Writing

Essays on innovation

Disruption, venture capital, digital transformation, and climate innovation, seen from inside companies and institutions.

Innovation3 minute read

Truly understanding your customer

I have in the past written about value focused selling and selling technology, but this time I want to discuss the importance of truly understanding your customer. Sadly too many sales people don’t invest enough time in gaining a deep understanding of...

Innovation2 minute read

Innovating for good

This coming week I am fortunate enough to have been invited to attend the Social Innovation Summit West 2016, which is held here in Silicon Valley. The theme of this year’s summit is Business Innovation meets Social Transformation.

Innovation3 minute read

Venture Capital Fly Fishing

Earlier this summer we at Beringer Finance hosted a conference that took place at Iceland’s most beautiful fly fishing river, Norðurá. We had a number of entrepreneurs, investors, and venture capitalists attend this 3 day unique experience.

Innovation4 minute read

Value focused selling

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the importance of focusing on what technology delivers when selling technology solutions. The underlying reason for this is that you want to focus on the value that the solution delivers rather than what it comprises of.

Innovation2 minute read

Selling Technology

One of the most common mistakes salespeople in the technology industry do is to try to sell the customer the technology. This may sound like a paradox, but the truth is that the only way to sell someone technology is to sell them what that technology enables.

Innovation3 minute read

Cookie Cutter Venture Capital

Last week I wrote about the cultural difference between entrepreneurs in the Nordics and in Silicon Valley. This week I want to talk about the cultural differences between investors.

Innovation2 minute read

Selling the future

During a panel discussion a couple of months ago, a number of successful entrepreneurs from the Nordic countries (Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland) were asked what was the most difficult part about raising money here in Silicon Valley from a...

Innovation1 minute read

Disrupting Ebola

A year ago I spent most of my time in West Africa leading a team of technologists determined to disrupt the Ebola Outbreak that was ravaging the countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea. While most people tried to avoid the dangerous virus and the...

Innovation2 minute read

Heading towards Disruption

No matter what field you are in, you can always find better, more effective, and faster ways to do what you are currently doing. Yet in most cases those improvements will only provide you with incremental improvements.

Innovation3 minute read

Facing the Fear of Thinking Big

Written by Gisli Olafsson on behalf of the Case Foundation:  NetHope collaborates with 35 leading international humanitarian organizations to better serve the developing world through innovative technology and communications. Their focus is on five...