Introducing our new Managing Director - Nick Rose
In the photo from left: Rein Lemberpuu, Joel Roos, Anette Nordvall, Nick Rose and Esben Gadsbøll.
NordicBAN covers today 12 angel network members representing in total almost 3000 business angels. The startup activity is flourishing and developing fast in the Nordics and Baltics (New Nordics) and angels play a crucial role supporting the early-stage growth. Taking NordicBAN to the next level, our new Managing Director Nick Rose takes over the activity after Claes Mikko Nilsen who moves over to support angels in the other end of the investment cycle.
Hi, I'm Nick
Although originally from the UK I was brought up all over the world as a diplomat child. Denmark has been my home for most of my adult life and fingers crossed my application for Danish citizenship will one day be approved (as long as I don't get any speeding tickets, or caught riding my bike without lights!). I moved here in 1991 after 9 years in California where amongst other things I took a PhD at Stanford as a geochemist. My connection to the Nordic region came through a long history of involvement in Greenland where I have travelled extensively. After many years working in freelance jobs in IT and environmental chemistry, I followed a dream in 2006 and cofounded a mineral exploration company that spent 9 years searching for gold, diamonds, copper and other metals, primarily in Greenland. We raised $2million from private placements initially before funding most of our activities through collaborations with large international mining companies. We operated in the high-risk end of the business where roughly 1 in 200 exploration projects make it as far as the feasibility stage. As metals markets slumped after 2011 I wore out several pairs of shoes walking around London to raise capital, but the whole sector was in conservative mode and eventually even our faithful corporate partners slashed their budgets. We closed at the end 2015 and I said goodbye to 12 great colleagues from our Copenhagen office. When I look at the tech startup sector with its 50% success rate I think yes it is risky but you are nevertheless in a game where intelligence and access to the right knowledge can create winners.
The Nordic Angel Vision
I am very excited about starting work with NordicBAN. I see the possibilities to build a truly useful trans- Nordic association as being something I really want to invest a lot of effort in. Coming in as an outsider I see a complex ecosystem and I am in the process of mapping out this network in my own mind, and trying to figure out where are the main links that will allow us to create a really useful organization. Like a startup, we have to understand our market, map out our competitors, and figure out what is our unique value proposition. Then we have to take NordicBAN into a growth phase building on Claes Mikkos 10 points and 5 future goals, figuring out how to effectively use our resources by focusing on the areas that are going to give the most traction. My initial task in February is to collect and synthesize a lot of information and viewpoints to support a board meeting to be held in Helsinki on the 19th, after which I hope we will have a very clear set of objectives, strategies and work packages. To this end, I am hoping to meet as many of our members and partners as possible in the near future and collect a wide range of opinions that will provide the background for the board's decisions.