Weekly Buzz & Insights: The Obsession With Startups
December 7, 2024
Don’t get me wrong: Supporting innovation and entrepreneurship is crucial. National strategies and grant programs are important in fostering growth and competitiveness. But sometimes it feels like governmental agencies and politicians back in the Nordics are overly focused on launching (and funding) new startups from their region and forgetting an important resource that already exists: Nordic professionals, who have already made their mark in Silicon Valley, contributing to and driving the success of prominent companies.
These individuals are more than success stories. They are invaluable role models and potential bridges between Silicon Valley and the business sectors in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland. They are leveraging new technologies to transform entire industries, and their companies don’t always need to have "AI" in their name. Successful users of new technology can be found across all sectors in Silicon Valley, including traditional and nontraditional industries.
Take Claes Gustafsson, for example, co-founder of ATUM, a company developing innovative solutions in synthetic DNA and biotechnology, which I recently interviewed. With his Swedish background and a career built in the U.S., he could be an important role model. And Claes is far from alone. Silicon Valley is brimming with Nordic talents working for companies like Databricks, Google, Neo4j, Roblox, Salesforce, OpenAI, Meltwater, Tesla, and Meta. These professionals embody innovation and the ability to scale ideas globally.
It’s time to broaden our perspective. Startups from the Nordics are important, but they’re not everything. By learning from and collaborating with Nordic professionals - who have already carved out a place in perhaps the world’s most competitive innovation environment, we can build bridges that benefit everyone.
I already have an extensive list of interviews planned for 2025 in Silicon Valley, featuring individuals from industries ranging from SaaS to agriculture. So, stay tuned—the future of Nordic innovation may already be here, right in the heart of California.
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