The Man in the Arena

The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; () who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so reads a famous speech by Theodore Roosevelt.

With those words in mind, Dieter Penninckx shares anecdotes and contemplates life lessons, taken from his school days, his time as a Scout, and his business and soccer experience. The stories give an honest insight into the life of an entrepreneur who flew high, fell deep and stood back up again. They show his trophies as well as his scars. In this way, they aim to inspire other starters and entrepreneurs in the arena to persevere, while also offering courage and solace when things go wrong

The Man in the Arena takes the reader on a journey to the core of entrepreneurship, showing it at its most vulnerable. Because being an entrepreneur is part of your identity, for better or for worse.

Dieter Penninckx is an engineer, family man, football fanatic, lifelong scout, but above all an entrepreneur. As co-founder of fashion- and lifestyle-company FNG (which peaked at a turnover of around 800 million euros with brands such as Fred & Ginger, Brantano, Claudia Strter and the Swedish Ellos) he quickly became one of Flanders most promising entrepreneurs. Dieter was the CEO of FNG for over 15 years, and also the main shareholder of KV Mechelen for a period of 5 years.