Hello there, you look nice today.

 
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Nice to meet you. I’m Tine Thygesen.

I’m an entrepreneur and business person. I’ve built three companies, sit on several boards, am a keynote speaker talking about True Costs, The Wellbeing Economy, Sustainable Business, Business Trends and Building Disruptive Companies. 

I live in the middle of the technology and startup world where I get learn from some of the most inspiring people and companies around. I use that cutting edge learning in companies wanting to be more digital.

I’m devastated by the destruction of our wonderful planet and subscribe to a conscious capitalism that protects forests, oceans and people, as well as the bottom line.

I work with green business, growth and technology.

 

Getting here

Before I became an entrepreneur I worked in an old investment bank in London where I serendipitiously met a lot of extremely succesful entrepreneurs - a breed of human formerly unknown to me. When I grew up in Aalborg Denmark, no one used the word ‘entrepreneur’ and I had no idea you could live a life where you can be your own boss, make a difference and be free - if you dare to live differently.

As the girl with good grades and the prestigious job it took me several years to build the courage to become one of these entrepreneurs. I was terrified of the failure, and of losing everyone’s respect. Today I understand that fear is reason behind most failed dreams. I’ve learnt that you can train your courage, but it takes conscious effort and a willingness to break with social conventions.

My first leap of faith to life differently took me down a path of adventure and learning. I’ve lived in 5 countries, founded four companies, grown three of them (was a passive partner in the 4th), raised hundreds of millions in venture capital, had hundreds of employees. I’ve been entrusted with positions of extreme responsibility, been on big boards, eaten with kings and queens, met rock stars and prime ministers. I live a privileged life today, with more freedom and more comforts than most.

It hasn’t been plain sailing. I’ve been broke, jobless, turned down for hundreds of investment pitches, passed over for big opportunities, rolled eyes at and ignored. I don’t have a fancy education and I don’t have a trust fund. With time, I’ve learned that challenges make me a better person and a stronger entrepreneur.

You can listen to a podcast on my journey on Podimo here where Pernille Enggaard documents the path to success for business people she finds interesting. You can find my track record below.

 
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Founders House, Matrikel1, Startup Village and Mesh.

Ecosystems and communities drive more and more business because both employees and consumers seek purpose. Who we work for - and what we buy - is part of our identity. Throughout my career I’ve been fortunate to build businesses that prefer customer loyalty, purpose and communities instead of a sales strategy.

When I was CEO of Venture Cup, my proudest achievement was creating an entrepreneurial community at universities at a time where entrepreneurship was considered an opposition to academia.

In Everplaces we built a community of travel lovers and aspiring travel writers across 200 countries. We understood that their dreams had to be at the centre of our product, not the other way around.

With Founders House, Mesh, Matrikel1, Digs and Mesh I’ve been a part of creating a startup community in Denmark and Norway. The people in these communities are self-motivated when presented with the right contacts, tools and information. But the scene has to be set to enable them.

I’ve also been a part of several international community-building efforts in entrepreneurialism on company and EU level.

Today I work mainly with companies whose strong connections to their customers are a core competitive advantage.

 
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Bio

Tine Thygesen is a well-known entrepreneur and board member. She is cofounder of three companies, including the entrepreneurial workspace company Mesh which runs Mesh in Oslo, Matrikel1, Founders House, Digs etc. She has been the CEO of five companies and currently sits on the board of several companies and investment funds. She is listed among the top 100 women in tech and the top 10 Speakers on Tech in Europe. Currently, Tine is working on the sustainable business transition.

The world is changing fast, people have never been busier and technology is exploding in uses and usage. That sets a whole new set of rules for humans to thrive and companies to compete. That’s what I work with every day and thats what I talk about at conferences all over the world. 

From Denver to Dubai, South Africa, Iceland, Mexico to my home in the Nordics I speak to people about what it takes to be succesful as a company and a person in today’s world where entrepreneurship has become synonym for succes. And how to do that with conscience, in a way that enables you to thrive as a human being.

Bio Images here http://ge.tt/8D014DF1?c

 
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TV and Books

I’ve written and spoken extensively about trends, innovation, startups, green business and technology, and have the honor of being frequently quoted in newspapers and international media.

I’m a regular panelist on TV business news show such as TV2 News’ Business Class’.

I’m a contributor to two books; Gurubogen, by Jonathan Løw, and Dear Female Founder by Lu Li.

When I used to have more time I was a regular panelist on Finans.dk’s business news Podcast ‘Bundlinjen’ and wrote a monthly newspaper column in Finans and Jyllandsposten on business trends and had my own channel om Forbes.com. I hope I’ll have time to do that again one day.

Currently, the best I can offer is stories and comments around my topics of expertise, and to connect journalists with other sources for their business stories.

News & Articles

Track record

 

My companies and positions of trust

  • Board member Klimaskovfonden - current

  • Board member Coop Invest - current

  • Board member Gyldendal A/S

  • Member of the Danish government’s advisory board for entrepreneurship 

  • Listed as a top 10 speaker in tech in Europe by tech.eu

  • Member of Det Grønne Iværksætterpanel, the danish government’s board for green entrepreneurship.

  • Regular panelist at TV2 News Business Class - current

  • On the Nordic100 list of Scandinavia’s 100 most influential people in tech for many consecutive years

  • Board director for Information AS, a national newspaper

  • Business angel for Atomico Venture Fund

  • Regular contributor to Forbes.com on leadership

  • Regular contributor to Danish national newspapers Finans.dk and Jyllandsposten on the topic of sustainable business and modern leadership

  • Founder and former Group CEO of flexible workspace company Mesh Community, which own and runs Matrikel1, Mesh in Olso and Digs in Trondheim. Every year 100,000 people visits our spaces meet with and learn from disruptive tech businesses. Currently a passive major shareholder.

  • Cofounder of Founders House, the first tech coworking space in the Nordics, and Matrikel1

  • Special advisor and former board director for Rockstart, a micro venture fund and one of Europe’s largest startup communities

  • Former board director for Markedsmodningsfonden

  • Frequent speaker at tech startup conferences such as TechCrunch Disrupt, TechBBQ, Mobile World Congress, WebbDagarna, Denver Startup Week 

  • Former board director for Voluntas, the meaningfulness company

  • Cofounder of Nordic Impact Hub, a physical space established to connect  entrepreneurs with impact investors in order to fuel the growth of sustainable businesses

  • Member of the advisory board for Nordic Council of Ministers on entrepreneurial development

  • Nominated Female Entrepreneur of The Year

  • Board director for Copenhagen School of Entrepreneurship

  • Board director for IT University of Denmark’s entrepreneurship unit

  • Contributor to a book on startup insider tips; Gurubogen by Jonathan Low

  • Cofounder of Nordic Cleantech Open

  • Nominated Ecosystem Hero of The Year 

  • Contributor to a book on gender equality by Lu Li

  • Board member Voluntas

  • Board director for Goodwings (sustainable travel)

  • Board director for several tech startups and advisor to several tech startup CEOs

  • Advisor to European Union on entrepreneurial ecosystem development

  • CEO and cofounder of mobile technology company Everplaces, one of the early tech startups in Europe

  • Jury member for dozens of startup competitions, such as Oslo Innovation Week, Lovie Awards and Webby Awards

  • Cofounder Triptale, software company sold to HTML24

  • Mentor in Seedcamp and Startup Bootcamp

  • Part of tech venture fund HackFwd 

  • Named one of the Top 100 women in tech in Europe

  • Winner of mobile innovation technology award at App Awards

  • Frequent speaker at corporate conferences and events on disruption, technology trends, entrepreneurship and ecosystems

 

Early background

Tine Thygesen grew up in Aalborg, in a regular middle class family. Her parents Randi Damgaard Thygesen and Jess Thygesen were both part of the then-startup Cater Frost, which over time became of one of Scandinavias largest catering companies. Today it’s called Dansk Cater/ Euro Cater and has a turnover of more than 8 billion DKK a year. Tine’s childhood was heavily influenced by the business talk her parents discussed every night at the dinner table, and by the tribe-like atmosphere of the company’s early days.

Her family comes from the countryside and agriculture near Mariager Fjord.

She later lived 10 years outside Denmark, in Italy, Switzerland, UK, New Zealand and Australia before she returned, 29 years old.

 
 

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