynine as a strategic partner who works together with your business to make it grow. Where everything plays a role and is part of our holistic approach. I want us to become the partner that businesses seek when they want to grow."
What Emre writes about
Emre is a named author across the sixtynine know-how library, mostly on the cost, web, and feasibility side of growing a business online. If this interview is your introduction to how he thinks, these are the guides where that thinking is put to work:
- Website Laten Maken: Wat Kost het Echt in 2026?
- Wat Kost SEO Uitbesteden? Eerlijke Prijzen en Verwachtingen voor 2026
- Why We Stopped Building WordPress Websites
Work with Emre
Emre and the sixtynine team work with businesses across the Netherlands, from founders shaping their first growth plan to established companies rebuilding the systems underneath one. If you want an honest read on where your growth should come from and what it would take to build it, get in touch. No pitch, just a straight conversation about your stage and the next move.