Friends, I am now in Sweden and I’m getting myself readjusted to my new (and former) home country. If you’re wondering what it is like moving across the world with two small children, in the middle of a pandemic, then I can simply say that I don’t recommend it. Avoid, if possible. I have kept my board positions and my advisory business, but I have also started as a contributing technology analyst for the Swedish […]
About eleven years ago, a few friends of mine and I started a music blog called Discobelle.net. It was a spin-off from what was originally a house music club, a radio show, and then eventually a Swedish house music blog. The .net-version was in English, and thus had the possibility of reaching a bigger audience. And it did. In fact, it was a part of launching a whole genre of electronic dance music. This was […]
This analysis was first published in SvD Näringsliv, in Swedish, on November 9th, 2020. This piece was translated from Swedish by Claude. Some phrasing may differ from a human translation. Polarizing. Accusatory. Seditious. The unfiltered outbursts on Twitter have long been Donald Trump’s main channel of communication. The question for Twitter going forward is not only how to deal with Trump after he loses power – but also the actors who engage in disinformation. Tech companies […]
This analysis was first published in SvD Näringsliv, in Swedish, on October 29th, 2020. This piece was translated from Swedish by Claude. Some phrasing may differ from a human translation. Unintentionally funny translations and poorly rounded prices. But those who base their conclusions on linguistic details have not only misunderstood what type of creature that has landed among the Swedish e-commerce players. They have also underestimated Amazon. “Men’s luggage compartment” instead of boxer shorts. “Waist […]
This analysis was first published in SvD Näringsliv, in Swedish, on October 27th, 2020. This piece was translated from Swedish by Claude. Some phrasing may differ from a human translation. He that seeks – he shall find, with the help of Google. That is why the company is getting sued in what has been called a historic case in the United States. What is striking, however, is everything that the lawsuit does not focus on […]
I’m happy to announce that starting today I will be a contributing tech analyst to Svenska Dagbladet, a Swedish daily newspaper. Their business section, Näringsliv, is going through a transformation where they focus more on companies that you use, rather than own or work for. This is a change that I wanted to contribute to. Business journalism is ripe for a new take. I have previously been a contributing analyst to SVT, Swedish National Television, […]
You get known for what you have done; rarely for what you would like to do. This is a problem because it captures people in an incorrect assumption: that they would like to do – and would be best at – continuing to do exactly what they did before. This is often wrong. Expertise and capability is in the eye of the beholder, so this is a tricky thing to adjust. But many years ago […]
Friends, After a little more than eight years in San Francisco, I have moved back to Europe. I’m going to be living in Malmö, Sweden, from now on. I have lived there once before, about 12 years ago. But I was a different person then, and Malmö was a different place. I’m looking forward to reacquainting myself. The last few months have been strange for everyone. My writing has naturally taken a backseat. I hope […]
Letting everyone have the same experience sounds good and fair. In reality, this way of designing excludes people that are different, or have different circumstances. Allowing experiences to be asymmetric can be a way of sharing without having to be identical. When I worked in media research many years ago, a common consumer question was “What kind of TV do you watch?“. The answer was almost always “documentaries“. You could then place an ethnographer in […]
In the spring of 2012, I moved to San Francisco to start the US office for Toca Boca. My wife, Miriam, followed shortly thereafter and we sent ten boxes of stuff with UPS. We didn’t know how long we would stay and took one year at a time. A few weeks ago, I moved back to Sweden. To Malmö, next to Copenhagen, more specifically. A little more than eight years after I left. This time […]
