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!

Question

1. moritzde

   @ML Morten, you asked for questions: why isn’t there a secondary market for medicin & medical tools, e.g. splints? let’s create one! r u in? about 11 hours ago from web in reply to ML

ANSWER:

Im not into it. But I have been helping a guy who is selling non prescription medicine and devices in retail – and there are big opportunities until you u get on the radar of the BIG KAHUNA’s.

1. ronnierocket

   @ML How do we get our customers to embrace open source and social media technologies more quickly? How do we eliminate the ignorance? about 13 hours ago from CoTweet in reply to ML

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ANSWER:

I think open-source is a given way for the future of very big and complex software solutions (not to be stuck with IBM, CSC or whomever) – and end-users should not even know about it. For me it’s just a simple and smart way to have something open ended – AND ITS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THAT when in function as a service  – its closed and not accesible (took me looong time to really get it). But Hartvig’s UMBRACHO thought me. I don’t see feel any ignorence – in my world. But I understand your worry..

1. jacek_kozera

   @ML are u still around in paris? How about à downtown Beer? about 13 hours ago from Twitterrific in reply to ML

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ANSWER:

Great idea. Im at my hotel.

1. JackOelkers

   @ML Not started yet ;o) I would like to build a company though. With a foundation of a good idea, lots of passion and the “six human needs”. about 13 hours ago from web in reply to ML

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ANSWER:

Nike cornered it: Just Do It..

1. Brandesme

   @ML Could you explain that a bit more? about 14 hours ago from Tweetie in reply to ML

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ANSWER:

I tweeted: Important question for entreprenuers to ask themselfs: are u building a company – or just building company (around u). Well – I just see quite somestartups with no substance beyond a bunh of people hanging out together – they are just building a live social-club, hangoutplace. And they are not selling, producing or working hard/focused enough. .

1. Thom_Fischer

   @ML You want more Questions? So, how successfull you are in the Meantime, using the f-word? about 14 hours ago from web in reply to ML

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ANSWER:

Well that word is not very strong to me. Im not english native speaking and not highly religious – and to me the f-word is just representing something most people I know love to do and think about more then 10% of theyre awaken hours… :)

1. luduong

   RT @ML: Please ask me more questions…@ML: Do you find yourself more “hungry” this time around? about 14 hours ago from TweetDeck

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ANSWER:

Good question!! The answer is

YES – very!

1. SoerenS

   @ML They’re (we’re) all competitors mate, trying to figure out what you come up with next! Prepare to get paranoid :-) about 15 hours ago from TwitterGadget in reply to ML

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ANSWER:

Its not about whats next – its a flow of actions – and some works and some fails. I will alwayshelp people to build companies. Now compensation is in honor and petty cash – when Im out of bankruptcy it will be in shares. (Or compbined)

1. emmanurom

   @ML Are you rich again? about 15 hours ago from web in reply to ML

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ANSWER:

No. Im living from day to day working my ass off (in fantastic job) – begging everyone I know to lend me money to get out of my bankrupcy. And Im getting closer.

1. Dejgaard

   @ML Mac or PC ? about 15 hours ago from Chromed Bird

ANSWER:

MAC ! Im moved 2 years ago and I still impressed just by the lack of bluescreen.

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

Today I asked myself the question, what am I really good at – and I found out that traveling light 2-3nights is something Im really exspirienced in.

1) Laptop - well obvious – if you are a Gmail user install OfflineSync and always have a couple of your favorite TV shows ready.
2) iPhone/iPod and Sync/Charging cable - most hotels have a way to play iPod – but often no power
3) Business cards – well good when you sit next to someone interesting in the plane or …
4) Charger for the Laptop (and US adapter IMPORTANT)
5) Highres pocket Video Camera – perfect for documentation – and with 23Video.com – its amasingly easy to share ideas/exspiriences…
6) Purse – well – u kind of need it :) – for specially if you have a creditcard
7) Sunglasses (against head ache) – make’s you like cold and wannabe  cool – but well sometimes you need it
8) Crosscountry sports shoes (Running/Tennis/Basket…) – you never know what oppertunities you get…
9) Bose noise canceling headset (twin jack to share shound and plane jack to use for movies on the plane.
10) A good book – just in case the flight is delayed and you have no more power on ur laptop – or the unthinkable – you have answered all ur mails
11) Running tights (can be used for swimming) + shirts – unless u r a true nudist
12) Something to controle your hair – if you are like me and have so much rage against the fact that you werent young in the 1970′ies – hippie times – and let your hair grow.
13) Key to your home – so that you can get in when you get home unexpectedly – and you don’t want to  wake up everyone
14) Passport – since you need indentification in most places

(missing is toothbrush and maybe a deo)

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…

Today I had a lifetime experience in business and people relations. (Ok – I cant talk about it – but I have taken a new job – yes a Job as in 80h workweek). And its much more then carefully selected – I have been 100% true to my rule number one.

RULE #1: No assholes.

Since no company (I ever heard of) has been building itself – I have gone with an extremely smart bunch of guys into something extremely difficult. Off course if 100% disruptive and huge – and potentially big failure – but that’s a given with me (as you prob know by now). These people are just hammering smart and extremely nice and humble – AND not too young AND know what they are doing.

So – today we met with a partner – and I had goosebumps from 20min into the meeting until the end 2h later. Imagine you meet a soulmate/bizzmate – that is just funny, nice, friendly, no attitude – and on top of that has everything you dont have (and will offer it to make thing happen) – AND you can actually make your bizzmate stronger and more profitable with the joint effort. THAT HAPPENED TO ME TODAY for the first time in my bizzlife and Im still have a tickling feeling in my stomach and have no clue how I should ever fall a sleep again :) So the rules for a bizz partnership after today:

#2 Hearth driven – Its the only way to change stuff.

#3 Useful – think about partners/people – how they live, work, dream.

#4 Speed – can it be done in this century.

#5 Simple not easy – no mumbo jumbo – everyone really gets it.

#6 Involvement – does everyone have the needed time on hand.

#7 Innovative – no me 2.

#8 Universal – can it really change bizz in the whole world.

#9 Profitable – well we need lots of cash for new newspaper projects :)

#10 Proud – you cant wait to present it to your mum and your son.

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.

Amasing Emotional Video

SPOT ON HELP.

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 miss the days where it was all about creativity (if I ever had such). This is better then art. - it makes me happy to see how far you can get with a webcam, pure creativity and time on hand…

And this reminds me of how much a 1970′ies hobby paperwork artist could ave done with todays technology – (Danes will think of Jorgen Klevin).

And now that we are at it – (with a budget) – have a look at this

GUTEN TOUCH from Multitouch Barcelona
Dunno why – but this thing goes directly into my system…

This viceo shows how good you have to be as a communicator -if you want to build an outstanding company that really changes the world. (And you get the background of the company). WATCH it.

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 2×2m 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

(I simply get off to this song – its ENRGY!). Run, Dance, THink, Blink, Drink og Act…)

“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 :)