Joakim Jardenberg, business angel and currently business developer at the Think incubator on SHIP, was recently portrayed in an in-depth interview by Sydsvenskan.
The articles delves into subjects such as his past in the media industry, and how he sees his mission as an “internet evengalist” to bring out the best of new technologies in society and businesses. It also talks about his, unexpected, choice of going from full time independent consultant to being a part time municipal employee. A step that few would have thought of him, the eternal internet proclamator. But about the choice he comments:
“It’s kind of like when I in my youth went from the KPMLr [the communist party] and became a career officer. But I believe strongly in this region and to be allowed to develop people. Also, I needed an anchor. Last year I had 192 travel-days” says Joakim Jardenberg.
The last couple of years he has gone from being an acclaimed internet guru, beloved by newspaper editors who gladly listened to the messages on how revenues from the internet would replace the shrinking advertising pie in the printed newspaper, to now being a nuisance in editors eyes who got tired of him when the promised revenues not came fast enough.
“I know, I’m damn provocative. I’m not afraid to tell people that they are idiots”
he tells Sydsvenskan, but ads that he has so far not been proven wrong about his profecies of the effect of paywalls and the future of media. He also continues where he thinks the future for media is:
“Relevance and Relationships are must-haves for the media, but the paywall punishes both. Paywalls are the best way to accelerate the journey downhill. Instead media companies should twist more on ad models and sell more targeted ads. Nor have they examined how much you can earn from selling information about what people are interested in. Or arrange seminars and selling knowledge.”
Joakim on the Think Incubator and his job as Business Developer
In his role as part time employee as a business developer, he works right now with six companies in Helsingborg and three in Landskrona. Among his main advice is, of course, to see the Internet as part of their core business and not just a spice. This also applies to the issue of patents, which usually comes up when starting a startup.
“You have to protect your ideas in ways other than through patents. Patent wars have become so fierce that a small player does not have a chance anyway. Instead, my view is that you should have a high rate of innovation, short product cycles, and to be quick to market. Then you just have to continue being the best. I want my young companies to understand that.”
Another common belief he want’s to challenge is that anyone who starts a company must be young. He would prefer to see more nerds from Ericsson that “knocked code for twenty years” team up with young entrepreneurs. There is a skills surplus, says Joakim Jardenberg, and an important role for the innovation system is to support those skill surpluses to come to a good use.
“For example, take the students on Service Management program at Lunds University Campus Helsingborg. They don’t know technology, but are driven and have a thousand ideas. But those that have worked at IKEA IT or Ericsson know how to code. These people need to meet more easily. It’s one of the things we work with, the informal networks. It’s a somewhat different approach”
Joakim on his other jobs and leisures
Besides his present job, at the Incubator, Joakim is an advisor to five publicly listed CEOs. Who they are he can not reveal, but they are both finance and traditional industries listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. He calls this part of his live being a “CEO-whisperer”
“It is often individual and personal advice. The first step is to let them “internetify” themselves. It’s about things like having a smartphone in your pocket and actually use it, to get them interested in social media. And to make them realize that with an active news feed in an RSS reader, they do not need to read the newspaper – for they already have the information three days ahead.”
He also tries to teach them to let customers into the development-processes and allow customers to do the job.
“Before the Industrial Revolution, before we started renting out time to one another, people worked together and did not divide their time into leisure and working. Technology has made it possible to get collaboration and working together back to that level, where people are basically generous. Look at Starbucks that with it’s “My Starbucks idea” has outsourced all idea generation to its fans and even hands over decision making to them.”
There is no lack of strategy consultants or CEO-advisor with crazy ideas and preaching internets goodness. When asked what unique attributes Joakim Jardenberg has as a consultant, he answers himself:
“I am exceptionally independent. There is often a dependency where a consultant will sell more hours, a specific method, supplier or product. A McKinsey consultant has to ensure that the customer does not get angry. But I want them to stand on their own. For me, the best thing that can happen is that the customer gets angry, crashes out of the room and then comes back a week later and wants to know more.”
Read the entire article (in swedish) over at Sydsvenskans site (and beware of the paywall…)
