From the Attic to the Arena
One attic. One idea. A hundred million players. The untold story of building Online Soccer Manager from a teenage bedroom in The Netherlands to a global gaming empire.
A candid, unfiltered account of the chaos behind the success
SCORE! takes you behind the scenes of a startup that exploded from a hobby project into a tech giant with fifty employees and millions of obsessed users worldwide.
It is a candid, unfiltered account of the chaos behind the success: the high-stakes encounters with corporate giants like SEGA and Zynga, the fight against digital hooligans, and the boardroom clashes with the world's biggest football clubs.
But this is more than a business book. It is the personal journey of a shy nerd who had to learn to lead, negotiate, and survive in the Champions League of the gaming industry.
How a bedroom project became a global phenomenon with millions of dedicated users
High-stakes negotiations with gaming giants SEGA and Zynga, and football's biggest clubs
What makes an online game successful and how to build a sustainable business model
The transformation from shy programmer to confident leader and entrepreneur
Fighting hackers, cheaters, and digital hooligans while scaling a global platform
The journey of fundraising, scaling, and successfully selling your own company
Hear directly from Jeroen about the journey from attic to arena. Recorded at INDIGO 2025, the leading Dutch game industry business event.
Entrepreneur, educator, and gaming industry pioneer
Jeroen Derwort is the Chairman of the Dutch Games Association, Manager of GameLab at The Hague University of Applied Sciences, and author of the book SCORE!
As a young programmer, Jeroen designed Online Soccer Manager (OSM) from his attic room in Zoetermeer, creating a game where football fans could virtually own and manage their favorite clubs. The game became a massive hit, growing into a global phenomenon with over 100 million players worldwide.
Jeroen has successfully sold two companies, raised financing, and experienced both rapid scale-up scenarios and challenging times. He now dedicates his time to inspiring and coaching starting (tech) entrepreneurs through various mentorship programs including NLGroeit, PLNT, and the Leiden Mentor Network.
Through conversations, presentations, and blogs, Jeroen shares his knowledge and experiences to help the next generation of entrepreneurs succeed.
Experience Online Soccer Manager - the game that started it all. Join over 100 million players worldwide!
Entrepreneurs and industry leaders share their thoughts on SCORE!
I've read your book with great pleasure over the past few days! Very interesting and partly recognizable, as I myself built fantasy games at Sportdreams and later experienced a journey of rapid growth and selling a company.
I just finished reading it. Quite a rollercoaster, both business and personal. Experienced many recognizable things on your journey. Beautiful to share it this way.
Read your book with great pleasure this weekend. Beautiful and inspiring to read the whole story of OSM.
I saw your book lying around yesterday and thought let me start reading it. And now it's finished 😁 How interesting to read your life story with all the ups and downs.
Super interesting book, I really enjoyed it and I'm not even a real reader. Very nice to experience the story behind OSM and everything around it in the form of the book.
It was very nice and interesting to read how you as a Zoetermeer entrepreneur built Gamebasics. There were many things in it that I recognized from my own entrepreneurial path.
Read very smoothly and many recognizable things (technological challenges, growth, etc.) that we have also gone through over the years.
Your book is also very popular in Canada ;) I finished it with great pleasure in one day. Nice to read about the insides of your company and the problems you encountered. A beautiful success story in any case! It will stay here nicely on the shelf between the books of Elon Musk and Richard Branson ;)
I just finished reading your book. It had been on the shelf for a while, but in Cape Town I got through it quickly. I found it really nice and inspiring to read.
I have now read your book. Good man. I also found it great to dive into my own timeline through your personal story.
Compliments for your beautiful entrepreneurial journey and your openness about all uncertainties both business and private! A lot of respect for you and very inspiring for me as an entrepreneur and of course also an OSM player!
Hi Jeroen, finished your book tonight in 2.5 hours. It's been a long time since someone managed to capture my attention completely for that long. Beautiful story and told smoothly too.
Nice book, easy to read. Inspiring too. Confirmation that entrepreneurship doesn't come naturally.
Finished reading last night and what a cool story you've lived. Super nice to read and great that we share the same passion for football and tech.
Just finished reading your book. I'm normally easily distracted, but your story ensured that I finished it with full focus in three days. What a bizarre and turbulent journey... Thanks for sharing!
Very beautiful story and I recognize a lot in it. Including the decision to step aside.
I read your book in a few days. It reads like an exciting boys' book, but it is at the same time a serious book about the falls and rises of a young entrepreneur.
Get your copy of SCORE! and discover the untold story of building a gaming empire from a teenage bedroom.
📚 Buy Now on AmazonAvailable in English • 202 pages • ISBN: 979-8301976513
