Hi, I’m Dick van der Heiden, a software engineering leader and co-owner of Goedemiddag!, a Dutch Laravel agency. With over 20 years of development experience, I help bridge the gap between business goals and technical execution. My focus is on creating clarity, enabling developer ownership, and helping teams build maintainable software that delivers real value.
Engineering Manager / Business owner
Organizing development teams, improving delivery processes, and translating business priorities into technical execution — the intersection of management, product, and engineering.
Read business articles →Product owner
How I translate stakeholder ideas into user stories, architecture, and delivery plans to achieve maintainable, long-term software.
Read about product & process →Developer
Technical notes from real production work — no fluff.
Read technical posts →Development services
I co-own Goedemiddag!, where we build custom Laravel applications, portals, integrations, and long-running business software. Certified agency and official Laravel Partner.
Visit Goedemiddag! →The Core productivity system is a hidden gem. It helps me to stay organized and focused. In this post I will help you get started with the system.
Development teams rarely struggle because people are unwilling to work hard. More often, they struggle because expectations are unclear, ownership is scattered, priorities are vague, or decisions are made too late.
Every application has them: error messages. Most developers dislike writing them, and most users dislike seeing them. Too often, they simply explain what went wrong at the end of a user flow. This post contains practical guide for writing error messages that help users recover from problems and gives developers an easy-to-follow formula for creating them consistently.
Writing a HTTP Link header parser package to replace the suddenly removed package.