When Lina played the piano she was often asked to play Time to say goodbye at weddings. That felt a bit, eh, strange.
But now it’s time for me to say goodbye to her. This is going to be the longest we have ever been apart.
Anyway, I’m packing and it seems like I will make it. I think that the only thing that’s might keep me from catching the flight is if my friend Anders doesn’t stop sending me chat messages on Gmail…
I’m starting to get excited. I have looked forward to the trip for some time now, but it is not until now I feel like I’m really going. I will leave from here in about two hours and I will get to Kathmandu about 20 hours later.
Tirtha, a Nepalese friend of Björn Söderberg is coming to pick me up at the airport, that feels really good.
Different weather sites show quite different forecasts for the weather in Kathmandu, the temperature ranges from 19 C to 35 C and from clear skies to heave rain.
Well, by this time tomorrow I will know.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
IQube
Today Lina and I meet with IQube, and company incubator that’s looking for entrepreneurs that are in the process of starting up a new business.
We were invited to them last Friday and we have been in Stockholm over the weekend, so we had to write our presentation rather hastily.
First we got an introduction to Iqube, what they do and what they can help us with. The concept seemed to fit us. Even though we might already have finished some of the things they discussed we could certainly need some help with marketing, legal issues, an office and maybe a few other things…
They seemed interested in what we had to say. They of course questioned how we think at some points, but then again I think everybody does. It is, after all, their job to find out if we are up to the task. I think they liked us, but they had 200 ideas from the start and they only have 30 places. On the other hand, when we came among the top 30 at Venture Cup there were over 300 others in the race.
I’m not looking forward to the trip tomorrow, I think it’s about 20-22 hours in total before I reach Nepal. Hopefully I will have some time to rest once I get there.
Well, I guess it's time for me to start thinking of packing...
We were invited to them last Friday and we have been in Stockholm over the weekend, so we had to write our presentation rather hastily.
First we got an introduction to Iqube, what they do and what they can help us with. The concept seemed to fit us. Even though we might already have finished some of the things they discussed we could certainly need some help with marketing, legal issues, an office and maybe a few other things…
They seemed interested in what we had to say. They of course questioned how we think at some points, but then again I think everybody does. It is, after all, their job to find out if we are up to the task. I think they liked us, but they had 200 ideas from the start and they only have 30 places. On the other hand, when we came among the top 30 at Venture Cup there were over 300 others in the race.
I’m not looking forward to the trip tomorrow, I think it’s about 20-22 hours in total before I reach Nepal. Hopefully I will have some time to rest once I get there.
Well, I guess it's time for me to start thinking of packing...
Meeting with Iqube
Right now I’m working on the presentation of The Fair Tailor that we will give at Iqube later today. From what they write on their website they are more interested in the people behind the idea than the idea it self.
Since Lina, in my eyes, is a born entrepreneur I feel we have a pretty good chance.
If we get accepted in to Iqube we will get an office, a business coach, an education program and access to a network of 200 companies.
But first I need to finish the presentation. And I need to do it fast.
Since Lina, in my eyes, is a born entrepreneur I feel we have a pretty good chance.
If we get accepted in to Iqube we will get an office, a business coach, an education program and access to a network of 200 companies.
But first I need to finish the presentation. And I need to do it fast.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Meeting with Björn
Long before we had even thought about starting this company Lina read a book by Björn Söderberg and got inspired by his entrepreneurship in Nepal. In the book Björn told the story about how he came to Nepal after high school and how that lead to that he now has started several CSR companies there.
Last fall we went to a lecture he held and it got us both inspired. When we some time later realised that he might want to work with us in the future we decided that we wanted to start the company in Nepal.
So, today we had our first meeting with Björn. Since he lives in Nepal he has very a busy schedule when he is in Sweden. Luckily he had time to meet us today, on a Sunday. Since I’m going to Nepal the day after tomorrow I felt that it would be good to get some tips before going.
We sat down together for one and a half hour to discuss what we want to do, what he has done in Nepal, how we can put our plans in to action.
Björn gave me some good leads to follow up on when I go to Nepal. One of the persons I’m looking forward the most to meeting when I’m there is his old friend Tirtha, the person who runs Child Watabaran Center.
Now I need to prepare, we are meeting with Iqube tomorrow and we need to have a good presentation of both The Fair Tailor and us to show them.
Last fall we went to a lecture he held and it got us both inspired. When we some time later realised that he might want to work with us in the future we decided that we wanted to start the company in Nepal.
So, today we had our first meeting with Björn. Since he lives in Nepal he has very a busy schedule when he is in Sweden. Luckily he had time to meet us today, on a Sunday. Since I’m going to Nepal the day after tomorrow I felt that it would be good to get some tips before going.
We sat down together for one and a half hour to discuss what we want to do, what he has done in Nepal, how we can put our plans in to action.
Björn gave me some good leads to follow up on when I go to Nepal. One of the persons I’m looking forward the most to meeting when I’m there is his old friend Tirtha, the person who runs Child Watabaran Center.
Now I need to prepare, we are meeting with Iqube tomorrow and we need to have a good presentation of both The Fair Tailor and us to show them.
Who are you?
Yesterday we discussed our business idea with Elin and Mikael (see yesterdays post) and I must say that they were really good at playing the devil’s advocate. They really put us to the test, they questioned our decisions and forced us to motivate why we had made the choices we had made. Once we had finished crying ;) we had valuable new input. We talked a lot about whom we will be as a company and who we are going to sell our products to. So if you are considering to buy our products; who are you?
Today we are meeting with Björn Söderberg, a Swedish entrepreneur who has started several CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) companies in Nepal.
By the way, did you remember to turn off your lights during Earth Hour yesterday?
Today we are meeting with Björn Söderberg, a Swedish entrepreneur who has started several CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) companies in Nepal.
By the way, did you remember to turn off your lights during Earth Hour yesterday?
Saturday, March 28, 2009
What is the thing about meeting with a bank?
This is too early to be sitting by the computer up on a Saturday, but since we have a train to catch and we thought it would be a good idea to take an early train… Well, here I am…
Yesterday we meet with Swedbank to discuss how we can finance our company.
The meeting got me thinking, why do I have such a respect for the bank? What made me write BANK in the last two posts? Maybe it’s because I haven’t had much to do with banks so far in my life.
Do they get less scary once you get used to them?
Today we are going to Stockholm; we are meeting some friends to discuss our business plan. Mikael is a consultant at BCG and Elin has been a trainee at Scania, so I’m sure they will have some good things to tell us.
Yesterday we meet with Swedbank to discuss how we can finance our company.
The meeting got me thinking, why do I have such a respect for the bank? What made me write BANK in the last two posts? Maybe it’s because I haven’t had much to do with banks so far in my life.
Do they get less scary once you get used to them?
Today we are going to Stockholm; we are meeting some friends to discuss our business plan. Mikael is a consultant at BCG and Elin has been a trainee at Scania, so I’m sure they will have some good things to tell us.
Friday, March 27, 2009
The BANK!
Today we met with Swedbank Avenyn, hopefully they will be our bank throughout this project.
We met two advisors and discussed the project for about an hour, and it was a really good meeting. We have done our homework so we fell we can answer most questions we get, and they seemed interested in the project and asked good questions. Of course, since they are a bank they will need some sort of security...
Before the meeting with the bank I had a meeting with my manager at Etteplan, the company I’m leaving to start The Fair Tailor. I hadn’t presented the idea for him before, but he seemed to really like it. He promised to by a couple of shirts when we are up and running =)
I got an email from Iqube today, it is a company incubator and we are hoping to get them interested in our company. They are looking for 30 entrepreneurs in Gothenburg and they want to meet us next week, on Monday afternoon.
So the plan for the next couple of days is: Saturday - Travel to Stockholm. Sunday – Meeting with Björn Söderberg in Stockholm and travel back to Gothenburg. Monday – Meeting with Iqube. Tuesday – Decision from ALMI and travel to Nepal.
We met two advisors and discussed the project for about an hour, and it was a really good meeting. We have done our homework so we fell we can answer most questions we get, and they seemed interested in the project and asked good questions. Of course, since they are a bank they will need some sort of security...
Before the meeting with the bank I had a meeting with my manager at Etteplan, the company I’m leaving to start The Fair Tailor. I hadn’t presented the idea for him before, but he seemed to really like it. He promised to by a couple of shirts when we are up and running =)
I got an email from Iqube today, it is a company incubator and we are hoping to get them interested in our company. They are looking for 30 entrepreneurs in Gothenburg and they want to meet us next week, on Monday afternoon.
So the plan for the next couple of days is: Saturday - Travel to Stockholm. Sunday – Meeting with Björn Söderberg in Stockholm and travel back to Gothenburg. Monday – Meeting with Iqube. Tuesday – Decision from ALMI and travel to Nepal.
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