What’s next…

“40 Lunches” as a project has been closed, it was supposed to just run during 2010. During that year I managed to arrange and eat a total of 20 lunches. And by that meet 20 interesting people from different industry’s and walks of life. (So a 50% fail, but also a 50% success!)

Here are some other statistics:

This blog got 1.982 visits, from 655 unique visitors. Sweden attracted most traffic, and then UK, France and the US.

This post was the most read (109 page views), except for the frontpage (1.474 page views). Actually the person in question and I are working together on several projects at the moment – so that was a great success!

It has taken me 41,10 hours being ‘at lunch’, writing tweets, updating the blog and booking the next lunch. 5.787,00 SEK are the total for all the lunches.

What this project will lead into I have not yet decided. But I am having some ideas that I will come back to…

Johan Jellheden

A couple of weeks ago I had dinner at my new favourite Pubologi, and there I met Johan that also grew up in Sollentuna. So through Facebook and e-mail we decided to have a lunch to catch up.

Johan today works at AmGen as a “Business Planning Analyst”, which seems to be a bit like a controller, but with more marketing skills attached. So of course my first questions where in regards of Biochemistry and what actually AmGen does. (Except for sounding like a company in films such as ‘Terminator’ and ‘Jurassic Park’.)

Johan made a great metaphor to explain it for someone that is not into chemistry;

Medicin is made by mixing ingredients. Biochemistry is cells and reactions grown in a lab. They are both made to solve a sickness, but with totally different results.

Scary but true.

Lunch: Tranan at 12.15 on Tuesday the 26th of Ocotber 2010.

What: Johan and I shared a “Beff Rydberg” – the portions are so big so half is enough for lunch. Water for us both. Johan had a coffee, I had a Macchiato.

Angelina “Lina” Håkansson

I met Lina Håkansson at Bakfickan in Stockholm to get her insights and some tips regarding a project I have been working on together with Great Works. Lina was recommended to me by Louise Karlander as someone that has good insights in what the project needed. (So what better way to pick someone’s brain than buying that person lunch!)

Lina has just returned to Sweden (and Stockholm) after living in London for ten years. There she worked as a rock radio producer and consultant within digital media and has created campaigns and content for both Nickelodeon and Disney.

Her own company, 12 Media Ltd, has clients such as MTV and EMI. So if you need someone with a background in journalism and with great insights in the new media landscape, I think that you also should invite Lina for lunch or a meeting.

Lunch: Bakfickan at 12.00 on Wednesday the 1st of September 2010.

What: Lina had the vegetarian beetroot and goats cheese salad. I had the “Uppsala” stew. To that we had water and Cappucinos afterwards.

Follow-up: "Plattan" in Hong Kong

I have been a couple of days in Hong Kong and loved it! (First time.)

One thing that hit me when roaming the high-end shopping malls and electronics outlets on Hong Kong Island, in Kowloon and Mong Kok was that everywhere there was a store selling Urbanears. Good work by Konrad Bergström and his colleagues.

Of course the parallel between Hong Kong and Dubai is not far fetched, but it seems that Hong Kong is 20 years prior. And working!

Alfred Ruth

Alfred is co-founder and VP of Products at Videoplaza, a company developing and offering an ad server for online video. Simply explained VideoPlaza enables Kanal5, TV4 and others to serve the right amount – and the right type – of advertising when we view a show from them online.

One of the main threads for the lunch was the ever-going, never answered question: For how long are you a start-up? 8 years? 2 years? 100 days?

Alfred’s answer is that it is a state of mind: when you and your colleagues enjoy all those hours at the office you are a start-up. But when vacation and leaving daily at 16.35 is more important than the work that is produced – you are not a start-up. (Or you are not working for one.)

And of course we covered a lot of ground in regards of the VC-climate in Sweden, how-to attract capital in Sweden and other important start-up issues. (Videoplaza is being backed by what most people refer to as some of the “best” VCs in Sweden. That would be Creandum and Northzone.)

Before VideoPlaza Alfred was a journalist at magazines and daily’s such as Internetworld, Dagens Industri and Computer Sweden. During his years at Internetworld his fascination for Internet started, and the hick-up known as DiTV (TV-channel started by Dagens Industri) gave him the contact with Sorosh Tavakoli, CEO and co-founder at VideoPlaza.

And the rest will be Swedish IT-history…

Lunch: Tranan at 13.00 on Friday the 28th of May 2010.

What: Alfred had the classic Herring fillets, with lingonberries on the side. I had the cured salmon. To that we had a Coke each and Cappucinos on the house.

Dariush Ghatan

Me and Dariush met at a crowded Sturehof for a couple of hours of food and intense talking about the swedish VC-community, why we actually live in Stockholm (a great position for export) and Innovation. We talked a lot about innovation.

Dariush company Googol, has over the last couple of years become a power-house in what is called Innovation Management. They help companies to increase their innovation capabilities.

We are all a little blind for the people closest’s to us and their skills. It is called the interloper, or consultant effect within psychology. It means that an “intruder” gets higher ranking for an idea or approach then a person within the existing group. (That is why companies loves consultants!)

Dariush worked for many, many years at different companies within Kinnevik and companies founded by Jan Stenbeck. He lived in New York and Luxembourg during several years, but actually a hectic travel schedule made him a real globetrotter with over 300 days of travel per year. (So where do you actually live then?)

In 1999 he decided to move back to Stockholm and was struck by the hysteria that surrounded the new media/IT companies in Stockholm at the time. In that climate he set out to start Googol and try to leverage his eagerness and the knowledge he had acquired abroad into something more than just a consultancy.

And yes, Dariush wears a bow-tie for work. Nearly everyday!

Lunch: Sturehof at 12.15 on Wednesday the 5th of May 2010.

What: Dariush had the Hake (fish) with a side salad and some potatoes. I had the homemade black pudding with apple, red onion and bacon. To that we had water and afterwards Tea for Dariush and a double espresso for me.

Jin Moen

Jin actually contacted me herself, but refered to Ottar Carlheim-Gyllensköld that she has been in contact with in regards of her company Movinto Fun. Also, during the lunch Jin mentioned Kaj Mickos (that is my my father-in-law) and that he has been helping Jin with going from research to forming a company and later into a product.

The company does a really interesting tool, or is it a toy(?), that is called the BodyBug. I would say that it is a great interactive tool to enhance your mobility at a desk, between meetings or whenever you find that extra 7 minutes that means that you can stretch your muscles more than just typing on an iPad.

Jin brought 2 prototypes to the lunch and it surely draw some attention from the crowd at Vapiano.

The plan for development points towards being able to buy one at the end of this year. And I think that early adopters around the world will be in line for the autumn to get one!

Lunch: Vapiano at 12.05 on Tuesday the 4th of May 2010.

What: Jin had the pasta called salame e ricotta con rucola on tagliatelle. With that a San Pellegrino. I had a pasta carbonara on campanelle. To that I drank a Vitamin Well. Afterwards we had a double espresso each.

Johan Ronnestam

Another great referral from Joakim Kempff is Johan Ronnestam. You might know Johan from the agency Foreign or the TedX Viggbyholm event that was a couple of weeks ago in Stockholm?

Or maybe from the blogosphere where he really is King!

Our lunch was as much about advertising as innovation. Johan has a couple of really interesting ideas on new products, good clients for his consultancy and are doing a lot of speaking assignments at events and for companies. If you have the chance you should see him or get him involved in a project.

And yes, we did compare our iPad‘s a lot. And discussed how it as a device and the design of it (and future devices) will affect our life’s in a positive matter pretty soon. I am soon to take the leap from carrying a MacBook AND the iPad, to only the iPad. (Much to do with the brand-new DropBox-app for iPad and iPhone).

By the way: Are you, or do you know anyone, that is really good at GPS development you should get in contact with Johan. He has a great idea that needs a team!

Lunch: Riche at 12.15 on Wednesday the 28th of April 2010.

What: Johan had the wiener schnitzel with fried potato and I had the minced beef of veal with raita and roasted potatoes.

To that we drank Ramlösa. Afterwards Johan had a coffee and I had a double macchiato.

Konrad Bergström

Konrad used to have a surfshop. It all started a little earlier but it seems to me that this shop is where Konrad started his real career as part of the global street, surf and snowboard movement. He moved at an early age to New Zealand and got the license for Thule ski racks, and made that into the thing to have for your surfboard in Oceania.

After moving back to Sweden and being involved in Burton, running a distributor for global sportwear and arranging events in Gothenburg (and globally) he moved to Stockholm to start working at WeSc in 2004. First to be arranging all the events that WeSc have been so famous for, but moved quickly up to Head of Marketing.

After a successful cooperation between WeSc and Nokia a new segment within WeSc was emerging as the cash-cow: headphones.

Konrad was so to say ahead of the curve and decided after a year to give up his position at WeSc and starting a new company with a bunch of other people that he knew from all walks of life. And Zound Industries were born. A company *only* doing headphones.

Today they make headphones under the brand Urban Ears. And another brand by the name Coloudo are making the Hello Kitty headphones you would love to own, but don’t dare to wear. And soon you can get a pair of Marshall headphones.

Lunch: Riche at 12.30 on Friday the 23rd of April 2010.

What: We both had the minute steak with fries and béarnaise. A Coke each and lots of water, and of course coffee.

Anonymous, Nice – France

— moved to Nice on the french riviera in January this year. (Yes, we should envy him!)

He used to work for Almi in Stockholm with helping swedish companies to finance growth or acquisitions. Several of the companies that I have been involved in has had Almi as a creditor or partner, but we have actually never met.

Before working at Almi, — worked as a stockbroker at several brokerages in London and Stockholm.

My father-in-law, Kaj Mickos, recommended me to meet — during my recent stay in Cannes.

— is an avid nature-boy. Windsurfing, rock climbing, skiing and sailing are all great hobbies that the riviera offer plenty of.

We spoke a lot about the Expat culture in Nice, or the lack of such. When I lived in Dubai the Expat community was obviously very strong (800.000 Expats, 300.000 Emiratis), and there was hardly any day without an event of some sort. Perhaps — can bring that same “togetherness” to Nice for all the so-called foreigners…

Lunch: Le Safari in Nice at 12.15 on Thursday the 15th of April 2010.

What: Both of us had the Salad Niçoise with a large bottle of San Pellegrino. Afterwards — had a icecream and I had a Cafe Noisette.