It's a bit more than one year ago I left JUST EAT, so it's time to reflect on how things have panned out in the next phase of my startup life. I don't want to share everything here (a bit of privacy, thanks), but a few relevant things are worth noting - a rundown in numbers:

• ∞: I have met a LOT of great people the last 12 months. JUST EAT had a big concentration of talented and energetic people, and I don't want to change beingin that kind of environment , but now it is instead spread out over several smaller projects and organizations. That changes the dynamic, but it is as educating and thrilling as ever.
• 1: Co-founded a company with the vision to change the way communication and collaboration happen in small and medium sized construction companies, that is my new "baby"
• 3+1: Gotten involved as partner in three exciting startups (beauty market place, workflow management for elderly care/platform for welfare technology and workflow management for churches) and also as chairman of a bigger fashion e-commerce company.
• 3: Done 3 angel investments in travel, fashion e-commerce and a market place for entrepreneurs and angel/seed investors.
• 4: Run four funding rounds, i.e. one angel round, one seed round, one series B and one private placement.
• 14,000,000: The approximate total funding (in EUR) that was raised in the above four mentioned funding rounds.
• 50: The approximate number of projects I have looked at. A lot of them deserved to be funded, but not all for me.

These numbers are only some of the data points, and don't paint the whole picture of my new journey, but it does say something about the route towards building great, tech based companies in another capacity than CEO. It's still early days, and no one knows how much of this that will work (other than for sure some of it will not), but I'm confident there is lots of substance in these companies. Lots of great personalities for sure -;) It is very different being a chairman/partner than a CEO, e.g. it is no doubt much tougher being the CEO than being in my current shoes. But it's not all fun and creative thinking to fulfill the role I have now, it also has it's share of frustration, doubt and risk. But the point is, that without proper involvement it gets too fluffy, and not at all satisfactory for me personally. If you want the fun and joy, you need to take a bit of pain as well. And what have I learned - a lot of interesting details of how very specific industries and products work, but most importantly I have seen again-and-again that talent & energy is what makes all the difference when building companies. Thanks to all those, that helped make the last 12 months exciting!

(nice picture from Norway to encourage an entrepreneurial spirit)