Building a Mission-Driven Company from Sweden: Anders Ankarlid, CEO of A Good Company (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: What was the trajectory of that group of e-commerce sites? Did you raise money? Did you bootstrap?

Anders Ankarlid: This was very early on. This was pre-Facebook in Scandinavia. Most of the sales were related to price comparison apps.

We built another layer where instead of relying on third-party data, we could spider out competitor’s website and get their price before the engines can pick them up. Then we adjust either downward or upward. Those were all fuelled by a lot of VC capital. We were doing quite well.

Sramana Mitra: When you sold to VC in 2012, how much revenue did this group produce?

Anders Ankarlid: €30 million maybe.

Sramana Mitra: How much did you sell it for?

Anders Ankarlid: We sold it for 1 times the revenue. 

Sramana Mitra: You got cash?

Anders Ankarlid: We got both cash and stocks. Maybe, 65% cash. We had quite a high amount of debt to pay off.

Sramana Mitra: Was it just you or were there other people on the founding team?

Anders Ankarlid: At the end, we gave percentages to key people. My share was a little over 50%. You can pick several routes. We didn’t pay the highest salaries; we gave them freedom and to be on a journey. When people are participating in a journey, they like their jobs. If they like their jobs, they typically do quite well at the job. They were on board from the beginning.

It was me and another guy, but then we didn’t get along quite well. We had a dramatic six months where we realized that we should split. The case was that either I should go or he should go. I ended up staying. That was a really rough time for me as a person since he was a friend from the beginning. No one is winner in that. It’s like a divorce.

Sramana Mitra: When did you get finished with this transaction? 2012?

Anders Ankarlid: Yes. Then I had a lock-in for 12 months. After 365 days, I left for good.

Sramana Mitra: When did you become free?

Anders Ankarlid: I think summer of 2013.

Sramana Mitra: What did you choose to do right after you were out? You had a bit of money at least. 

Anders Ankarlid: I was looking for a regular job. I was tired of running my own businesses. It’s very fun, but most of the time, being an entrepreneur is that you’re always worried about something.

Sramana Mitra: It’s very stressful stuff.

Anders Ankarlid: Yes, I also had my now 10-year-old who needed a lot of time from me. I was with her by myself as well. Every second week, I had her. I just didn’t see myself not being there for her. I took a regular job. I had another company pitching around 2010.

They were really good in selling. They were a niche management consultant. They were strong in the execution part, which is where most management consultants lack experience. Most of them hadn’t run businesses in a practical manner. I contacted them. I started there at the bottom of the ladder.

I liked it very much. I was able to focus on one thing and one thing only. I focused on bringing in new clients. I really enjoyed not having to focus on all the other things. I was there for nearly six years. Of the three years, I had the opportunity to be Senior Partner. It was a fun journey.

We expanded to new countries. We grew the team. We doubled and basically transformed that company from being a niche management consulting into packaging that experience into a product. I’m not in operations with them.

They transformed themselves from a management consulting to a software company. I was part of that journey as well. They made a software of what they teach leaders most of the time. Instead of doing that through coaching, we made a product of it. I left in 2018.

This segment is part 2 in the series : Building a Mission-Driven Company from Sweden: Anders Ankarlid, CEO of A Good Company
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