Amigo – dinners are on me. Anytime!
Jakob

Good luck with everything and I really admire your honesty on this blog.

Please try to make some changes to your blog, too. It’s already 2009, and I still can not access your WILD section. Somehow the first time seeing you I thought of Branson. Don’t really know why.

hey,

2 years ago i met an american investor who said that he only invest in those entrepreneurs who tried to go bankrupt at least once. Because THEY are serious.

Unfortunately i forgot his number… I want to thank him. Because i absolutely agree

Soft part: Everytime I think you’ve given us all you can give, you manage to surprise me. Thank you. Your determination, perspective and sheer honesty is inspiring. Even though you have no clue as to who I am, if you ever make it down to Switzerland, you have a place to stay and lots of dinners (homecooked or eating out).

Truth part: you screwed up big time. there were probably a lot of warning signs that could have helped prevent this mess. i’m not sure how much risk you’ve put your family and kids in (i.e. schooling, house etc). so yeah, you majorly screwed up. but this is an opportunity for you to fight back and win.

“I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour — his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear… is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle — victorious.” Vince Lombardi

Hi Morten,

I happened to read a blog post about you on techchrunch UK a couple of days ago and i have to be honest, it was the first time i had heard of you.

I read and watched intently (your le web presentation for one) and knew instantly that your energy, creativity and attitude was something i very much admired. I then found out about all of the recent business problems. I have to say though, that your attitude in dealing with this is spot on.

I am currently working on a new business start-up that i think you might be interested in. Your insights and experience are of immense interest to me – whilst this is not the place to bring this up, i’d love to hear from you. So… if you think you might be interested in finding out a bit more about me and the business concept then pop me an email.

If not, i wish you the best of luck. I have no doubt that i’ll be hearing good things about you before long .

Hang in there,

Ben

Great post Morten
Dinner in Dublin when you get a moment? its on me

“The very greatest things – great thoughts, discoveries, inventions – have usually been nurtured in hardship, often pondered over in sorrow, and at length established with difficulty.”

Ohh and by the way….I bet loads and loads of people would jump at the chance to buy you dinner or lunch just to get a chance to enjoy your inspiring company….

I would anytime…;)

Times can be tough, but after all a few years mean only a few % of your life – leaving 95% for the good times you have had and are still coming up in the future!

Good luck, you are a great motivation to many of us!

Hardcore….thumbs up Kal-el!

Morten, I have two quotes for you:

“The real glory is being knocked to your knees and then coming back. That’s real glory. That’s the essence of it. ” (Vince Lombardi)

“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of hardwork, determination and learning from failure.”

You will be back – stronger and meaner than ever.. ;o)

Let me know if you want a dinner ;o) Its on me heh

NAVIGARE NECESSE EST

Ok I am truely impressed by this post Morten.

I’m am sure that many my self included thought that all the talk about honesty was maybe somewhat BS. Since it is easy to say these things when everything is going well. However, you have just proved me and everybody else wrong – even in extreme adversity you still keep it honest. This will certainly help you back.

Also yes the news paper was a mistake but if you for a second forget about the amount of money (propably hard for you right now) that is all it was – a mistake. Your blind faith in own abilities and ideas and refusal of failure might have given you your problem. However, it is also what it gonna bring you back.

I for one have faith in you and I am convinced you will be back before people expect it. Just be ready for the press not being nice when you do – after all this is Denmark – Home of Janterne.

You have balls and integrity.

Your kids will learn from and respect your strength through the challenges in life more than cruising through easy street.

Dinner is on me anytime you are in Toronto (and I am unemployed kicking off a startup myself)

[...] has just posted a wonderful update regarding the situation which I highly recommend you read. I hope you like that post! The Next Web Blog covers start-up news from all over the world (not [...]

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. All the best for the future Morten. We’d love to have you come by our agency and give us a talk like the one from Le Web last year. So inspiring.

Mail me if this is of interest.

Best, Aaron

Life is tough in all kinds of ways – the scars will stay but they’ll be part of you. Be proud of what’s happened to you, accept the bad with same graciousness you accept the good. As you surely will. Your honesty in telling your story is a testament to you. Keep learning, keep living. Life is what it is, good times, bad times. Easy buddy…

Yes, I was correct writing “Morten The Fighters” in March 08 :-)
Go for it, Morten
http://www.djh.dk/ejour/72/72Morten.html

The other day a guy asked me why you were so special (as in “every entrepreneur gone bankrupt is the same…”)- and a link to this post will be my answer :-)

I don’t think you are a dreamer – All you need is love – in the end nothing else matters – no one will sit around at 90 and worry that they didn’t make enough money!

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

“Enhver god startup kan financieres på en SU og et acceptcard”
- Dig til mig, tilbage i 1999/2000. Du er fucked up og tak for det. Flere af din slags.

/n

Good Luck Lund!!!

I feel inspired by your story, I am one of those people who think good can come out of bad.
You will come back stronger and probably wiser than before. I also believe in luck; my father always says luck have eyes for people who try hard.
Good luck to you!!!

I read the other day that a billionaire took his life when he lost a billion euros on the VW fiasco and then I read the entries in this blog and found someone new to admire.

Fantastic post. Awesome life experiences. I know what you mean about buying dinners. I enjoy treating family and friends and I know things will get back to what they were before!

Enjoy the trip.

Morten, good luck to you and your family!
Sounds to me like you need a realist/pessimist somewhere on your team.

Hang in there, Morten – I’m rooting for you. And I will help you in whatever you decide to do next. You’ve got heart, spirit, integrity, and creativity. That deserves to succeed.

I hope I’ll see you in Munich at DLD…

Dave

Atleast your name isn’t Bernie Madoff! Nuff said…

Everybody are having fears about going bankrupt/run out of money. When it happens you realize that it wasn’t as bad as you feared and that you still are alive :-)

Trust your gut
you inspire a lot of people around the globe and i sincerely hope that you get back right in to the arena
good luck!

your mom did a really great job. keep on. yes, indeed it’s always about failing and moving on. i’m really impressed about the core of your mind and your stickiness into what you believe in. hope and wish for you that you’ll never loose your intuition. my opinion: you always get what you give. so i do not really worry about you. and if it did: i would try to help you the best i can. d.

A lot of people in your position would be whinging about how the world hates them, the system fucked them over, or how unfair life is. It’s inspiring that you are past whatever anger you have at the situation and are fixing your sights at the next adventure. I have absolutely no doubt that this is just a minor dip for you, and I’m looking forward to seeing what your next project brings.

You are currently one of my heroes, So don’t give up. Stick around, this is your chance to be a superhero.

Study a bit about gambler’s ruin and sizing your bets optimally. Making big bets is one thing: putting your whole bankroll up on one bet was foolish [but you obviously already know that[.

DONT contact the guys offering you free sweedish meatballs! they sound very scary – and anyway you can get them cheap from ikea ;)

Hello Morton,

I wish you all the best to you and your family.

Maybe your are interessed to connect to Anne Koark. Over here in Germay she is called the “insolvencylady”.
She fights for a culture of failure, where a learning effect can cut in without stigmatization and has been fighting for the support of a second chance in Germany now for nearly six years.

She wrote the book (only available in German):
“Insolvent and nevertheless successful” in German: “Insolvent und trotzdem erfolgreich”

Andreas

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Koark

Honesty is so hard for so many people, thanks for your contribution to keeping it real.

Good luck!
I’m surprised at how well you are taking this. But I wish you well in what ever you do next. I don’t know you at all, but from what I’ve seen and read, I respect you.
Chris

Morten, we are putting together a conference in Istanbul on 17 April 2009, the Second Annual Venture Capital in Emerging Markets. (http://emergetechvc.com)

We would love if you can be a speaker in one of our panels. I would also like to give you an update on the agenda and conference speakers.
Thanks and Regards, M.

Looking at the comments. Lunches are assured.
So first step done. You have food for a long time.

I propose you open a facebook page called ” I had dinner with Mortem” or something similar …

You auction the dinner and invest that money in some businesses listed in http://www.kiva.com.

These are not big businesses but well you know the rest …

Hi Morten!
I don’t have no money to invest – only my talent! I will be happy to draw your new dream house for free – just let me know :) With your network it would be good advertisement for my carrier!

/A young student of architecture

P.s I agree with the mother of the facebook guy… You are hot!

1. Fail.
2. Fail.
3. Fail.
4. Win.
5. Fail.
6. Fail.
7. ………..
And so on… Your writing on how you are dealing with the “fails” is refreshing because too many of us are embarrassed by failure.
The truth is that we need to fail, accept it, learn from it, and move on.
Keep going.

Hi Morten,

I first heard about you like many others when you gave your speech at Le Web. It’s one of three online videos I have actually watched multiple times, the second is The Last Lecture and the third is getting Rick Roll’d.

You’re most likely getting flooded with opportunities at the moment because if I had the means you’d be one of the first I’d contact when a new project came up. Besides admiration of your character and honesty I want you to know if you need someone to put time in a project for you, maybe develop something or help with marketing etc… I would be happy to do it at no cost.

You’re an admirable person and I wanted you to know that.

Also if you’re ever in the south of Spain, you’re more then welcome with your family for a nice barbecue.

All the best,

Eiso

If you’re back in france at some point, dinner’s on me ;–)

Just gotta love your great spriti… So inspiring… Go get ‘em…

[...] you read related article on his personal blog titled The End or The Beginning and watch the following video from Le Web conference, you will believe every word of it and [...]

Dear Morten,

I know that you didn’t wanted to positive comments in response to your post. But I can’t help – and it looks like I’m not alone!

Your openness deserves everybody’s respect!!! It’s hard to realize ones mistakes and to admit them to the people close to you. To do it in public to everyone is a quality not many people have. Be proud of it!!

Next time your are in Berlin I would be glad to introduce you the very vital entrepreneurship scene of this town. You won’t stay hungry neither and you don’t have to sleep on the streets. I’m sure lots of people in Berlin offer you a coach to crush on.

Just impressed by your positive attitude! How about creating a social network for positive people? I can help!

I with you Morten. As if in poker, I’m always “All in” as an entrepreneur and investor. There are plenty of pansies that cannot sleep at night by merely investing in wall street…. some of these are wanna-be entrepreneurs. The markets is going to shake off these wanna-be’s like dog shakes off water.

Whether you or I loose a few million in the next couple of years will not be our epitaph or legacy.

You could have taken the weak way out… and and slit your wrists or worse, jump out of an airplane over the State of Alabama (US) and run to hide in Florida.

You’re spot on….with the journalist giving ‘advice’ and go with what you know. No one knows the next big thing but it doesn’t keep us from trying to launch it.

Cheers Mate,
Matt

how the hell bankrupt guy go on vacation to Petra ?

sad bullshit

be positive when failure don’t change anything is just so easyyyyyy

Who would have thought the introduction of the RSStroom Reader (http://tinyurl.com/8no7es) would wreak so much havoc on the newspaper business!

Well, I sure enjoyed that salted pork with chestnuts, apple flowers, and mushrooms from the forest … at Restaurant Geranium (Michelin of course). It was awesome. Thanks dude.

I think the tide will probably turn pretty quickly.

Run Forrest, run.

The end or the beginning? Well, it all depends and as your blog’s title suggests, luck is always key. I was really hit by your post. You actually express in such a raw, but stil positive way, what I’m also experiencing. Let me just express my appreciation and respect.

Hej Morten,

Vi kender ikke hinanden, men du får lige et par ord med på vejen alligevel. Jeg er selv iværksætter og har været det i mere end et årti på trods af en relation ung alder. Jeg har endnu, 7-9-13, ikke oplevet en konkurs, men har da oplevet oppe og nede tider som de fleste andre. Jeg er rimelig (på jysk=meget) imponeret over den styrke du udviste forholdsvist få timer efter din personlige konkurs i diverse tv-shows m.v. Jeg tror faktisk det er meget få der kan takle et sådan pres og samtidig blive konfronteret med spørgsmål fra journalister, hvor man knap nok selv har haft mulighed for at fordøje de tanker som svarene giver – det er fandme styrke der vil noget! Som leder og iværksætter skal man være tro mod sig selv og passe på ikke at falde i forklædningens sorte hul. Derfor er jeg ikke et sekund i tvivl om, at vi indenfor en overskuelig årrække får dig at se på banen igen som en stærk iværksætter…

Alt godt fremover.

v.h.
John

What don’t kill you makes you stronger. So many times said and so true … Loosing money is a temporary problem, but losing faith eternal… Head up and in a few months you will be buying me dinner in Belgrade :)

mr. Lund,
We own the Brand for Cleantech in Eur and just setting up Cleantech innovation challenge! You are on the list for the jury! We will contact you.
Best Thomas from http://www.spirofrog.de

Hello Morten,

Skype!
Zyb!

Unbelieveable!!

Not everything can be succesfull.
But if you not try you never will know.

Forget this one as quick as possible.
And think about Skype and Zyb.
And maybe something comes up that brings you new succes

The only thing that matters at this moment is youre family.

Take care. And keep possitive!!!!!

Morten,
If you ever plan on visiting Pakistan, you can stay over at my aprtment, use my desktop and shave using my gillete mach3.. we could also discuss technlogy if u fancy it :P

Hey Morten,

I owe you a lunch, so if you feel like vegetarian food, give me a call. I guess I’ll see you at one of the conferences this year anyhow? Will you be given the “honorary sponsor of the year”-award at Reboot maybe? :-D

Also, you’ve given me a lot of inspiration the past years, and made me actually lend a lot of money to people over at KIVA after our last discussion in Stockholm – so thank you for that. I trust you will be the richest guy I’ve ever known anyhow. I think you already might be. As you know, money is not the thing I strive for, so you understand what kind of richness I’m talking about. Take care!

You’ve got an awesome attitude, always. I’m not worried. :)

A lot of respect from me – the world needs looneytechs like you!
You keep the spirit alive.

All the best

Keep it up!!!!!!

When u in Berlin, give me a call and we go out for a beer

the guy from berlin middle of december!

Cheers

Christoph

Hi Morten
Lige nu er det som at sidde i en robåd, ude på havet, i kraftig storm og tæt tåge.
Men alt falder til ro, og tågen letter, og så er det meget smukkere, når man har set den anden side.
Kom med en god ide.
Kh
PR

It’s great b to be able to see the “real you” coming off from you pages especially as you reflect on current difficult happenings. It’s nice to see you meek enough to accept responsibility and admit these difficult words to treasured friends “I am sorry”. Most times we get wrapped up in our successes to the point that we feel really insulated from the “real world”. Morten…let me say that the real world full of ordinary average “invisible” citizens trying to eke out a living everyday is not all that scary! I know from your famous “psycho agressive” standpoint…that kind of life may sound too “average”…but in these low points there are very important lessons to learn about out natural limits. If you look very very close from your weaknesses could emerge your very STRENGTH to outlive this period. And of course great revolutionary ideas will always be out there and trained on hardship you might as well get “lucky” again to do even greater things.

PS
Being a Christian I would also suggest that you do take the time to explore the depths of the Christian faith. There’s a great lesson in humility you could also learn from Christ :). Take care.

Morten

You probably already know you are an inspiration to newbies in the start-up world and now you bring to light something that every would-be entrepreneur should prepare for!

Shit or bust baby!!

Good luck and we all will be watching this space!

Saw you on TV the other night. Was watching it with my stepson, who said: “He is the most trustworthy guy I ever saw!” I am writing a book on crisis communication. I would very much like to talk to you as I think your way of communicating is exceptional and expresses the way your generation of business people think, feel and express themselves.

Would you be so kind as to contact me?

Morten, happy that I the dinner was on me last time ;) and I’ll buy you next time again!

You wanted the naked truth: I know that your spirit is not as high as it seems. Its totally ok not be in high spirit after such an experience. Takes time to heal. Take the time! Then come back stronger.

Hej Morten,

du sagde en gang til mig, at problemet med at tjene mange penge var den forpligtelse, du følte til at sende dem ud og arbejde igen. Det gjorde du så og det gik galt. Men du sad i det mindste ikke på dem.
Nu har du givet dine middagsvenner chancen for at give næste – det kan også være en vigtig gave fra en, der normalt sidder med kontrollen.

Og hvis Obama kan vinde valget ved at skabe en folkebevægelse med stor hjælp fra nettet (og fx Skype) – hvilken folkebevægelse kan du så ikke skabe?

God vind!

Dear Mr Lund,

currently I am working on a slideshow in which I would very much like to feature a photograph of you. Unfortunately, the agencies to which I have access do not have a picture of you. Is it possible you grant me the right to use the one on your old website? The one with the caption ‘WILD’?

I hope to hear from you soon. Kind regards and thank you for all your inspirational blogs.

Katrijn de Ronde

this is by far the best and most moving blog post i’ve read recently.

looking forward to read more about your green-tech thing.

Hello Morten,

I’ll always remember the evening we shared in AMS a couple of years back and I hope Independent IP and Martijn will survive the fallout.

However, I will never forget the insightful wisdom and advice you gave me late last year when I was faced with offers from start ups. It has literally saved my life and career!

What counts is not only what leaders do and how they do it, but the inner place from which they operate. Morten – there are too few of you out there.

Finally one of my favourite quotes:

“Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they’ll be yours”. Richard Bach

Don´t be blinded by others support for past (even todays) actions, the future is yet to come! …no one have experiences from the future…

Let your clean intuition guide you, and be bold when YOU feel that the time is right!

Morten,
you will not know me, but i’ve been following your activities for a long time – also those during the last days. I know exactly, what you are experiencing right now, cause I went through this by myself. in the 90th i skyrocketet through a thing called multimedia and because of several coincidences and mistskes, it all blew of in 2001. of took me 6 long years (fridays where the worst, because you will get all horrormail in fridays) but in the end I made it to restart after all. it was really no fun at all, but i’m back and I’ve learned a lot about friendship and about how to treat yourself during a phase like this. go into every discussion with everyone – even The stupid ones, stay honest and keep your fightingspirit and most important: don’t worry. the good ones are allways coming back and even if all apears to be an endless Horror: it will end and there is always something great following.
if you need any tactical or practical help, please don’t hesitate to ask.
sorry for my style of writing. i’m sitting in a hospital with my son and i’ve got to use my iphone and The stupid textrecognition and so mistakes are not erased, but inserted… all The best, klaucy

“Sometimes something has to happen
before something will happen.”

Johan Cruyff

Hi Morten,
I’ve got an interesting project for you. This one will enable you to make a HUGE come back within the next 2 months. Let’s talk. Lunch is on me at Rungsted Marina.

Hi Morten
Normaly I don’t care when ritch people fails, but I read a interview in Politiken and a I felt a tiny bit of sympathy for you… But seeing all these people backing you up makes me think that you don’t need my sympathy…

Hope you rise again – And get some work done with that green technologies ok?

//R

Please call me and lets talk. I know the way out and create great value and success/

W

0032495327353

Hey!

Any support in Bangalore, India we are here!! :)

You have shown a lot of courage and really inspire the first gen entrepreneurs. Keep penning your experiences!

Thanks again.

Hi Morten,
You inspire me. Just a little thing to think about:
“Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they’ve got a second. Give your dreams all you’ve got and you’ll be amazed at the energy that comes out of you.”
William James
1842-1910, Psychologist, Professor and Author

And I am still here and NOBODY will stop me from reaching my goals :-) Mail or call me

Morten, I owe you a dinner when you are in California. Why not come by and pitch your portfolio to Si Valley VCs? Set up two-dozen meetings and just run through what you have that needs help. Someone will step up, there are VCs desperate for deals here (always are and always will be).

If you don`t get up and fight again it is a failure because you don`t use the experience you gained.
I enjoyed your speech at LeWeb08 – honest, outstanding.
All the best for your restart

us, we fail sometimes, because of this we succeed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45mMioJ5szc&feature=related

Keep Hustling my man. What you’ve accomplished doesn’t measure to what you have been able to teach others by how you handle your current lost. This is life, keep living it.

Morten, I am so struck by your honesty. It’s true there is no formula and we can only try. A lot of entrepreneurs are being hit right now and you are creating amazing empathy with your authentic words.

A great quote: “Wealth is not how much money you have. Wealth is what you would be left with if you lost your money… it is the riverbed that creates the flow… connections, friendships, ideas, experiences, mindset, passion.”

Of I love buying dinners for people. If you are in London… Pret is on me :)

We live in an opulent and friendly universe. The cool thing is that you already know this. You won’t be back, because you never left. You’re right smack dab in the middle of a great life.

Ever in Los Angeles, look me up.

Morten: I have followed your posts for sometime. I have enjoyed reading about your adventures in business. I even chatted with you sometimes about opportunities in the mobile world. Now I have been reading about your latest adventures… and it occurs to me that 1) you have lived an exciting life, worth living. 2) Looking at your picture feeds/ feedback/ posts you have a great family, lots of smiles in you life, luck and love. You always will. Me thinks you are still very rich. 3) Mybe you will bounce back to the height of success, maybe you won’t. But you’ve been to the dance, and no one can take that away. Respect, and lot’s of luck.

I’m just saying.

:-) Peace

You are insanely brilliant. I have no doubt you will reinvent yourself and I’ll be watching. isn’t that what’s it all about. To gain it and to lose it, and to gain it again is the thing. It’s more about the journey than the acquiring but i know you understand. I have shown your speeches to the creatives at my office. Only 50% got it, but that’s not bad. The rest can remain ignorant and I assume they also won’t amount to a hill of beans. So sorry about your friend. He was actually staying with Brad H, my friend in Santa Monica. what a loss. let me know if you’re speaking in LA anytime soon. I’d like to hear you speak. thanks for the inspiration.

[...] de posibles earn outs… pero de momento Morten Lund tiene unos graves problemas de liquidez ( http://lundxy.com/?p=3246 ), puede que ha decidido que recuperar la inversion sea la mejor opción… aunque no es [...]

Hej Morten,

Jeg tager den på dansk … Jeg har en idé til at revolutionere en livsvigtig men på nuværende tidspunkt ufattelig utidssvarende branche. Jeg har før haft idéer men ved ikke hvordan jeg får dem ført ud i livet. Skriv tilbage hvis du har tid og lyst.

Signe

Hi Morten,

I have been there myself some years ago so I think I understand how it feels. When you recover it will be like a stronger person. That is my experience anyway. Being rich on materialistic stuff is not what makes a person happy in the long run. Family, health and job satisfaction is the key ingrediences for happiness.

THANX!!!!

Really inspirational stuff for all the other entrepreneurs out there – thanks for that!

You’ll be back and bigger. We all fall.

Dinner in Toronto, anytime.

Chris

Hello,

I think, I’m to young (in business) to understand all you says about your faillure… but I learn about your “analysis” about this.

I think, some mistakes are the best way to learn… and if you don’t takes some risks, you can’t learn. The cost of your lessons are hot, but the good things is that you know today that when you give, people will gives something in return. You know it’s in bad time which we can count their friends.

You know, about my last comment about Sir Branson, I tell you, he is most looking for make meaning than make money. And people like this way… I think you too.

Please, come back stronger and biger and …

[...] guys in this world who have done really REALLY stupid things – but they are forgiven many times. (that’s my most read story ever as a blogger). After that post I have been called from every part of the world to consult (and speak) for people [...]

One of the reasons I read your blog is your honesty (appart from your daredevil style and story telling skills). Great post.

Keep going you’re just to damn smart. You’ll make it to the top again and again!

We had beers in Barcelona after the Uni dinner. I told you that you are one of my heroes and that I think sometimes financial failure equals personal success. The way you are dealing with things right now is proof of that to me. I believe the days of “buying dinners” will be back for you very soon. No one can ever take your freedom!

Always in motion the future is.

;-)

I love your approach… Good luck with everything !! I plan to do a bike tour in Danemark… looks like a really nice country !

I don’t know if anything bad happened. We came empty hand and will go empty..In between is the journey . You created so many things, consider it to be gods gift for a stronger resolutions in life..I look at this dip as sign of a much bigger rise . Probably you had everything , minus few may be, which you are getting now..to make it a more complete experience, end of the day.. There are very few who get to experience these extremes. There is no success and no failure…is the message.