That’s life, that’s what all the people say.
You’re riding high in April,
Shot down in May
But I know I’m gonna change that tune,
When I’m back on top, back on top in June.

I’ve been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate,
A poet, a pawn and a king.
I’ve been up and down and over and out
And I know one thing:
Each time I find myself, flat on my face,
I pick myself up and get back in the race

Just got back from a MIND-BLOWING

conference – and it takes quite some to blow my mind on conferences – since I do 20-30 a year. But at the St. Gallen Symposium I really saw how BIG you can think – and how WIDE you can execute. Every TOPTOP biz dude from Europe was there – and well thats fine – but more impresive was the fact that 200 students from all over the world was flewn in – and the talks and the debate was SECOND TO NONE.

On top of that – the whole event was 100% organized by the students – and it was better done and better prepared then anything I have ever tried. Take a Swiss armyknife and let it have sex with a PATEK PHILIPPE watch – then you have an idea of the precision and controle and security – AND YET STILL WARMNESS AND HAPPINESS that was spread around here.

Then off course there was an amasing dialogue mostly facilitated by Marc M (check him out) – and I saw presentations at the highest level I have ever seen. Specially my new friend Professor Kishore Mahbubani (author of the book “Can Asians Think ?” (I spoke next to last week at Yale)) and the very down to earth and off course über smart Dominic Barton, Managing Director of McKinsey worldwide. WOW. Im telling you that stuff ROCKED neural networks in my brain.

A huge congrats and thank you to all the students!! And a big thanx to Philip Erzinger for convincing me to go – since I didn’t really wanted to :) – since their pr was simply not good enough. But I love when seeing and trying: is believing. Off course you have argue why the f*** did they invite a crackhead like me… I still dont really get it – But Im feel humble, happy and confused as a 10y old Boy who just go home from 2 days with Open-ended Amex BlackCard in a toy store.

Please do yourself a favor and see Mahbubanis talk

There is no direct link to his speach. but for you – dear valued reader – the best part is that you can watch a lot of it online on high def video – here :)

——

Here is a pretty good interview from the programme (with my comments):

Speaking of “the entrepreneur” is always tricky, as there is no clear-cut definition. One way of approaching this problem is to ask entrepreneurs themselves what they think entrepreneurship is all about. Let us hear first from the serial entrepreneur Morten Lund (DK) who covers this year’s topic in a most comprehensive way. He is young, he is famous for having invested very early in the VoIP service Skype, he learnt the ups and downs of entrepreneurship the hard way and he is realistic about the outcome of entrepreneurial endeavours – even those of the St. Gallen Symposium.

Morten Lund, there are a lot of investment opportunities out there right now. You, as an entrepreneur, must enjoy yourself a lot.

I am bankrupt at the moment (I was when I did the interview), so I cannot do a lot, but then, on the other hand, I can help other people start mind-blowing businesses. In a downturn like this, most entrepreneurs move in the opposite direction to the cycle. When everything collapsed two years ago, a lot of people where investing in start-ups they did not know anything about. (Including myself)

How this?

The clever guys, they cashed in two and a half years ago ( I know quite some) and they are now buying up like crazy from all the bankrupt guys (idiots) like me. For real start-ups, like what I have been doing in technology, this time is, of course, amazing. The reason is that this technology is now mature. Both from the consumer side, as people are using computers all the time and they buy a lot online, and from the technology side, where it has become so easy to develop a website or a web service or to rent servers.

For instance, you have the world’s biggest infrastructure at Amazon which you can just tap into with no set-up fee. So those two components, the e-side and the consumer side, work now and the developers and infrastructure are amazing, and then combine this with the fact that you can actually get developers because they have been fired and are much more realistic salary price-wise – that is all together probably the biggest opportunity in technology history.

What is your part in this game?

Imagine how we would have gone to the cattle market a hundred years ago and seen that perfect cow that gives milk, delivers some good babies and lots of meat you can eat. These are all the processes in the game in which I have been for over 15 years, creating companies, and through trial and error, finding those perfect cows that actually deliver (Christian and Assen – dont be offended :). And now, the technology and the people who want to buy and use it have combined in a way that suits someone like me perfectly. And that is, of course, a dream.

Is it the right time for entrepreneurs? Are they agents of change?

An agent of change for me is more somebody who is standing outside and wants to label people like me. But it is impossible to put a label on me. I am not a consultant, I am not an investor, I am not even an entrepreneur, I am many things in one.

So what are you?

I am mostly a guy facilitating a trampoline. I am the guy who dares to jump the crazy jumps on the trampoline and that people try out like a trampoline. I am facilitating a catapult. The best you can do now is to launch start-ups with good people, but you do have to have simply amazing, crazy, smart, good, cool, nice people, because these kinds of people can challenge SAP in one of their niches. But they have to be amazingly smart, hard working, into their stuff and vibrant. And they have to complement each other perfectly. Then, with added luck, it is possible.

What are the ingredients of entrepreneurial success?

Entrepreneurs are executing a vision and turning it into reality. You need a lot of skills in that process – accounting skills, sales skills, people skills, science skills, presentation skills and so on. The entrepreneur closes his eyes and lowers his hands, then uses all he has himself and reaches out to the world for the best of the competences to make it happen.

He has to be smart and trustworthy and socially strong enough to make his thing take off. How many times have you drawn your small ideas on a piece of paper for your friend but they never became reality. It is the entrepreneur who has the (mental) capital to get the idea off the piece of paper and into sales.

It is about skills, but it is also about luck, is it not?

In my world everybody knows that you have to work superhard (and be disciplined like hell). But then remember, there are global opportunities with technologies and the internet, but there is also global competition.

There will be another two hundred start-ups, some in the same market as you, so you also have to be lucky to break through or to find the right people or to chose the right strategy or to find the first client and adapt all of those things as you go along. You always have to acknowledge luck as part of your entrepreneurial success.

And sometime you fail.

That is why I am apparently so interesting. A lot of people tried what I tried, they have been categorised either as geniuses or losers. If you are one of those people in history who actually dares to talk about the fact that you failed, it seems very strange. And Ooh! If you are honest and talk about failure, that seems to be very new.

Do we need more of a failure culture?

Maybe we do have to be more realistic. So when we have an entrepreneur symposium at St. Gallen, we could also have a failure symposium because failure is much, much more likely than success if you are an entrepreneur. But you do not want to talk about it. I mean, eight out of ten seminars fail. It is very important for you to have the courage to say “I will”, “I can”, “I dare to do this”, but also “I can and dare and see that I can fail”. Then you become really strong.

But is the entrepreneur as an individual not massively overrated?

Again, you want to put a label on it, you want to categorise people. There are very few one-man brands in the world. Michael Jackson did it. (But)Everybody would acknowledge that he needed the band to create the music. In entrepreneurship, as well, you have the initial guy who starts something or who finds the team. But entrepreneurship is much more about team work and group effort.

There is a saying that true entrepreneurs are long-term oriented. But your entrepreneurial career does not reflect that in any way.

I would love to have a long-lasting business that I could keep forever (EVEBREAD = Everlasting Bread and is my dream of a such company). I would love to have this green tech company that purifies water of which I would be the proud owner forever. I think we all would love that. But with entrepreneurship you really have to remember that the entrepreneur can take the idea off a table and turn it into some kind of sales or product. The big corporations will then be so happy to buy this when it works, because they know how to make a critical thing huge. That is why they have a big corporation.

They do not believe they can be innovative at the same level, so they want to buy as soon as an entrepreneur has started. And they are much better at the managing game when you get to a certain level. So I get in quick, get out quick, it is true. Because it pretty often happens that you cannot say no if somebody wants to buy your stuff. The entrepreneurs in charge can get a lot of money, and most of the entrepreneurs, me especially, will take this money and do more of what they did before, meaning turning ideas into reality.

In your opinion, what is the best political and social context for entrepreneurship?

Put crudely, the best model for entrepreneurship in history is the model of American society, because it has created the Gates, the Carnegies and most of the biggest companies we know in a very short time. The Americans can beat anyone and every start-up because they always have the best start-ups and the most successful (financial eco-system until now). Talking about the best social model or political climate for entrepreneurship, I think we have been pretty lucky in the Scandinavian countries, but I doubt whether it is sustainable. (China and India will eat us alive :)

You have to be hungry to be a successful entrepreneur. You have to want to prove to the world, especially coming from small countries like Switzerland (and Denmark), that you can do it. The Nordic model makes people too demanding, they are not hungry any more (dinner is served for free no matter how stupid you behave). That is unfortunate, because I love to live here. Denmark is facing some real shit now. It will be very difficult to keep up all these crazy standards of social living.

Are entrepreneurs role models?

Yes, because we think that entrepreneurship is something we want (have) to do. But we forget that being an entrepreneur can mean failure. Successful entrepreneurs are role models, but seven out of ten entrepreneurs are not role models because they fail.

Interview: Johannes Berchtold

40th St. Gallen Symposium

There is something really (b2)big happening

– everything is simply moving into the browser and API’s- and there is no end to the change this will bring to the ENTERPRISE SOFTWARE business as we know it. (Know that we are all onFacebook).

Note: In my humble opinion most new SaaS products you see – is just an idea of putting an existing piece of server-side software or a client application – like Salesforce :)

SaaS

Nothing wrong with that – but its ALL ABOUT THE SOFT PROCESSES. Think of FACEBOOK as the global educator in “stream experience”. Facebook (Twitter) will make demand of change in business software: How-come you are much more updated on your remote friends weekendtrips – then you are updated  on your company and colleagues last efforts – well the answer is simple – the is NO INFORMATION STREAM in you company.

Change an Industry that has been locked down by legacy and time

First Everbread

(Im CEO)- is a VERY deep play in the basic simple idea of redoing something that is so old and important – that time has madde it look impossible to change. But with a team of 35 superbrains and a strategic leader who can really direct a vision into reality – then time and technology has really proven ready to CHANGE. Everbread is in sales dialogue and has signed deal – with all to key players in the travel industry. Why: Because its GOOD – well done – disruptive – and the new managers in the travel sector wants to use technology – not just be in a “thats how we have always done this” job. Everbread only lack the appstore play – until now – other then that its the biggest play I have even been close to understanding.

Second Tradeshift

Every government or Fortune 5000 company in the world can save min 50mio$ pr year – in one days work of setting Tradeshift up – because the long tail of suppliers – 60% are on paper (it costs 16$ for a Gov or Large Company to recieve a paper invoice (KMPG report states)) suddenly can deliver instantly digitally – with seemless integration to existing processes. And basicly no one has to spend their day opening paper invoices and/or retype PDF documents into their ERP system.

Tradeshift has 60.000 hours of code under the hood – and rocks a paradigm (EDI) in its purest form – and maybe even the fundamental idea of how to do accounting. Mr Lanng (speaking at NEXT10 about this very subject!) – the co-founder said something I wonder about nearly every day: “When I was in government – we always tried to jumped the idea of selfservice and go directly to AUTOMATING processes without user intervention.” Think about it – accounting and payment can be done automatically if you setup the right parameters and infrastructure. And the whole idea of a lot of these messages like a credit note – is just legacy – why dont we just do a collaborative draft and agree on it – then the rest is just a process that can be automated when agreed on (the hard part is security and soft processes). This is the real revolution for small business, they can start seeing their business as a network and not as a bunch of administrative processes (they run in the background).

But this doesn’t stop here, imagine that all those processes are wrapped into a cloud platform with open API’s (not like the closed EDI and bank networks of today) there is even endless amount of applications to be be build by third parties – and ecosystem that can evolve – a crowd-sourced movement of impact. OK – Im fired up – but Im pretty sure you can see that something big is coming here – off course you have to be hyper optimistic – but there is no lack of that on the team.

Third Hoist (my bizz stream)

Im not involved – but Im a fan – and its not funded – but Im pushing them a bit to take a hard-hitter CEO and then some smart Do$. Here you have a Danish startup with an amassing collaboration system. Oh shit that sounds like the 90’ies – but here is a smart piece of software that can create a STREAM for groups of coworkers. And its done in a amazingly simple and smart way / so that project and companies automatically! creates a stream by putting their – meetings, tasks, events, brainstorms in here… This is so much bigger

Both in Tradeshift and EVERBREAD something is upside down

When 2-5bio§ revenue companies cold call us or contacts us from the webform – despite our very very silent existence – you can feel winds of change – or is it just wind from the CloudService centers airconditioning? :)

MARTIN SCHAEDEL INTERNSHIP SCHOLARSHIP

When I landed in Paris 3 weeks after my bankruptcy I got a facebook message from a stranger – “your friend (my student in entrepreneurship since he was 18) has died in a plane crash pls call me”. Today is a BIG DAY – but I only got through all of this to show @Martin that I meant it when I said persistence is everything in entrepreneurship. Therefore TODAY IS DEDICATED TO the launch of MARTIN SCHAEDEL INTERNSHIP SCHOLARSHIP

UPDATE from a Bankrupt To My Dear: Fam. & Backers & Valuable Readers

(This will be my last post about bankruptcy and how it feels).

Its been a silly tough time since I realized that I had to close my newspaper 19months ago. Being insolvent and bankrupt is no real fun. Personally is has meant that I have been out of cash (as in NO credit card no nothing) – everything i controlled was taken by the government appointed lawyers.

Ive been loaded since i was 26

– when I sold Neo Ideo – with Lars, Jimmy and Thomas. But – let me tell you something. It has been a huge relief and friend$perience*. I had accumulated way to much crap (why the fuck did I have more art than I could have on my walls: wanna be artsy hip’ass) – out of desire to show the world (my mum and my high-school friends?) how smart and fast and brilliant I was. Well now you think – he has to say so. But this is true to everything I have ever done – and true I have been (mostly) :) – putting my money where my mouth was – and ALL OF IT.

REALITY ALERT: Dont even think about feeling sorry for me. I could have had a badly paid job at a restaurant and been fired – with nowhere to go!!!

After the shellshock – and some crap from a couple of people here end there (something that was a dot in the story but was filling 99% of the picture) – I can say now: I’m so happy to have seen whats supposed to be the button. The self pity vanished fast – and I just started charging for what I do (instead of being Santa Claus handing out money to every kind guy with half a good idea. I now had to get involved and charge for my time/network/ideas – (I know it sounds absolutely wacked) – but it was actually much less lonely and now I knew that no one was hanging out just because I had the biggest bag of candy. I had no candy tied to my leg – and a few guys (and girls) stopped calling :)

Note: My Mum was as ever cool: “Morten, dont worry – you got yourself into this stiff – and ofcourse you can get yourself out…” – and yes Im lucky to be born with good genes and such fine psychology.

TIPS TO GET TROUGH SHIT

1) Use your MUM – family and friends
2) Get (stay) in shape
3) Change yourself (u where probably on a wrong track)
4) Blame only yourself*
5) Reject (politely) all the people who want to share problems
6) Remember you started with nothing – so its like coming home

*Morten Nissen Nielsen and Svenn Dam (Chairman and CEO) – whom I trusted in my newspaper venture should take this medicine. I owe them everything – I love them for having me declared bankrupt – otherwise I would have been under management from banks and THEM (I offered them a seat in my board to manage this ship trough the crisis – so they could get the money that I really would have loved to give them). Now they have been blaming ME and EVERYONE around them for all kinds of crap – instead of creating value. But unfortunately I had a call with the Media Mogul number one in Denmark (Jørgen Eibøl) too late. He told me that these guys are driven by revenge and hate – and never kept one single budget in their lives. They dont even care about building value Svenn is on his second 200mioEUR burn with Dansk Bredbånd (a hopeless case) – just crash and burn and blaming everyone around him. Today they get 1mioDKR for the sad job they did at the paper – and the keep blaming EVERYONE – according the them even the official receiver is now a fool… But from my heart – I love them (“Its all about luck” – and maybe some Mental Tai Chi and a good psychologist)- and they where fucking amassing at keeping the agressivness and spirit high. And they found the most amasing journalists (and sales team and logistics team) all people I still admire (and talk to a lot) for producing a FANTASTIC PRODUCT. And if it would have been legal I would have paid them every single € i promised them – EVERY SINGLE ONE. And still today they collected 1mioDKR – whats consideren a LOTTERY WIN in Denmark.

Morten Nissen Nielsen got the special watch I give to super-talents – and I still think he can become a superstar – . I will never talk about this again – its out of my system and I love them.

Its a Rollercoaster – “faster faster”

If you have had the insane luck that I’ve been surrounded by – and consider yourself a human aggressive curious Joe from the countryside – not overly impressed with how things work. And you dare to take a shot at even the biggest structures – then I have ONE VERY IMPORTANT PIECE OF ADVICE. Be sure that the roller-coaster has a lot of speed when you go down – that might take you up faster :). I’m bullshitting – but

*friend$pirience – its UN FUCKING REAL

This is NOT AN Oscars thank you list – I just want to show how many people it takes to try to make a survival. You need quite an army of helpers and people – and since every rule and legal opinion has to be from experts – its not cheap.  And trying to raise funds to buy myself free has also been a WONDERFULL EXPERIENCE. Here is an anonymous list of favours that came in from a circle of close friends and people I nearly dont know (you all know who you are):

C: My lawyer has been unreal
D: My other lawyer – offered free advise
X: An expert lawyer I did not know came by and told me to just use him

S: has given me accounting and financial advise (despite his partners resitance)

S: got me 6months free at the gym

m: for hiring me instantly as a consultant
m: who I used in boards – helped with pocket money loan
j: old friend – just made a cash commitment if I would get a chance to buy myself out
r: showed up with pocket money at my door and a kondi vand
m: sendt me pocket money from Miami
g: whom i met 4 times – just made a cash commitment if I would get a chance to buy myself out
k: whom I met 2 times – made a bailout account in 7h when an oppertunity came
m: who’m a met 4 times – just made a cash commitment if I would get a chance to buy myself out
t: my close friend – just made a cash commitment if I would get a chance to buy myself out
m: austrian drinking buddy – just made a cash commitment if I would get a chance to buy myself out
p: who’m I never met – got me a place to work and live from

l: who bailed out the accountants to do the books for the holdings to stay alive
p: who I owe a lot of money… after today
m: who I owe a lot of money… after today
j: who I owe a lot of money… after today
visby: who I owe a lot of money… after today
m: for giving me 1000DKR without mentioning that day when my card was taken.

m: who sent me 6 bottles of wine

BMW: for transferring the car to another company and not taking everything down so that my xwife has had a car.
Henrik E. – Forstadernes Bank: who trust in me coming back one day. Thanx Henrik!

Alexander the COO of my life: (former BullGuard): Who stepped in (12 months ago) and has been my wingman and survival manager when it comes to paperwork, contracts and my new job – I cant say thank you enough.

Speaking gigs: Lots of companies and organisations have been hiring me to tell my story – and its been a good way to keep up the spirit. And who could say no to go to: Milan, Zurich, Paris, NYC, Tokyo… and talk about they ego and get everything paid for + having lots of inspirering people sending hundreds of emails… (I do have to say that the speech/show is getting GOOD and FUNNY).

As you can read out of this – all these people gave me the the chance to buy myself free via loans – but I will not be out of dept for the next 10years – mentally nor personally. I still kick my self over the small business owners who lost money from the paper and the employees who lost their jobs – the big ones (Companies and top2 management) collected together 150mio+EUR in revenue. And the VAT we paid was an insane number…

Do I regret personally

NOPE – I have more experience than ANYONE I KNOW in my age  – and I have learned a lot about friendships and see the world even more positive than before. And now my kids now the price of taking the train – and THEY LOVE IT. You could also call it the worlds most expensive MBA :)

Will I go all in again – hmm – hope not. But as one of my backers said yesterday: “Im also here next time my friend..” Im out…!

“Im so happy to have my drawing pad back.”

Here is the picture of where a real entreprenuer havev fun and feels alive – I really hope to start building for myself again soon. Not that Im not enjoying building for others and collecting a big fat consulting check….

When I fly I always –

pass out just after takeoff. Some time ago I was on a plane from Tokyo to Copenhagen to do consulting work for a VERY BIG JAPANESE GUY. I had someone very dear in my mind and I was dreaming and crying on the plane…  I’m my dream I was the main carrecter in”Californication”. A sexy lady (now my girlfriend) said ”Hey Morten, I have been thinking about it. I think you are the Hank Moody of your world…”

If you aren’t –

familiar with this TV show let me say that it is not something you would consider as an instant compliment.

Californication is about

a writer from LA with a rather complicated relationship with his life. He is drinking too much, smoking too much, fooling around too much and hurting his daughter and girlfriend all the time. He keeps ending up in strange crazy situations but for some reason he is to me a hero as he tries to be honest about his crazy choices. A heart-driven fool…

”What do you mean”,

I asked the lady a little offended, because this guy is really not a man a woman would spend more than a night with.

”Well”, she said. ”You fool around in your world, you smoke, ok, you drink, but you fall in and out of love all the time with  people , with situations, with companies and with ideas. You manage to look at the bright side of life and although you have been going through a very tough time lately I have not seen you smile and laugh so much since the day we met.
You are a Hank Moody because you try to be honest and stay in contact with yourself although you do not always know who that is for very long – neither do the rest of us.”

Ohh my God…,

I thought, it is going to be a very long flight – more than the scheduled 11 hours. But then i started to rethink…

Dear valued reader of this mental hygiene blog of mine, I am not good at writing long  well structured articles/essays. I am no good with long sentences, long relationships and keeping focus for too long. I communicate with the world through Twitter (140 carercters) and I get a lot of my info from Twitter as well. I am a super ultimate consumer of information and personal relations, words and ideas and I like to be fast, passionate and juicy about everything I do. I love to go all in – and that’s something I can prove :). I want to be a man of action and you could say short sentences. So for me to write this article/essay is overcoming a barrier and it is not a natural thing for me. Act Don’t Talk is my motto –> 2.0 Act Don’t Think or  Act Don’t Write :) …

The reason

for bringing the Hank Moody story up is because he is a kind of a guy who seems to go with the flow and no matter how much he screws up he seems honest and able to continue on the destine road of his. And in that way I have to agree with thr srxy Lady.

I have been investing in and starting up companies for more than 17 years and even though I am no more than almost 38 years old I am quite a veteran within this area. I have a pretty good, almost animalistic instinct for good people and kicking off ideas into businesses and I am willing to go very far too implement these ideas if I believe in the people behind. And then it happened last year – BANG – One of these ideas made me go personal bankrupt and it is now 14 months ago. You can read about the whole story on my here on my blogpost the-day-i-woke-up-without-arms-and-legs – its hardcore – but to me more hearthcore.

What I want to share with you

is that ever since that day I have been smiling more than ever. I am a bit afraid of telling people how I feel as they could consider me a bit loony (well I am). But I have to be honest and even though I lost more than 50 mio. euros I am more optimistic about life than ever. I feel free and although I do not own a credit card and my kids and their mother probably have to move out of the house they live in and Im inviting myself for dinners all the time I feel an unbearable lightness about life and my situation, which kind of embarrass me since I read about guys committing suicide for less money that I lost and that makes me rethink…..

Im no longer thingking about what Jet Plan to buy, it is no longer an option buying art for all the extra earnings on investments, it is no longer cool to show the size of your dick by showing up a charity shit. And I love that I don’t have to spend braintime on inventing crazy holidays just because ordinary was suddenly not good enough – no more swimming in champagne at fancy clubs. You end up killing and loosing yourself, if not literally then mentally – when the speed is too fast… To go bankrupt is probably the biggest eye opener to me  ever– it  has set me free and I do not need to hide my insecurities behind a speed, funds, material shelter of goods and staff and more and more unuseful crab. Going bankrupt has shown me more about myself than I had ever dreamt of and even better – it had shown and taught me for real – not just as a political correct cliche – that success is not earning money in itself. Success might be about understanding money as a tool to develop and changing the world. A tool to make people work and inspire  and motivate themselves and others.

Money and loss of it –

should never lead to suicide, ugly divorces, loneliness and mental loneliness. Money is like love energy and should be used and looked at the same way – with respect and mutual understanding. Money has to be reflecting the users values and personality and should be used wisely and with integrity. If you spend your money wisely and with respect and follow your gut feeling – then you might get closer to the right track i think.  It is not about the money but about the energy in it. Money is dangerous stored energy. Be honest about who you are and what you know and do not use people unless you really use them. Money is nothing – did you ever see a company build itself? Right – it’s the people, people, people.
My friend was maybe right  – Maybe I am the Hank Moody of my world – I live and breath it, and sometimes I screw up but I get back on the horse – I never give up on my dreams – and I am proud that although I have had everything and now have nothing I am happier than ever feeling more successful and on page with the soul of the world…

With EVERBREAD and Tradeshift

– taking of like space-rockets – I feel that my focus and salesman-skills channel in ONE DIRECTION and I actually add value. I see results – I feel that people around me grow and get more energized – and therefor I have a much better feeling about myself. I have tried being 100% confused about my 8-90 startups – and not into any detail. But now – that I have to perform as a CEO and Adviser – I see how much you can do with attention and focus – how many small errors I can find just from using my experiences. I’m not bullshitting you – dear highly valued reader – I LOVE IT. Off course – both project are HYPER DISRUPTIVE in their industries – and its not a boring butter cookie factory – but I love being into the details and MOVE A WHOLE TEAM and ORG forward. Its a very new and strange feeling for me – but I feel that I found my role here.

Should I ever be so lucky to get free and out of bankruptcy – I will lock myself into only doing One major thing and max 2 small side geeks.

RETHINK –

your own success parameters all you other Hank Moodys out there.. And remember Im always very liquid – I have the love of my 4 kids – that’s all that matters. Think about it … :)

Note: This essay was printed in German Focus magazine 11 months ago – and is only mildly updated.

Make it FULLSCREEN and chill:

This piece of art I have ever seen – it goes directly to my system – scary and yet an ever discover-full voyage in between your mind and your eyes.

Civilization by Marco Brambilla from CRUSH on Vimeo.

Me, Mylself, I

“I keep having this dream where I’m stuck in the bottom of a drill – I can’t jump high enough to catch the top and get up… ”

U don’t have to be clairvoyant or a numeric healer to understand that dream. For me the important part has been to cope with the fact that I’m a failure and forget about my cosmetic aware nercicistic self – AND MOVE ON. It did not take that long for the awake me and I make a small sallery and pay my bills partly from talking openly about my bankruptcy and working for EverBread where no one gives a shit. But apparently the deeper part of me is not really coping with the situation since this dream keeps comming… Its strange but maybe its also the key to entrepreneurship:

1) FIRST

You r a failure since u don’t take the NORMAL CARRIER ROUTE –

2) SECOND

when u get successful (and loaded) u r once again A VERY DIFFERENT KIND OF FISH but with self-confidence.

3) THEN FOR SOME YEARS

U learn the new lifestyle – rick – successful – kind of admired. You start talking way more then you listen (be very aware). You start being late for to many friend meeting… And You try to find out who u are – and build whatever you can with this weird self-confidence from money: – family, friendship, companies.

4) AND THEN

( if did not give up at STEP 1,2 or – became a coke head at 3 (still haven’t tried that kind of dope – it would be like reverse Woody Allen on downers). And if you really go all in to feel the kick from building something and you dont just sit on the money (or a stupid real estate portfolio). THEN IT HAPPENS -> SOME go bankrupt – and start over again. (then GO TO 1).

No Matter What Step you are at – Its About People

As always its about PEOPLE and the values inside yourself – and if u want to build a big vision or a big company u HAVE TO HAVE the ability to atrack people and talent that is way over your head – ITs CALLED SALES – sales of your vision. A term that seems to be eroded from all businesscards I have received over the last 5 years (I just checked).

No Matter What Step you are at – Its All About Sales

As an entrepreneur: Every day you have to sell your idea, your product and your self. And dont try hide behind it – with endless development or launching without called clients – following up – or even worse – A VIRAL STRATEGY and MEDIA. Call client and partners… EVERYONE AND HIS DOG.

It Takes A Lot Of Self-confidence

I had endless love in my childhood from everyone around me (parents, neighbors, teachers (even those with bad teaching skills, friends and Mentors) – and I now even have the unconditional love from my kids on top (and a incredible patient girlfriend). And that’s more I could ever dream of – so when I’m awake and have control over my brain I’m proud and happy. And I do sales and get a no every day.

BUT BUT BUT there is some unfinished business deep inside (its cosmetic – and its about some people (the first in my life) who fucked me over – and its about my personal brand and integrity) – something I haven’t been able to connect too and analyze – even though my shrink has given me a credit-line (but we mostly talk about sex anyway ).

I will keep fighting – and I feel stronger then EVER – just have to fix that dream part – Standing Stuck down that drill.

FlopStar – refers to Morten Lund to rock GeeknRolla, April 20, London

After this reboot of my business life (and personality) I have really learned many things that are obvious to others – but ofter new to entrepreneurs.

If you are an entrerprenuer you are braking new ground (even the German VCs who are copying as if the where chinese hifi producers in the 1980’ies). You are figthing so hard to get in front of the clients – to be innovative – to break trough – that it can be really hard (nearly impossible) to absorb knowledgge from your surroundings – aka listen to people with lots of knowledge . NOTE FOR NON ENTREPRENEURS: Despite what you hear – it always starts with NOTHING – only human capital (PEOPLE) and an idea. Then comes product, money, clients, cashflow…

I have realized that – being a serial entrepreneur – the thing you naturally and unfortunately forget is: TO LOOK BACK and LISTEN TO THE ELDERLY. Its clearly because most elderly will tell you: ITS NOT POSSIBLE to do what you want to do. But my lesson over the last 18months is that you have to listen. You have to force yourself to listen and suck knowledge out of people who have exspeirience in the business you are about to enter. Consider it presales. (Hard Core Entreprenuers will say: We dont give a fuck – we are groundbreaking) – but never the less try if you can.

WHY AM I POSTING ABOUT THIS

I have always tried to have people in the board who could advise me – but it has never worked – mainly because I have been an idiot who thought I knew better… But in the last year I have been very KEEN on having board members who can support and help. Now – in the bankrupt version of me – I have been operational and not an OWNER – and I have had to listen and digest and iterate. Its highly likely that my lack of self-confidence due to my circumstances (no one has felt it ;) – has been a key. I can conclude that it has been SO EFFECTIVE and I CAN REALLY RECOMMEND IT :).Find older people with heavy industry experiences and LISTEN.

REAL WORLD EXAMPLE

In london Tuesday I had a chat with a travel industry veteran, this was our second chat – he is a big kahona. And he gave me an advice that I could implement INSTANTLY on our Everbread business model – and WOW it worked. Conclusion: Listen – feel your advisers – make them comfortable – and then SUCK the 20+ years of experiences into you bizz.

Two days ago I

From M: "I just spent 3 days with some pretty serious people and learned a ton. I love the internet, fuck being a farmer is hard and the rest is bullshit =) can you imagine waiting 3 years to discover if your strategy was the right one?"

An email this morning from my friend Matias – made me feel stupid.

During 2009 – I have felt some self petty and I have been thinking that life was hard – but imagine if I was into real old school business – like farming (where we all came from – and yes my grandfather has a medium sized farm until early 1970’ies). But fuck me – and all the spoiled kids in the tech world. Its hard but NOT THIS HARD – as in farming where:

• Product cycles are 3-4 years
• Weather can kill all
• Its hard physical work
• Capital requirements are insane
• Lots of heritage
• Lots of environmental trouble

I feel humble that I can work in a sector where the screen always lets me work when and where I want to – mostly with whom I want to. And the fact that 99% of all offices are nice and warm. Well then there is the hardcore sales (the big secret of tech success) – where one have to aggressively show the vision and product (even very early stage) to endless amounts of clients and investors – but but but – the always offer you coffee and they are seldom rude.

Dear tech entrepreneur og colleagues out the – let be humble and proud and happy to be here in evolution.

Happpy Neew Year.

So the cocktail party ended at 5 in the morning – and was one hell of a mingling and “friendling” session. Thanx a billion to Tommy and the amasing people Fiskebaren for sponsoring a bankrupt friend. It was a bit more then wild to get a call from Richard that he wanted to have dinner and exspected a cocktail party for the http://www.carbonwarroom.com/ people. But – who in this world would say No? Ricard and Nick (his right hand mann) told about they whole group strategy nd made lots of jokes about themselfes – and I learned some very interesting insights about Virgin – impressive story – even better then the book. It had to be very closed and small – but what a party – I think the pictures tell.I was very impressed by the 45y old major of Vancouver – who was a fantastic guy and seemed like he meant it when he talked about going green. (Off course it was also nice to get an invite for the Olympics in feb).

A term sheet arrived in my inbox

Around 2pm a very good and pro VC pinged in with a term sheet – on VERY respectable terms for one of the companies Im advising. And the phone started buzz like it had a virus – what did they mean with A, B and C – and the smiles where combined with a sting of disapointment from the evaluation. But WOW – they already have 3 term sheets. And got one more big contract Tuesday – PLUS a writer from the worlds best tech magazine did an interview on the Tuesday.

The best board meeting in my life

Today was all crazy – Everbread had its first board meeting – and the UPPER IMPRESSIVE board:

Vagn Sørensen (x CEO at Austrian Airlines)
Montie Brewer (x CEO at Air Canada)
Mr X (x Amadues)
Michael Jackson (x Skype)
+ 8 staff

Showed up at 17.00 and after rehersing and preparign for 2 weeks – Assen and I (and Filip and Ashley) walked trough the presentations like two boy-scouts at the final “start a fire without matches” test. But it went really well – and everyone got psyked when Assen pulled of the working prototype and showed result that will redefine the industry.

WOW – shitasspetfuckers adrenalin kick. And the guys from the establishment (Montie has never been in a startup before) really smiled and talked about real innovation and disruption. I cant fall down (5.36am) – it was so nice to collect a bit of the fruits from 8-9 months of hard from the INCREDIBLE techteam in Sofia/Mallorca picture updated. How can I be so lucky to be surrounded big genuine brilliant smart – and nice human beings on this level??

I didnt even mention that Flydini.com our showoff appetiser got a new design and usability total makeover at 4pm – a 200% upgrade – play with it. If you travel a lot – be carefull – its highly addictive.

UPDATE:

Twitter Flydini Q & A:

_delux

@ML how does that help me apart showing the flights? I could just use lh.com and book there as well

Answer: GOOD QUESTION! This is only a very mild teaser – and the only place where you can get results that mix LOWCOST and OLDSCHOOL Airlines. Play with it – and you will se lots of value.
PS. On LH.com you see only Lufthansa flights – but maybe you want to use Air Berlin to get to Frankfurt and then LH to Rio?

– – – – – – – –

choffmeyer
@ML No prices on flydini.com ? How come there is no return flight date ?

Answer: This is just a teaser (but I use it all the time and it gets me combinations that I cant get anywhere else (you have to be a bit geeky to really get the value). We will not do a consumer solution with return, pricing and availabilty for now. We are B2B – and a still bit secretive. Sorry – I know it like eating candy with the paper on.

The best part

During the 5h board meeting the kids came over and wanted to sleep here – and behaved like angels – went to bed without trouble and where just soo cute. I will head up to them and get 1h sleep.

I love my life. LOVE IT. Copy Paste ;)

Here is one of the few interwieves I have ever given – where i felt I had something to say:
(it here in Danish) – thanx to Ari Gold Wegther from translating.

Dont Over-strategize

Morten, it was your engagement in the Nyhedsavisen venture that made you famous to the general public in Denmark. So let me start by asking which digital branches you have worked in?

Hmm… this is going to be a long article. After my agency days at Neo Ideo, where we worked with all sorts of digital clients since the birth of the Internet, I’ve invested in all directions. From  Browsers, Guleroden.dk and VindENHund to Kazaa, Skype, Zyb and Bullguard to Online Backgammon, iJoule and Trivop. You could say that I’ve tasted everything on the menu.



Which role did you have in these projects?
Usually, I’ve been co-founder and involved in the development of the fundamental idea, sourced the management who could drive the project and secured financing. I haven’t been particularly hands-on operationally.

The theme of this edition of MARKET is Digital Strategies. How do you work digitally on a strategic level with different companies?
I’m not especially talented nor have I studied classic strategy at Harvard. For me, the key issue is to crystallize collective ideas to collective action points aimed at the biggest possible chance of success while following the business vision. So my core strength has been my ability to create strategic value, you could say, as measured by revenue and cash flow only.

What are the most common and serious strategic hurdles for companies that want to create an online business? I’m not sure I know what strategy actually means. In my view, it’s simply about aligning vision and execution, since everything in my universe is about sales – everything. I have a presentation entitled: ”Don’t overstrategize.” I really believe that is crucial. Many, especially large organizations, invite me to their strategy sessions. Usually, there are big white boards and heaps of candy on the table with an implicit demand that A STRATEGY MUST BE BANGED OUT AT ALL COST HERE AND NOW. That’s pretty hard to achieve in such a mad rush.



Are there strategies that you have experienced as particularly strong across different industries? Keeping it simple – that seems to apply frequently. I’ve noticed that a winning formula can be the combination of simplicity, an easily digestible message, uniqueness with a twist of rebellion mixed together with radical transparency. Especially because the Web is more ruthless and transparent than anything else we’ve seen historically.


Now when we dig in to specific industries, which strategies you applied have been really successful? I’m hitting a dead-end on this one. Sorry to disappoint you, but after having founded and funded more than eighty-eight companies, I don’t think that there is just one cookie-cutter solution or strategy that works for all.

Strategy is typically a flexible concept. In your opinion, how do you get the most from strategic work process? I’m thinking here of development and implementation respectively. You need to go back to basics and apply simplicity and honesty all the time. Employees and customers should be able to grasp your company strategy in two sentences, while they are interrupted by an SMS, email or tweet, for example, or before they drown in the pompous and patronizing propaganda that strategies often end up being. Personally, I had my most important strategy experiences, or lack of it, this year:

1) with Richard Branson, who asked me for advice when considering to enter Formula One racing. Of course he didn’t ask me because he thought I knew anything about that business in particular. Branson was just testing a gut-feeling that he had and soon afterwards acquired the Honda team based on common sense and maximum leverage of the Virgin brand. And most importantly, he made a swift and definitive call. No mucking around with twenty-five McKinsey guys running around doing SWOT analyses and plodding through a tediously slow, handicapped strategy process.

2) I’ve been fortunate enough to spend some time with Puma’s CEO, who came to the job 16  years ago with revenues at €200 million euros back then. Today, after having been at the helm during all these years, he has lead the business to €3.5 billion in annual revenues. Puma’s strategy has been quite simple: bone-hard work and focus on shifting from sport to fashion. Easy to grasp for everyone around him.

3) In Germany, Bionade started from scratch and created a new category of organic soft drinks that did not exist before. Peter, their CEO, shared their remarkable company history with me over a couple of buckets of red wine. Bionade’s evolution was not a properly planned strategy at all. In fact, the plan was rooted in the acute realization that their family brewery would not survive the global beer battles and consolidations. So the new business direction was an alternative to being acquired or bankrupted by the beer industry’s major players. Twenty years of innovation and development were kick-started by this difficult yet fortuitous fact. Fortunately, the family matriarch, who owned the brewery, gave her sons a free hand to experiment with 100 per cent organic brewing of strange and deliciously flavored soft drinks.

So, basically, this was a crisis-driven process, rather than the result of careful strategic planning. Dr. Oetker announced in December that it is taking a majority stake in Bionade and will provide six-hundred sales people along with their beer distribution channel in support of the company. As a direct result, they are poised to break the 200 million units-per-year ceiling. Is that strategy or just pride and consistency?

”The public wants to be seduced: millions of Danes play lotto daily, even though statistically speaking it is completely idiotic.”

Morten Lund

It’s ten years ago that the so-called Dot.com bubble burst. What’s your take on changes in the e-commerce landscape and on doing business online since those days?

Nothing much has changed, except that the Web has proven that it can generate real money now. For example, JustEat earns DKK 20–25 million selling pizza in Denmark alone this year. But it does fluctuate. We’ve had a global bubble in the meantime, which just burst and left a global mess, and we’re probably going through another bubble during these recent months.
    
The public wants to be seduced: millions of Danes play lotto daily, even though statistically speaking it is completely idiotic. The winner appears on TV, but if you showed the scores of losers, it would take a year of non-stop broadcasting to parade all of them on the screen before finding a winner. TV will remain forever popular and Lotto will become illegal. It’s not hard to draw parallels for the Dot.com or stock markets. All Roskilde bank clients loved that bank, even though nobody know what the hell was going on inside. Now the situation is reversed, because people discovered that stock markets are a lot like Lotto. Any deviation from the interbank-rate can quickly result in massive financial losses, even to the point of losing your shirt entirely. Same for the Dot.com arena, where some very talented – and lucky –  people made enormously successful companies that bled money yet appeared to be perfect strategic fits for established  corporations. The hysteria was self-perpetuating: at some point, Framfab was worth more than Ericsson and AOL duped Time Warner into a merger – the cat was in the bag. On the other hand, some blue chips were clever enough to buy pre-revenue companies and turn them into fantastic businesses. 
    
That’s just how it is in times of upheaval. Dot.com is something people can understand now and there is clearly money to be made in this space. That was not the case back when investors blindly jumped on the gravy-train, lured by greedy aspirations, tons of hype and the adventure of the unknown. It’s true that a few exceptions confirm the rule. Like Google, for example, which didn’t have a revenue model for several years after it launched. Call it strategy or opportunism. Was it a mistake that Brin and Page embarked on a venture without really knowing how they would make money? They took enormous risks and tested boundaries to the very limits of their investors’ pain threshold. Now that is called Venture – the definition of real Risk Capital.

I’ve lived in the Venture Capital world since I pinched an edition of Denmark leading financial paper, Børsen, on my own newspaper route and hungrily consumed every article about Michael Mathiesen and a few other real pirates and risk-takers who created new companies and business models in the late-eighties and early-nineties. The rationale behind this is not the worth of each individual business (investment), but the sum total of ten high-risk investments yielding one or two big winners that profitably pay for those firms that are bound to fail. Although this might sounds totally crazy, especially when coming from a fringe-lunatic like me who just lost everything on one supersized investment and admittedly cannot make a proper return on a range of smaller ventures, there’s nothing inherently wrong with this concept. But it’s difficult at this junction in time to see the bigger picture. When even blue-chips like Maersk hit rock bottom, all those ridiculous cliches such as due diligence and prudence that that company has fostered sound pretty empty… is there anything left to believe in?

If we fast forward ten years, which successful business trends do you imagine the future holds? Software and technology double in performance capacity each year. I believe we’ll start seeing things that we can hardly imagine today. The core fabric will be a Twitteresque integration that allows us to measure everything and twitter in small nerdy groups about our main interests. Business models? Don’t ask me. Twitter and Spotify, both investment opportunities I missed when burning cash on my newspaper fiasco, are great examples. They don’t make a dime yet they’re growing massively in size and scope. These types of shops are changing the way we do stuff. Chris Andersen, the author of Free, was just in Denmark, and the cover title of his new book exactly illustrates what the Internet is really about.

What’s your experience with creating a business by giving something away for free?
Skype started as freeware and today generates USD750 million dollars. When something is new and disruptive it has the power to revolutionize consumer behavior, so its pretty smart to start by giving it away free. Consider it as a kind of sampler or teaser, if you will, that people gradually adopt in their daily lives until it becomes essential to them – at which point you need to be ready to deploy your payment model.



What should be free and what shouldn’t? No idea. But be very careful to avoid giving your stuff for free when you could have charged for it. Bits and bytes have the advantage of being cheap to duplicated and transport without any material degradation of quality.

Do you believe that it’s possible to earn money in the long term on something that ultimately can be digitalized?
Yes. But the innovation does not only come from the ability to digitalize things. We now have social software that makes good sense. Not just an ERP-system located in the cloud, but social online applications created beyond the cloud. Of course, that is monetizable, just look at online-dating.

A buzz word heard a lot in Internet business discussions is “affiliate”. How do you interpret this concept?
It’s genius. But just like black market money changers and side street brokers, among whom I’m sure there are some decent characters, affiliates are a mixed batch. You really need to define your performance metrics before you buy any traffic from affiliate vendors. Most of them cannot measure conversion rates or the performance impact you need to know. Also, marketing managers typically believe that they are artists and would rather stroke their Pantone color charts than a complex excel sheet. And they end up losing out. When everything is possible, it’s always the metrics masters who come out on top.

Can you imagine that the ability to create and optimize affiliate partners becomes a competition parameter in itself and therefore a future differentiation factor? Affiliate, SEO, AdWords, partnerships and content-driven attention are obviously the way forward. When you acquire a user, by which I mean a potential customer, for free through a search engine, you’ve achieved your goal and you think you’re fat and happy. But if you don’t know what you want from that user then she/he is just eats up your server capacity and it doesn’t matter that they were delivered right to your business’ doorstep. Measurement and performance metrics are the absolute key to online success. Creativity is cheap. Creativity is a commodity that can be bought anywhere.



It is fair to say that the proliferation of digital possibilities is about to drastically change all types of business. Which segments are most threatened, according to you, and what can they do against it?
Sure, I believe there are some traditional industries that are threatened by this development. That’s inevitable. So let’s use the glass is half full/half empty analogy here: Digitalization is both a massive opportunity and a huge challenge (read danger). However, in many industries, we’ve seen the incumbents and established players beat out the smaller companies. Case in point: TDC has swallowed ALL ISPs in Denmark over the years.



Finally, any advice on what to look out for in the near future? I’m laser focused on enterprise cloud software and search. You know, I don’t have time any more to tool around with a whole bunch of wacky consumer apps, like I did when I was loaded with bling. Besides, I don’t feel like a successful person who is in a position to recommend anything to anyone. It’s time to call my lawyers and hear how my personal bankruptcy proceedings are going!

PREMISE for this note:

I have not been too focused on all the tech news in the  – ever – but the lack of exits compared to the number of startups and MONEY spent scares me a bit. And since I went bankrupt in January – I have had a 1000% focus on making money and do it FAST (without rushing into stupid stuff). It’s been healthy and actually really interesting. Since, while I had lots of cash – I got sloppy and sprayed my money (AND MOST IMPORTANTLY: Time) into too many things – and to much consumer stuff. It’s focus time…

Reality shapes Philosophy

So it’s been so cool and fun to be Santa Clause since I was 27y (and sold Neo Ideo) – arriving to meetings with a loaded bank account and an untamed lust to help small start-ups. PLUS I have had an extreme self confidence in building disrupting and revenue free consumer applications (Skype) and websites (Zyb and more) – since thats simply what I have done until now – risky risky. I was lucky. But if you are in that game – you need more then luck – you also need to be with fantastic people and have the right timing… (Well that’s what I talk about weekly in my speaking geeks). But let me confess – it’s too hard and the most ones are to small to do it when you are bankrupts and on the way up or lets say back…

“The Core of all enterprise IT – is going to be mesenging”

– George from Charles River they did Twitter and now Jammer

WTF @ML are you going B2B

Well – yes – enterprise it is. There are numbers of studies showing that people who go bankrupt – often make it back faster then they made their first money – and YES ITS ABOUT MONEY. Money as in: The greens you pay your rent, food and kids winter boots with.

And HTF does it work when you are bankrupt

Well its pretty simple. I own NOTHING and I cant own ANYTHING. Easy peicy. But I can take consulting jobs and speaking geeks (everything with travel and consumtion paid upfront) – and then rent a house (try to keep my xwife and the kids in the old house by paying the bills I can afford until the bank claims it) – take (lots of) loans from friends who believes in me – and then let the crisis be my best friend (when BMW don’t even want the leased car back – because their CTO believes I will be back soon). And here I am. Working extremely focused to first of all get my self confidence back (or get a real one – an updated self confidence from producing and not only placing bets – not living in the 90’ies and a noveu rich hippies – who felt stupid that he missed the 70’ies – in a yuppie world). So I live day to day – and wait to see what “they will take tomorrow” – or what some asshole will try to steal… But hey – it’s just reality – just money – and I’ve seen friends stand up and take care of me – like I took care of some of them once. AND I have more time for the kids.

This means I have to focus on building value and making MONEY. Focus on putting my time into a TECHNOLOGY company (no newspapers or landmine detection stuff) where I can use my skills – motivate, product develope, raise capital and SELL. (Remember: Revenue comes from SALES – product over the counter in exchange for CASH). And do it with my full integrity and since my only fuel is passion (absolutely not IQ) – I had to identify companies that would have the best people and the best ideas and the biggest market – AND THE FASTEST chance of making it BIG. And here it comes – very surprising to myself: Its B2B guys. Not some hyper risky role-game for Twitter or some other hot sexy thing like Spotify – loosing gazillions a day with a stiff smile and tons of users. It simply takes to much risk for me NOW. (And yes it’s one big fat contradiction of myself). But Im involved with 2 companies in the B2B space – still shitass cool technology and bizz models (AND YES I STILL WANT TO BE A PIRATE AND MAKE BIG STUFF) – and it just feels so much more likely to happen – therefor that’s what I’m doing. Running after 10-30mioEUR revenue first year of operation and a healthy scalable company – surrounded by the very best people and CLIENTS!!!

Sorry if I’m not motivating

To all of you dear valued consumer startups following me – don’t give up – it’s just a period (might be 4-5 years) – but I really pray for you and hope that I’m not killing dreams with this post. (Just hate to think about how many Facebook games and iPhone apps out there – who are burning – and only burning CASH).

Inspiration

I find good inspiration in Saul Klein (I was NOT impressed with him at Skype) – but this is a FANTASTIC ARTICLE – I follow many good twitter people – I leverage twitter to the max – and actually helped 3 upper smart guys to build the company via my RECRUIT TWEETS. And I once in a while read David’s article: Overnight success takes years and get reminded of 1996 when he was working for us batch scanning pictures – crazy kid (SUPERSTAR). And then I must admit – I get more calls from the Business Angels “who knows I will be back” (they think). VC’s then ever – and that feels nice – that the guys with the oil – still finds my ability to burn and heath worth throwing money after.

Sorry I haven’t posted for a while – focus you know – and today instead of getting hammered it got: rid of these thoughts.

PS. Cant wait to tell you more about my stealth stuff. But let me unveil – its about search and real time.

Pps. Whatch this Video and keep on until you get what they are talking about – ITS THE FUTURE. And the MS guys is fucking brilliant.

UPDATE:

I forgot to underline that Im so focued that I dont do new deals – so please dont sendt things to me (it’s hard for a deal addict) – and they havent made any pasters or chewinggum for that yet.

Dear Valued Reader(s)

This picture reflects UPSIDE DOWN TO ME
– and the WORLD IS 100% UPSIDE DOWN WHEN:

The Banks Are Out Of Money,

AIG got 180bio$ in Gov Aid – market cap today 5,3bio$

Im Bankrupt but feel better then ever.

Climate change has made Danish summers AMASING.

The Hedgefunds forgot to HEDGE.

56% of all twitter users follow no one.

Obama came out of NO WHERE because he made a deal with the weapon industry and therefor he can challenge doctors and pharma to on a HEALTHCARE REFORM.

People talk much more to each other during crisis – we suddenly have something in common.

Wireless power seems to be a consumer facing reality soon

I have been thinking lately – (to twitter or blog or video) – I wanted to write a story about how upside down the world is now – how much I have learned from my bankruptcy situation and how my world has changed again. Only for the better. In very short – I’m much better, sharper, ore alert and happier in this situation. I feel like I’m home and I feel richer then ever – since 90% of my friendships showed out to be non related to my wealth – and people still buy into my visions… BASICALLY: I started with NOTHING – and here we go again – Nothing + A Network that beats even the wildest imagination for a dyslectic from suburbia + a bag of experience that NOW consists of things NEARLY NO ONE ELSE ON THE PLANET HAS TRIED.

To entrepreneurs: TIME IS NOW

Top 10 Rules

1) Make it only 3 – no one wants to read 10 rules – and no one can remember 10 points – it’s seem that the ten commandments are pretty hard to remember for quite some (I’m no saint)…

2) Spend your time on something more interesting – and if you absolutely HAVE to make top lists then put in losts of links. (Link to something funny and relevant should have been here)…

3) Go to 1 – and do it 3 times and then read #1 again – that makes it 10. (Im not drunk or high!)

Off course there are no rules – we all just want some – to structure the absolute chaos in our lifes. Specially after the internet and EVERYONES free option to publish whatever crab…. Information is bit’ing like mosquitoes by the lake in a hot wet summer – while You are surfing, having your phone on, opening the radio or should you be a twitdictve like me… It’s simply nice to digest from someone else’s list of 10 or whatever list… Just be carefull and be extremely critical – since I know personally that the last 3-4 rules on a top 10 oftenly are a little made up (well that what I do myself) – off course unless I really have something on my hearth.

Michael & Jesus

I dont have a BIG BIG thing with Michael Jackson – well the LP’s – Jackson5 and Thriller where the first ones on my first little stereo in my room from age 9 – and yes I did do some moves in my mirror while I was tying my leather tie… But I have to say that as a father – it’s impossible to overhear that the guy had chosen to payoff 3-4 kids who sued him for doing stuff he should not do to them. It’s not impossible – it makes you want to kill people who molest kids. END OF STORY. Here we have a guy who maybe talked trough God – well he moved all of most of us and he moved like no one else while dancing – and he did have a REALLY WEIRD life – but he also did everything possible to appear strange – changed from black to cast white, swinging a baby over a balcony, having a monkey as a friend and a devine way of dressing as the ultimate king of pop he was.

Looking at his way to danced and his access to the überpassword of our music hearths – it seems that there was a direct connection beyond this earth – but then why the FUCK sleeping with kids in Neverland – KNOWING THE SICK AMERICAN LEGAL SYSTEM…

CLOUD COMPUTING

I was 100% in chock when I learned how the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation – have been doing a Napster like “industry changing move” on e-procurement. The people behind this MUST get all the awards possible in the world for IMPLEMENTING anup and running alternative to EDS (the OOOLD shit system for companies to exchange invoices) – and breaking the monopoly between IBM, CSC… They simply build an infra structure so smooth and internet driven – that 1bioDKR (around 180mioUSD) in transaction fees disappeared from the BLUECHIP MONOPOLY GUYS – and now everyone can use a FREE OPENSOURCE infrastructure to exchange invoices. IM SO PROUD (not a fan of the Minister (he is like a Nice uncle for the far vest Denmark) – but the people in there are HERO’s). REAL HERO’s. Note: It’s all done in the cloud and has opened my eyes to the revolution just ahead us us – I have been posting about Amazon’s effort in the space before – but have a look at this. Founder Jeff B is a SMART cookie. I will also bable about this in my next post about Masdar…

NEWSPAPER vs ONLINE GOSSIP

Its kind of weird to think about what will happen to journalism when all the newspapers are suffering the way they are – and the money from online news websites are absoluty NOT PAYING THE BILLs. And I must say Im a bit worried when I see how much traffic goes to the gossip websites – Wimbledon being live – means that we get the most silly news about tennis players boobs – is that a sign of whats commming?

FUCK MY TELE-PROVIDER, PLEASE

TDC BAD BAD: ANGER “COSTUMER” MANAGEMENT.

Our national Telco is fucked up and the management should be taken to court for STEELING MONEY VIA FALSE INVOICING . TDC (monopoly danish telco – now owned by 5 private eqt funds who are all suffering from the insane dept the have loaded on our national carrier) have introduced a new pretty innovative product: Triple Play – phone, broadband and TV (on demand work nicely !!). Today the have blackmailed me 100% – by charging 3 technician hours and a weird fee for setup (500USD). And since we do not agree – they have just closed the lines . GREAT.  Then I did a call to their invoicing department – who told me that they would deduct it – because it was not true and not fair. WTF.

I know everyone has had these exspiriences – but it’s a bit new to me.

GOOD: HAPPY “COSTUMER” MANAGEMENT

Yesterday I went to a local store to buy a Tennis racket for me and Linus (we had everything stolen when the car was borrowed by some “guys” in late winther. And the people at the store are the most amasing – real – family feeling – people you can find. No bullshit – good service – and amasing prising. I really HAVE TO RECOMMEND THEM – http://whitesport.dk/ (and I have to say that White is refering to Tennis and Badminton – no race’s stuff involved). Go there.

Enjoy the weather – and remember: There is NOTHING to be afraid of.

Today was a wonderful day.

A) Because I woke up the kids 6.45 with Isak (1 year) walking allover the big ones – and the all kissedand hugged – I just sat there in the morning sun trying to hide my tears… (Im so (too) soft). Then we had a nice breakfast and played and made a new screensaver with horse pictures from Laura and Linus trip to my parets over the weekend. And biked to school…

B) Just in time to make my flight to Frankfurt on a consulting geek – where I had the most amassing meeting in my life. (I cant disclose what its about). But I can say that for once I found some guys who undersold their capabilities and under promised the scope of their project. It was like a divine experiences and cant wait to tell you all more…

C) I got home just in time to put the kids to bed and play School for a while – and draw one glass whiteboard I have installed in their rooms.

Well all this just to say that – Im so in love with life and I have to tell all of you (and wow there is a lot of people reading my bullshit here :) ) – that no matter what you want and what will happen – there is allways light at the end of the tunnel. (And hopefully it’s not a train comming to smash you :). And nothing is strange when you work with a circus – and don’t we all.

My friends, partners and advisers and family is bayond reality.

LOVE.

I think im reposting this – its JUST SO GOOD and So full of hope and bridging the tech world to the real world.

I’m somehow flying between high and lows AND LOWS. Dunno why – maybe because my personal life has changed 100% – bankruptcy/reconstruction is not as pleasant as it might look from the outside. It’s one long string of uncertainties – initially really bad for the mind – but in reality just like any other day in business ventures JUST A BIT TO PERSONAL. You never know what will hit you – and what seems to be the brightest star one day might be a TRAIN COMING AGAINST YOU IN THE TUNNEL.

I’M GETTING much closer to the world where I really belong. But then again – I’m traveling like a mad bird who lost the sense of seasons…

On my mind today

The downturn and psychological hysteria has turned (or reached the button) – everything will not be fine fine ok – but everyone know its serious and managers will start to act responsible and employees will use messenger less and produce more – AND PICK UP THE PHONE AND DELIVER WORLDCLASS SERVICE. Is the future bright (do I have to start wearing sunglasses indoors Michael Jackson style) – well prob not short term. But for you entrepreneurs out there – its OPPORTUNITY LAND a fucking GOLDMINE. The noisy idiots who where there for money alone are LONG GONE – they r now consulting for public institutions (like even I am as long as I’m handcuffed) – and the rich kids playing GONG-Ho for family money are flushed out with the toilet water (stocks and real estate). So, now YOU (yes I’m shouting at YOU) can go ahead and do your thing – fully hearth driven – passion driven and its even possible to hire superstars (or get them on board on a good upside deal). Go GO GO GO GO Go.

Everything seems to be redefined now – BLING IS SO 2008 – SHOWOFF as well – and there must be tons of art deals to do. (I’m out of the loop but I feel such a vibe). And with new printing technology you can make a 2x2m print for less then 150$.

Tell it like it is. I think the truth is the new black. Ive been 100% honest about my situation – and yes it was tough in the beginning. I’M A FUCKING LOOSER – I LOST A FORTUNE. But hey – I’m getting stronger – I started with nothing – I did not own nothing but a bike until 2 years ago  – and here  am again + I have some knowledge that 0,00001% of the world populatin have. I could do an interview everyday with international media (Spain, Holland, Iceland, Brazil, US…) – everyone wants to talk to someone who actually admit that he/she was wiped by the crisis and takes the full blame HIMSELF. I DO. I chose Polish Forbes (because its weird and fun) and German Focus (April) where I wrote the most insane GA’GA’GA-LOGO essay.

NOTE: Survival mechanism #1: Get some kids!!!!!!

In Guatemala is saw the project that have moved the deepest of my entrepreneurial genomes ever. Bio fuel 3rd generation (B100) will really change the world. And Matias T and his amassing farther turned on like a teen on a stripjoint – with their project and knowledge and ACTIONS. I can wait to get my handcuffs of – ohh dear lord.

If you have gotten the Twitter flue like me – (and you are a curious person) you will have one big question nagging you. How the heck do they scale this shit. Well here is a VERY INTERESTING interview. I still hate how fast a culture can become cooperate (some answers are just lame) – but its very interesting philosophy. Ev is just THE MASTER OF ALL PREACHERS.

Thinking about running – I need to get back on track – i’ve really been good at doing it daily – but the last 7 days have been of. Follow my twitter and hopefully you will see I had a run around 17.00 today.

Weird to be SO UNSUCCESSFUL and yet have so much on my mind – and feel so relatively GOOD.

PS. I don’t really want to blog about my consulting work – it’s hard work and not really what I AM. SORRY.

luxury

“Whats Hot In Danmark, Morten”

I oftenly get the question – what internet companies are hot in Denmark. And for quite some time I’ve just said – Freeway.dk. I still say that – despite the fact that quite some of their properties (DKBN (Nightlife pictures) and Arto (youth community) is getting their balls kicked blue by FaceBook. These guys are now going international with Spigo (first time in a language different then Jydsk :) – I think its a winner.

Mygdal

I always say Mygdal (23HQ and Reboot.dk) – its a mantra – he is TRUE TO THE SPIRIT of building. Its not business – or the dream of overnight succes and a Rolls. Its business/change/innovation/imporvements/etichs all in one (with the wunderkid Guan on the board – Harvard, MIT, NYU – the full shabang).

SteelSeries

Jacob Wolff’s (no blog – no selfprom – no ceo title) little glass mousepad business – is now beyond 20mioUSD in rev and becomming the Burton of eSports – with a huge line of product and endorsement by 80-90% of all professional computer gamers. And you aint seen nothing yet. Bruce and Tino (CEO and HEAD OF PRODUCT DEV are insanely good)

Jimmy, Moseholm (and Rockstar Balder)

GoViral is in their own league – conering an industry that is huge but has NO IDEA OF HOW TO GENERATE REVENUE to keep up with their insane serving costs. (Youtube, MetaCafe…). Just got funding from Kenneth Ventures. NOTE: Balder got some cash and can now do new spacy things – thats so beautifull so against the “I build a cooperate carrer and become wealthy” – i love it.. Balder is spacy/crazy/honest/good hearted/smart/different/hardworking – and therefor now rich.

BIG NEWCOMMERS

Amir & Plurk

Amir, 24 (this Bosnian wunderkids who lived in DK for 17 years) – has build one of the most interesting Danish startups for years. This is Twitter for the MESSENGER GENERATION – super cool – strange – sexy. Growing at nearly same peace as Twitter where in their first year. (I love that we have people in DK with “other ethnical background” who are succesfull – and love to hear how he has been building everything with a global virtual team. KEEP AN EYE on this thing.

The Butcher and The Salesguy

abgruppen.dk – dont be confused by A Gruppen :) – these guys will build an impire around the construction industry and ass the lead services and marketplaces you can imagine. Martin (former butcher – still looks like one) and Partner is just the real thing. (I think)

I have no clue why I just wrote this post – 6.45 in the morning – but its: Done.
Haev a great day – I will :)