The Month in Review — September 2025

It might very well be that summer at university is a ‘dead period’, where nothing happens. But I dare say that we’re now back and firing on all cylinders — maybe at times even a bit too much, if I take a look at my swamped calendar and all the different things, I am involved in. But doing all of this is my passion AND (luckily) my profession, so all is cool with me, and I am just super excited about all the great things, we have got going.

There are several projects right now that take up a lot of my time.

First and foremost, we’re in the middle of kicking off our team formation project, where we will spend the next couple of years coming up with a model for how we can consistently build stellar startup teams coming out of DTU.

I am very involved in this, and I am right now in the process of laying the first tracks together with professor Carina Lomberg from DTU Entrepreneurship. It is super exciting work, but it is also evident that our ambitions for a great outcome create complexity from the offset. We will have to find ways navigating this in order to get to the great outcome, we’re shooting for.

I am 100% confident that we and all the other super capable and experienced stakeholders involved will be able to do this in a great team effort, but it will require a super strong focus and effort. But I love it when the stakes are high, so seen from my chair all is good.

Apart from this critically important project we kickstarted our Investor Readiness meetings in September, a bit behind schedule. In this pilot program, we have invited seasoned investors to mentor our more mature teams on what they need to know and prepare for, before they go out and start fundraising for their startups real.

I have had the first meetings now with all the teams, I am responsible for, and their investor mentors, and I must say I am blown away by the commitment to the process. Not only from the teams, where I would fully expect absolute commitment, but especially from the participating investors.

They have grasped the opportunity fully and are really delivering back to the teams above and beyond what I had even in my wildest dreams expected. There is gold, no pun intended, in almost every sentence that comes out, and teams are listening, taking notes and defining action points for themselves like crazy. I am so thrilled! And really, REALLY grateful for all the investors who have stepped up and taken time out to help the teams succeed with the monumental task that fundraising is and always will be.

Finally, when it comes to big projects I am also involved in a couple of work packages for the new innovation strategy being developed for DTU. It is in itself a super interesting process, and it provides a lot of food for thought and inspiration to meet with peers from other parts of the university to brainstorm, analyze and discuss opportunities and ideas for actions. You really do learn an immense lot from just sitting in and listening to the wealth of expertise from others, and it also feels good to be able to chip in yourself every once in a while.

On top of all this, I still of course have all my startup cases, I work with. We’re coming into home stretch for the year, and I am particularly focused on the teams that are getting to the point, where they are considering incorporating. I am having conversations and building simple tools to help them dot the i’s and cross the final t’s, so they can get over the line and really start working to make a positive impact on society.

In September, one of my teams — ERLEtek — crossed the start line for their new life as a startup. Huge congratulations to Pablo Alberdi Pagola and the rest of the team for getting so far. Pablo is and has always been an immense joy to work with, and on top of that, he is one of the best ambassadors for researchers, who are chosen a career path in entrepreneurship. I look very much forward to following the journey for them going forward.

It is super exciting times for all the teams looking to do what ERLEtek just managed to do, and for me, the backup singer with the tambourine as I like to think of myself, trying to guide them along and help them take the plunge into the real world outside of university. When I look at it, I think things are progressing well, and I am hopeful that come the end of the year, we will all be looking back and say it has been another good one, when it comes to spinning out great research into promising startups.

Other projects

My work at DTU Skylab takes up so much of my time that there still really isn’t any time to do anything else. And for the things, I am still involved with, I am also considering what the future holds for me and my involvement.

I have been a member of VL92 of the Danish Management Society for more than 10 years know, and eventhough I know the members quite well and look forward to our meetings, there is a voice inside of me asking if it is time to maybe consider a change? Just to shuffle the cards and get some new inspiration?

I haven’t made a decision yet, but I am toying with the idea.

The same goes with my position in the school board of Skovlunde Sko. I am up for reelection in the spring of 2026, and I am seriously considering calling it quits. Over the last couple of years we have been reviewing all of our guiding principles — a key component of the board work — and going forward I am finding it harder to see what value I could bring to the board.

One thing is for certain: I don’t want to be the guy just clinging to his seat. I have seen others do that, and it’s never pretty, often turns downright ugly and brings close to zero value.

So maybe it’s just time to call it quits on that? Lots of things to think about.

…This and that

At the tail end of September, Christina and I went for a very nice weekend at Heart of Nature. And let me just say it: It’s highly recommended but be prepared to pay for it:

Beautiful surroundings in the middle of national park Skjoldungernes Land, birds and animals flocking around, luxurious surroundings and complete privacy. Super nice for a getaway and an opportunity to just wind down, relax and breathe the fresh clean air.

Meanwhile my mum was looking after the kids, and they took her — not the other way around — to the National Aquarium Denmark (Den Blå Planet) and some shopping at Frederiksberg. It is so cool that they have now reached an age where they are able to do more and more on their own, and before we know it, they will have flown the nest.

The Monday after, I had taken a day off to spend with my mum looking at some of the tourist sights of Copenhagen that the rest of the family is not so keen on — and generally just to hang out and spend time together. It was a super great day with visits to Assistent Cemetary looking for celeb graves, the Danish Museum of War and a canal tour. A really great day that I am so happy, we decided to do together. I hope for many more in the future.

Speaking of spending quality time with family, Christina and I decided to invite the kids on a week long autumn break to London in mid-October. So soon we will be heading out again to experience new things, have fun and just hang out. Cherishing every moment of it, I am sure.

I can’t wait.