With a fresh M.Sc in Computer Science and a final thesis in compiler design in my back pocket, I entered the IT market in 1986, with the expectation that I would design and develope system software and compilers. However the reality hit and I realized that very few organizations in Sweden developed operating systems and similar software and I consequently looked internationally for my first employment. I started with IBM but in the sales and marketing organization where I soon discovered that I both enjoyed and was successful in combing technology with the business needs of customers and shifted away from the deep technology track I had envisioned. Even if I, off and on, couldn’t resist diping my fingers and do things like modifying an operating system scheduler.

Got involved in Internet Technologies in the late 80’s through a academic project IBM sponsored and as a consequence of that I entered the 90’s as one of the few with experience from the traditional environments of banks and insurance companies, as well as the open technologies being used in the academic world and leading research heavy companies.

As a result, after a few years with another american company called Network Systems, I was head-hunted to Cisco when they decided to move into the business of building the next generation networks for large IBM customers.

To make a long story short, working for Cisco from 1994 to 2000 was a extraordinary experience in many dimensions which I truly enjoyed and which has left me with life long friends, but in the end the transition from a startup to a “normal” company with “normal” people made me long for the “old days”, when Cisco was the underdog and fought the big companies like IBM, Digital etc by being customer focused and agile.

I eventually left Cisco and got involved with a number of startups, for example Transmode, Packetfront, Xelerated and Appgate, as well as a few that are not with us today. In the process of helping the companies raise more money I got to know and work with a number of European venture firms, for example Startupfactory, Atlas, Amadeus who invested in these companies.

In 2003 I joined forces with the former managing partner of Startupfactory, Staffan Helgesson, to establish Creandum, with the aim to create a leading early stage Nordic Technology venture capital firm.

After 7 years in the venture industry I decided that I needed a time out to contemplate what to do when ”I grow up”. After a period of doing nothing, not counting projects at home or in the summer house, the built-up energy was released with travel around the worlds with friends, on my own or with parts of family. Diving in the Philippines, reviving a skiing tradition from the nineties, travel to New York with my daughter and to Scotland with my oldest son has left very good memories I’ll treasure.

Tried being employed again, worked for Microsoft as ”Director Emerging Business Western Europe” for a half year, but decided that it wasn’t for me, but I definitely don’t regret it. Anyone who has counted out Microsoft is underestimating the people in the MS organization in my mind.

So it’s back to working with startups and other business opportunities with entrepreneurs and venture capital firms, initially independently, but from September 2011 together with Conor Venture Partner from Finland.