How much cash?

A pretty interesting day today... The expert panel at Innovation Norway went pretty well I would say. No final answer yet, but my feelings are good!

Innovation Norway is the government’s support program for promising innovative start-ups, and Bipper has received a lot of support and help from them. The first start-up grant was awarded us in February 2008, and so far we have received about half a million dollars. All pure grants. The best cash you can get ;-).

Today we had our final evaluation for the IRD (Industrial Research and Development) support program from where we have applied for about $1 million in support. I huge amount of money, and a result of us partnering up with two industrial partners. One of them being Motorola. The other one is still a secret yet to be reveled....

Me and Olav arrived in the board room at ten to ten this morning to meet the experts, and almost five hours and a few tough questions later we were done. Mostly though, everyone seemed impressed, and the representatives from Innovation Norway told us that they never previously had experienced an IRD project reaching nearly 15.000 hits on Google for their IRD-partnership - before launch! I really can’t believe it myself either...

The only thing they did express worry about was our ability to grow fast enough to meet the market demand. I agree! This is my worry as well. To grow we need more people, and to hire more people we need more cash. More cash before we have income. The plans for funding are ready and the prospects are good - but you can never be sure...

Let’s just keep our fingers crossed for the $1 million grant! Please....

Me and the experts. They did smile more in the

 meeting than they do on the photo...

I've been ashed!

Really don’t know how I’m feeling about Iceland and the volcanos... Normally I would have been up in the air instead of on the rails through the Norwegian landscape. But I’m kinda liking it!

Eyjafjallajökull . . . A beautiful, yet quite unpronounceable name of a mountain that severely is affecting my life. I should have been in Rome this week, and was stuck in Bergen. I should have gone straight from Rome to Oslo and then to Bergen again by plane, but instead I got up early yesterday morning to take the morning train to Oslo and I’m now back on the train to slowly roll through the landscape back to Bergen again. My plane is supposed to leave about now, but when I saw that all other planes prior to mine had been cancelled I simply didn’t dare to take a chance on the plane. Still don’t know actually if I could have been up in the air now and have landed in Bergen in an hour instead of arriving at the station in 7 hours.

The strange thing though is that I am really enjoying this slower lifestyle. I’m enjoying traveling through the beautiful country I live in (I forget how beautiful it really is). I enjoy sitting down with my laptop enjoying a cup of coffee working my way through Norway in stead of rushing to the airport, through the security control, into the plane, being stuck in my seat for 50 minutes, out of the plane, to the airport express train, 20 minutes on the train, grabbing a taxi to get to a meeting - and then the whole process all over again to get back home. 

Going by train from Bergen to Oslo takes 6,5 to 7,5 hours depending on when you travel) while the whole flight experience takes about 3 hours from door to door. The thing though is that when I’m on the train I can actually work, and the rushing-in-and-out experience of flying leaves no time period where you can actually work. And - I do admit - I love the fact that all the tunnels and mountains makes me mostly unreachable while on the train. I actually get to work uninterrupted for a few hours. It almost feels like a holiday!

I promise you that if there had been express trains between Bergen and Oslo taking no longer than about 4 hours and leaving early enough for me to be able to catch a lunch meeting,  would have travelled by train instead of by plane. Much more environmentally friendly and much more enjoyable. 

Being in the start-up phase, my life is extremely busy and I’m in a constant rush. A certain mountain called Eyjafjallajökull (I still have to copy-paste that name!) suddenly enabled me to live life a bit slower without anyone being able to get frustrated with postponed meetings and changes in travel plans. My kids love the volcano!

On May 11th however, I’m supposed to fly to Iceland on my way to the US. Hoping to make that trip. Will I?

07:58 - On my way to Oslo by train!

Hmmm... Not sure I like secret media tips

For the first time in my life I got a call yesterday morning from a journalist who had received a tip about Bipper with very accurate information that very few people knew. Not sure I like this . . .

OK - I cannot be angry or upset about that I got two great articles about Bipper published in the two largest financial papers in Norway today, but I’m really not sure about whether I like secret tips and sources of information. And to tell you the honest truth I absolutely did not believe that Bipper and I would be that interesting this soon that there would be any value in secret media tips.

Ok - here is the story. I had been working until nearly three in the morning the night before and allowed myself an extra hour in bed before I got up in the morning (ok two extra hours...). I had just finished my breakfast and started working when the phone rang. Unknown number. I picked up, and a man said  “You are raising 10 million kroners now at a price of about 65 millions, can you confirm?”. I was completely taken off guard. Was he a wealthy journalist wanting to invest? Did he have wealthy friends wanting to invest? Or was this really something he wanted to write about? 

And yes - it was the latter. How could it be? That tiny Bipper is raising some capital is a story I really didn’t think was very interesting, but I guess I was wrong. Apparently we are “really hot” right now and a lot of people are following the development. That the other newspaper DN phoned me just a few hours later about the same story, just proves the case.

I really did not know how to react, and asked if I could call him back after I had spoken to my chairman Svein Johnsen. What was I allowed to say? I guess showing a journalist that you are unprofessional in handling the press is not the right thing to do, but this time I was taken off guard and just felt really small and young. I’m not a professional business woman yet. Not at all! I’m an idealist who have started a company to make mobile kids safer. 

I actually used to work as a journalist when I was 16 (a few years as a teenage activist fighting for a community house for the young had proven to me that the only way you will be listen to and taken seriously - even in a small town - is if you get the local newspaper to write about you), and I do love the media. I guess you could even call me attention seeking. I have always loved the spotlight. Since the age of three I have found my way to the stage - singing a song (no - I do not have a good voice), dancing (I’m not good at that either!) or playing the flute (which I was quite good at! Luckily I stopped entering the stage doing things I really wasn’t good at when I was about 11). Since I became interested and involved in community issues (first locally and then internationally), I have found my ways into the spotlight and press by fighting for or against the things I believe in. And I love the fact that I am able to inspire and engage people by just being concerned and involved.

But now the story that was being written was not a result of me contacting the press to tell a story I believed would inspire people, it was a result of someone sharing a piece of secret information with the press. And that took me completely off guard!  

The stories published today are both really good and positive (according to one of the papers I’m apparently really rich, but I have yet to touch the money I’m worth myself. Hopefully one day...), and it’s just really awesome that editors, journalists, investors, and other people find Bipper interesting. 

It’s also a bit frightening though... We haven’t even launched Bipper yet, and already we’re the hot topic at editorial morning meetings. Can’t believe it! But when a lot of people have high expectations, there is also a lot to prove! I will do all I can to prove that we’re not just a nice story, but a great safety solution for parents!

Page 3 in Finansavisen

Page 30 in DN

Me (age 21) in January 2000. I had just published a book 

where children and young people from everywhere, 

as well as well known personalities, wrote about 

their lives. The mission was to create “international understanding”.

Age 20 talking about my role as a student representative in 

panel debates with Hilary Clinton and President Vaclav Havel.

Age 26 fighting against the new regulations for taking exams 

at the University of Bergen. And - yes - we were heard!

WE ARE NOT LAUNCHING IN MAY, AS STATED TODAY BY THE NORWEGIAN NEWSPAPER

Another great story in a big Norwegian newspaper, but with one piece of wrong information: We are NOT launching in May as stated in the article. During the summer months will be more like it!

Today we got another great story out in Norway. Well written, spreading across two pages, great PR. Everything was really good except for one minor thing. It states “will be launched in May”.

Let me just tell you straight now that we are not launching in May! Personally I would love to launch Bipper in May, but to deliver a safety solution for kids, it really has to be properly tested before it is commercialized. First in-house and then with real families. This is a process we have started now. 

When will we launch? As soon as we can say that “Bipper is 100 % safe and bugfree”. I have never developed software before myself, but I am learning that it is quite a time consuming process. One thing is developing the websites and codes. Another thing is testing the solution. Not once, but multiple times and on more and more phones. We cannot deliver a safety solution to parents and children that is not completely safe. If we did, how could we then claim to “make mobile kids safer and parents’ lives easier?”. So if there is a bug somewhere or an issue that cannot be fixed when Bipper is run on a specific phone model for example, we need to know everything about it before we launch - and not after.   

Nothing would have made me happier than if we were able to launch right now, and - I promise you - as soon as Bipper is thoroughly tested we will be out and available where you are!

If you would like to participate in testing, contact Ann Elida Eide (ann.elida(at)bipper.com). If you want to receive special offers when we launch, sign up for our newsletter at www.bipper.com.

Rome on Monday?

I love Saturdays! The only day of the week when I almost for certain will be at home with my family. Early Monday morning I’m supposed to fly down to Rome for Simposium 2010 to compete for the 1st prize in SIMagine. With the volcanic ash affecting the airspace in Northern Europe it doesn’t look good...

My husband is a geologist, and for years he has been telling me about the coming volcanic eruption on Iceland. That a massive eruption is already over-time and about all the previous eruption from both Katla and Hekla. Over-due in a geology timeframe, though, can be 100 years...

But perhaps it really is now? I hadn’t heard about Eyjafjallajökull before, but now this (I’ve been told) very small volcano is causing chaos all over Europe. And more worrying, there is a huge possibility that Katla will have an eruption. A big one! It might not happen now, but is supposedly due within two years. Here’s on of the articles I read  in norwegian and english(google translate). 

When Eyjafjallajökull is causing this much trouble now, imagine the trouble Katla will cause! Let’s hope the volcano(s) will calm down very soon. Iceland has had some rough years lately. First the financial crises and now this. And what is this doing to the planet? I must admit that I haven’t had the time to study the articles about the environmental impact of the eruptions, but it surely does make you worry when the empty white bucket a fellow Bergenser (i.e. a person from Bergen) placed an empty white bucket outside and an hour later it was filled with dirty water and small sharp stones...

Right now though I’m simply enjoying spending some time with my kids. And if the volcanos so wish, my time spent in Bergen will be a bit longer than planned for...

Will I make it to Rome on Monday? And if not, will SIMagine come up with another way of allowing us to present in front of the jury? A video conference on Skype perhaps? I was just really hoping to go to Rome and bring home another prestigious award...

Alvin and I enjoying PhotoBooth on my orange Mac. 

Great fun!

Back where it all started...

Three years ago I won the regional finals in the business plan competition Venture Cup. With the cash prize I won I started the company. Today I was back where it all started to try to inspire this years finalists...

Three years ago I had just finished (my first) business plan! 

Eight months prior to that day my daughter Oda had started school. Four months later I had concluded that there was a great need for a safe mobile solution for kids. And another month later I entered Venture Cup. I was in maternity leave and had read about Venture Cup in a student newspaper. There was a cash prize of 100 000 kroners (about $ 20 000), and I knew I needed that money if I was going to be able to take the risk on starting my own company.

Mid April (or was it May?) I knew I had reached the regional finals with my business plan, all written while breastfeeding my baby boy and renovating our first house, and I was sitting at the club Metro waiting for the verdict together with a couple of friends. I was so nervous! I was so excited! But I really had no clue that this day would take me to where I am now...

Today I was given the great honor of speaking at the regional finals in Venture Cup. I really felt very humble to be back. A bit nervous as well actually. Guess I remembered the butterflies in my stomach from three years ago way too well.... But it felt good to be there and speak about Bipper and my journey for a few minutes. My one mission was to show them that it’s possible! 

I started this journey three years ago, and in April 2007 Bipper was only me and a business plan. I wasn’t even certain that it was possible to develop the solution I had envisioned in my head. But today Bipper has grown into a company with global visions and have just signed a hugely prestigious deal with Motorola. I also made a big point of letting them know that it will demand a lot of work. Tons! But if they want it enough, they can do it!

Three years ago I was the one sitting nervous 

waiting for the jury’s decision. Today I was the speaker!

Team Bipper looooves Innovation Norway, and I truly do 

believe that they love us too! This was actually the first time 

I met Rolf Sørland (Ass. Director), and was happy to learn 

that the whole staff knows about Bipper. Makes me even 

more eager to prove that we will be a success!

 

SPRING IS (FINALLY) HERE!

Three weeks ago I left Norway covered in snow and headed for the US. When I got back 10 days later spring had arrived. Can you imagine? All the snow had melted, the grass is getting green, the trees are blossoming. It’s such a great feeling!

Don’t get me wrong - I’ve really enjoyed the winter. This winter has been special. We’ve had snow for longer than I can remember, and the kids have had the chance to go skiing or snow sledging every day. If you thought that white winters were normal in Norway, I must disappoint you. In some parts of Norway snow  for weeks and weeks is definitely the norm, yes, but on the west coast the normal winters consist of a few rainy days, a couple of colder days, great white snow for a few days, rain again (resulting in terribly wet snow), a few days without snow - but still rain, a couple of great cold and sunny days. And just about then the cycle starts over again. I would say that the great white beautiful winter days people think of when they hear about Norway are experienced 10-15 days a year on the west coast.

But this year we had a terrific winter with white snow, cold days and sun or falling snow for weeks and weeks in a row, and I loooved it! Now though, I looove that spring has arrived!

After work today my kids and I had a picnic on the balcony. My mom had made us an apple cake on Sunday, and today we enjoyed the left overs and a sweet melon in the sun. Such a good feeling! I love spending time with my kids, and unfortunately I’m not able to do that as much as I would have liked to due to traveling and busy time schedules. 

Once the testing is all over and the commercial phase has started, I hope to be able to bring my kids with me on business travels now and again. I remember the business trips my father took me along with him on when I was a kid with great pleasure, and I believe my kids will enjoy it too. I know I will enjoy having them there! 

Bergen - the most beautiful city I know! Enjoy!

. . . have to admit to that rainy days - well - are quite common!

Want to become an entrepreneur?

One thing I’m passionate about is inspiring more young people - especially women - to start their own businesses. Today I held a lecture at The Norwegian School of Entrepreneurship (Gründerskolen)!

I did not attend Gründerskolen myself, although I really wanted to when I was a student. With two young children at home it wasn’t possible though as a three month trainee period abroad is part of the program. Seeing how much I travel today (now with three kids at home...), I realize that I might have been wrong.

However, being able to speak about entrepreneurship to young students using my own journey as an example, is really a lot of fun. Norway needs more entrepreneurs! The world needs more entrepreneurs! Especially there is a need for more female entrepreneurs as still only around 30 % of those starting their own businesses are women. I really do hope that my story can inspire some people to enroll on the same journey I’m on. I felt a feed myself, had a vision about a solution but no knowledge within the field of industry (technology), but still went for it. 

It really is possible to start from scratch, but it demands your complete focus. It you think that starting up your own business will be fun, you’re absolutely right! If you think it will be fun all the time, you couldn’t be more wrong. Being an entrepreneur is like a constant roller-coaster ride with ups and downs constantly. I have never cried as much previously as I have for the past three years, but I’ve never been more excited either. It’s a thrill! And to survive the constant ups and downs a start-up phase involves, you have to be a stayer. Bite your teeth together and fight for survival. It won’t be easy, but it will be the most exciting journey you’ve ever been on.

I was very open with the students about both the ups and the downs and all my worries and dilemmas. Including that running a start-up means that the business will run your life. When I started Bipper, I really wasn’t prepared for the amount of hours and traveling needed to create a success. And we’re not even there yet that we can say “we did it!”.  Soon we will be though (I hope!), but very few people will be able to understand how rough the journey has been. Nor the thrill of it! You have to try it yourself :-)

1. 
   
   1.DO NOT RUN YOUR BUSINESS AS A HOBBY PROJECT No investor will invest capital in a person that is not 100 % in him/herself. Would you?

2. 
   
   2.THE TEAM IS EVERYTHINGIn a start-up phase the team is 80 % and the idea is 20 %. At the most. Great people can create successes out of mediocre ideas, while bad people can destroy the best projects. Focus on building a strong team!

3. 
   
   3.KEEPING EVERYTHING A SECRET WILL NOT OPEN ANY DOORS (people will want to help you!)
   Should you tell everyone the details of what you’re doing? Of course not! But business and partnerships arise from mutual interests. Everyone will have a lot of ideas, 10 % of us all might write the ideas down and start working on them, while only 1 % will try to commercialize their ideas. There is little reason to be afraid! And be surprised by how many people that will want to help you!