Hans Otterling smiles when we discuss the secrets of successful serial entrepreneurship. Having been there and done that quite a few times, Mr Otterling should know a lot about successful entrepreneurial ventures. Admittedly, he spent the first years after business school as an employee in the fields of corporate finance and sales management. But after these - indeed very useful - experiences, the entrepreneurial spirit grew too strong and he managed ComPro Media into one of the largest media marketing companies in Sweden.
In the late eighties he revolutionized the field of Investor Relations, through founding Waymaker, an IT-based information distribution company. Where listed Swedish companies had previously employed the services of taxis in order to get their financial reports to the media, Waymaker built a complete new network.
�It took us ten months to nail our first client, he remembers, but in another ten months we had 70% of the big caps as clients�, Mr Otterling observes. Waymaker was sold to Esselte in 1992 but is still the market leader, despite today�s� stiff competition.
In 1993, Mr Otterling went on to co-found and develop RIM - a pharmaceutical and health care industry trade magazine corporation that was eventually sold �with a handsome profit�, he recalls, to a major competitor.
And then came StreamServe. You may read more about this exciting venture here but suffice it to say that what started off in a flat on Sveav�gen in central Stockholm in 1995, grew to a SEK 300 M corporation in just a few years, and then further, with 13 international offices, clients and shareholders all over the world.
Even outside office hours � provided there are any � you�re still highly likely to find this high energy individual in motion. He is a keen down-hill skier, has a good hand with horses and yes, as a few others at Northzone, he�s completed the Vasaloppet cross-country ski run. And if you ever dream of improving your negotiation odds against this man through physical means, think again and his high school championship in wrestling might make you reconsider.
Mr Ottering serves on the board of StreamServe Inc., Anoto Group AB, Episerver AB and the Swedish Venture Capital Association
