EXPresso

How do you build a Norwegian outerwear brand for some of the world’s most demanding customers?

UBR began with three jacket styles and ten retailers in Norway. Founder Dag Even Tresselt brought years of
experience from Helly Hansen and a clear idea. Business professionals needed outerwear that offered real
technical performance without looking like sportswear.

The beginnings were anything but glamorous. The small team packed jackets at home, travelled from retailer
to retailer and invested years in getting the product and distribution right. Today, UBR is a profitable,
internationally distributed premium brand, recognised for its understated design and technical quality.

In this episode we explore the decision to start UBR, the demands of developing premium products, the trade-offs behind building a brand slowly, the challenges of international
expansion and what comes next. The US and New York offer an especially interesting lens on the opportunity
ahead.

Watch, listen and subscribe to EXPresso for more conversations with founders and leaders building internationally

Martin Ødegaard, Casper Ruud og Mats Zuccarello har alle investert i et norsk helseteknologiselskap som satser på noe de fleste fortsatt vet relativt lite om: behandling med rødt og nær-infrarødt lys.

Selskapet heter Recharge Health, og har nå passert 50 000 solgte enheter globalt. I denne episoden møter jeg Bjørn Ekeberg, CEO og medgründer, for en samtale om reisen bak selskapet, vitenskapen rundt teknologien og ambisjonene om å bygge en internasjonal virksomhet fra Norge.

Bjørn har en langt mer uvanlig bakgrunn enn de fleste teknologigründere. Han har doktorgrad fra University of Victoria med arbeid innen vitenskapsfilosofi og kosmologi, har utgitt boken Metaphysical Experiments: Physics and the Invention of the Universe og jobbet som manusforfatter på TV-seriene Valkyrien og Grenseland.

I 2019 ble han involvert i Recharge, og siden den gang har selskapet opplevd både crowdfunding, pandemi, kapitalutfordringer og sterk internasjonal vekst. I 2023 tok han over som CEO.

Vi snakker om rødlysterapi og photobiomodulation, hva forskningen faktisk kan fortelle oss, hvorfor teknologien fortsatt møter skepsis, og hvordan man bygger et selskap i et marked med både store muligheter og mange udokumenterte påstander.

Vi kommer også inn på toppidretten, internasjonal skalering og hva som skjer videre når Recharge utvikler teknologi som kombinerer lysbehandling, data og mer personaliserte løsninger. Selskapet har nylig fått 15,9 millioner kroner fra Forskningsrådet til videre forskning på feltet.

I 2018 sluttet Fredrik Haga og Mats Olsen i jobbene sine i Schibsted for å starte Dune. De hadde lite penger, men forstod tidlig at de måtte ut av Norge for å finne kundene. I samtalen forteller Fredrik hvordan de prioriterte reiser til Berlin og San Francisco, fikk sin første kunde og møtte rundt 100 investoravslag mens de forsøkte å holde selskapet i live.

Et avgjørende øyeblikk var beslutningen om å gjøre produktet åpent. De gikk bort fra en modell med lukkede dashboards og satset på at flere skulle kunne bruke og analysere data fra blockchain. Noen år senere ble Dune verdsatt til over én milliard dollar i en finansieringsrunde i 2022.

Vi snakker om hva Fredrik lærte av å bygge selskap i et marked nesten ingen trodde på, hvordan investorinteressen plutselig snudde, hvorfor han mener norske gründere bør tenke internasjonalt fra starten, og hva som skiller det amerikanske markedet fra Europa.

Fredrik forklarer også hva Dune faktisk gjør, hvordan blockchain kan brukes i finans, og hvorfor han er kritisk til deler av norsk og europeisk gründerpolitikk.

Mot slutten diskuterer vi forholdet mellom velferd, skatt og verdiskaping, kulturen han og Mats har bygget i Dune, og hvordan han håndterer et travelt liv som gründer og småbarnsfar.

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Stian Reinhartsen er gründer, investor og programleder for Impressions.

I episode #139 snakker vi om reisen fra å være tidlig ute med sosiale medier til å bygge Reinhartsen Media sammen med broren Nicolay, og hvordan Stians tankesett gradvis har beveget seg fra tjenestebusiness til mer eierskap, equity, eiendom og investeringer.

En viktig del av reisen gikk gjennom Matoma. Det startet med at Stian tok kontakt og tilbød seg å hjelpe med sosiale medier, og utviklet seg etter hvert til flere år som en del av teamet og rollen som turnémanager. Det ble over 700 konserter på litt over tre år, Coachella og samarbeid i et internasjonalt musikkmiljø med noen av verdens største artister. Vi snakker om hva han lærte av å være så tett på en ekstrem vekstreise, og hvordan digitale plattformer som SoundCloud gjorde det mulig for norske artister å bygge globale karrierer på en helt ny måte.

Et viktig vendepunkt kom etter Covid. Reinhartsen Media mistet nesten alle kundene over natten, og senere fikk selskapet interesse fra en svensk kjøper. Verdsettelsen ble en realitetsorientering etter flere år med hardt arbeid og fikk Stian og Nicolay til å tenke annerledes rundt hva slags verdier de ønsket å bygge.

Vi snakker om hvorfor de begynte å søke mer eksponering mot oppsiden de selv var med på å skape, hvordan kompetanse på distribusjon og personlige merkevarer kan brukes til å bygge selskaper, og hvordan dette blant annet har ført dem videre inn i eiendom og investeringer.

Stian deler også hva han har lært etter 300+ samtaler på Impressions, hvilke egenskaper han ser hos de beste founderne, hvorfor han mener Norge trenger flere synlige rollemodeller, forskjellene mellom norsk og amerikansk ambisjonsnivå, hvorfor founders bør ta personlig merkevare mer på alvor, og hvordan AI endrer verdien av distribusjon.

Til slutt snakker vi om 10-årsambisjonen hans: å bygge Impressions videre samtidig som Reinhartsen utvikles mot et større finansielt og investeringsmessig miljø.

Magnus Grimeland grew up in Holm outside Sande, Norway, in a community he remembers as having around 50 to 70 people.

At 16, he left Norway for UWC Atlantic College in Wales. He later studied at Harvard, served in the Norwegian Special Forces, worked at McKinsey, helped build Zalora and Global Fashion Group in Asia, and eventually founded Antler.

Today, Antler receives around 160,000 founder applications a year and backs hundreds of new companies globally.

In this conversation, we talk about why Magnus believes AI is the biggest platform shift he has experienced, why technology itself is becoming less of a moat, and why distribution increasingly matters.

We also go into what Antler looks for in founders before the numbers exist, the importance of spike, drive and grit, why European founders often sell too early, Norway’s tax debate, Singapore, mental resilience, Janteloven, success and purpose.

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Sondre Kasin started working in restaurants at around 15 years old, washing dishes at a local restaurant in Kongsberg, Norway.

He later studied political science while continuing to work in hospitality on the side. Eventually, what had started as a part-time job became the career.

In 2017, Sondre moved to New York. During the interview process for one of his first major opportunities, he was challenged to create a cocktail menu using Korean ingredients he barely knew. Without a bar to work from, he bought ingredients, picked up basic equipment and started experimenting from his apartment.

Today, Sondre is Director of Bars at Gracious Hospitality Management, working across an organization with concepts in New York, Miami, Singapore and Las Vegas.

We talk about why Sondre left Norway, adapting to New York, taking ownership before anyone asks you to, the difference between confidence and being loud, direct feedback, surrounding yourself with people who compensate for your weaknesses, changing drinking habits and why some people seem to accumulate more trust and opportunity over time.

Sondre also explains why patience matters more than most people think, why being present can become a competitive advantage, and why the people around you may matter as much as talent itself.

A conversation about hospitality, but even more about craft, responsibility, patience and building a career one step at a time.

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Andy Hamer first came to the United States as a teenager, spending a year on Long Island and taking the train into New York whenever he could. Years later, he returned and built his life here around investing, capital allocation and working with founders.

Today, Andy is the Founder and Managing Partner of Beira Mar Capital.

This conversation ended up going well beyond investing.

We talk about the difference Andy sees between the American and European attitudes toward risk and failure; why Germany has struggled to translate its industrial and engineering heritage into the next generation of globally dominant companies; and what countries such as Singapore and Israel can teach larger economies about focus, incentives and building around what they can become world-class at.

We also bring the conversation back to the individual investor.

Andy explains why a long time horizon can itself become an advantage, why people should focus on areas they genuinely understand, how everyday experiences can lead to interesting investment ideas, and why finding a great company is not enough if you pay the wrong price.

And as investing, prediction markets, sports betting and speculation increasingly live on the same phone, we get into an important distinction: when are you actually investing - and when are you simply gambling?

We also talk about New York, entrepreneurship, Tesla, building an investment edge and why incentives matter whether you are allocating capital inside a company, a portfolio or an entire country.

You can find Andy on

https://www.andy-hamer.com/

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Kristin Harila is one of the world’s most accomplished high-altitude mountaineers.

In May, she reached the summit of Mount Everest for the fourth time - this time without supplemental oxygen. She has now completed 31 summits above 8,000 metres, and in 2023, together with Tenjen Lama Sherpa, climbed all 14 of the world’s 8,000-metre peaks in just 92 days.

In this episode, we talk about:

• What it actually takes to climb Everest without supplemental oxygen
• Why reaching the summit is only half the challenge
• The preparation, logistics and mindset behind climbing 14 peaks in 92 days
• Breaking overwhelming goals down into one mountain, one camp and one step at a time
• Why Kristin returned and started the entire record attempt again after completing 12 of the 14 peaks in 2022
• Her friendship and partnership with Tenjen Lama Sherpa
• Losing Lama and the impact it has had on her life
• Risk, fear and how she remains calm in life-or-death situations
• Commercial expeditions, overcrowding and the future of Mount Everest
• The responsibility climbers and expedition companies have toward the Sherpa community
• Being a woman in a male-dominated industry and the challenges of securing sponsorship
• Growing up on a farm in northern Norway and learning independence from an early age
• Why she has decided that her long 8,000-metre expeditions are now over
• What comes next after reaching some of the highest places on Earth

This is a conversation about much more than mountains. It is about self-belief, preparation, grief, responsibility and the price of pursuing something most people believe is impossible.

Karl Liapunov joins EXPresso for a conversation about growing up between the US and Norway, taking a one-way ticket to Oslo, working with Nordic founders through StartupLab, and launching Starting Cold - a new video series focused on Nordic founders, operators, athletes and outliers building at an international level.

Karl Liapunov grew up in the US with a strong Norwegian connection, Norwegian spoken at home, and summers spent in Norway. After starting his career in investment banking in Houston, he decided to leave the safe path behind, buy a one-way ticket to Oslo, and build a new chapter in Norway.

That decision eventually led him to StartupLab, where he spent several years working closely with Norwegian and Nordic founders, particularly around energy, climate tech, internationalization and the bridge between the Nordics and global markets.

Now Karl is based in New York and has launched Starting Cold — a new video series and platform built around Nordic founders, operators, athletes and outliers who are building at an international level.

In this episode, we talk about what it means to grow up between two cultures, the difference between Norway and the US, why Norway is an incredible place to come from but sometimes a difficult place to stand out, and why Nordic companies often become very good at building but not always as good at telling the world what they have built.

We also get into cold outreach, taking risk, moving countries without a perfect plan, StartupLab, energy and climate tech, media, venture, and why storytelling may become one of the most important tools for the next generation of Nordic founders.

Topics we cover:

• ​Growing up between the US and Norway
• ​Norwegian identity, language and culture from the outside
• ​The difference between American and Norwegian ambition
• ​Leaving investment banking and moving to Oslo without a clear plan
• ​Building a network from scratch in a new country
• ​StartupLab and the Norwegian startup ecosystem
• ​Energy, climate tech and Norway’s international advantage
• ​Why Nordic founders need stronger global storytelling
• ​The role of media in venture, fundraising and ecosystem-building
• ​Starting Cold and Karl’s mission to highlight Nordic outliers
• ​Why cold outreach can change the direction of your life
• ​What Norway can learn from the US — and what it should not copy

Song credit via riverside.fm

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Javad Mushtaq is back on EXPresso for the third time.

In our earlier conversations, we spoke about investments, impact, diversity, entrepreneurship and emerging markets. Since then, Javad has continued his journey internationally through MIT, Harvard, AI, technology, investments and work at the intersection of capital, society and impact.

In this episode, we meet in New York for an honest conversation about Norway, the US, ambition and what it takes to build bigger from a small country.

We talk about:

• Why Norway has the talent, but often lacks the ambition and risk tolerance
• The difference between Norway and the US when it comes to capital, networks, scale and belief
• Janteloven, storytelling and why Norwegians need to become better at talking about their wins
• Why Norwegian founders should think globally from day one
• AI as a fundamental technological shift, not just a hype cycle
• What responsible AI means when technology has the potential to impact billions of people
• Outsider energy, imposter syndrome and social mobility
• How Javad went from almost dropping out of high school to MIT and Harvard
• Why failure, learning and resilience need to become a bigger part of Norwegian founder culture
• Norway’s role in the world, Norwegian identity in the US and the excitement around Norway being back in the World Cup for the first time in 28 years

This is a conversation about technology, capital, identity, impact and why Norway needs to think bigger.

You can find Javad on LinkedIn below:

LinkedIn