Hello there, you look nice today.
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.
It’s been a long road
“Hun har stiftet tre virksomheder, rejst millioner i venturekapital, haft flere bestyrelsesposter og hilst på royale, rockstjerner og statsministre. Tine Thygesen rejste som 21-årig fra Aalborg og scorede et job hos en af Londons mest respekterede investeringsbanker, men hun valgte hurtigt at forlade en lovende karriere i Europas finanscentrum for i stedet at blive succesfuld iværksætter først i Australien og senere i Danmark”.
Sådan skriver Finansbarens Pernille Enggard der har lavet en podcast (listen here) hvor man kan følge med i hele min lange, hårde og spændende rejse.
Before I became an entrepreneur I worked in an old investment bank in London where I serendipitously 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.
Always with people: Founders House, Matrikel1, Startup Village and Mesh.
Ecosystems and communities drive more and more business because both employees and consumers seek purpose. Throughout my career I’ve been fortunate to build businesses care about purpose and communities.
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.
Bio
As an entrepreneur, business executive and board member Tine Thygesen is a somewhat unusual climate advocate, and it is exactly that combination of hard core business insights and compassion for the planet that makes her perspectives eye opening.
Tine Thygesen is a well-known entrepreneur, cofounder of three companies, including Mesh, one of Scandinavia's leading workspace companies. She has been the CEO of five companies and on the board of multiple companies and investment funds. She is listed among the top 100 women in tech in Europe. Tine is a popular speaker on changes to the business landscape on which she has spoken all over the world. In recent years, Tine has focussed on sustainable business.
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.
I’ve been a regular panelist on Finans.dk’s business news podcast ‘Bundlinjen’ and write a monthly newspaper column in Finans and Jyllandsposten on business trends. I’ve also had my own channel om Forbes.com.
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.