Writings & reflections
Reading has always been part of my rhythm — and writing became the way I made sense of things when I stepped into startup life. I started jotting down thoughts in parallel with building, just trying to make sense of the messiness that comes with it.
Then came failure — and writing became even more important. A way to reflect, process, and figure out what actually matters.
I write to be honest — about leadership, growth, setbacks, and what it really feels like to build something from scratch.
This is where I share those thoughts. For founders, for leaders, or for anyone navigating the in-between.
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An open letter to my fellow professionals with an immigrant background
I wanted to share some tips and guidelines that have helped me as an immigrant in Norway and hopefully will be useful for others.
I am aware that I am addressing a relatively small and diverse group. Some of you may have arrived in Norway only recently while others have been here for a very long time. Maybe you are frustrated with your stay in Norway or maybe you have easily slid into a comfortable living here. My purpose is not to judge or discredit your personal experiences, but rather share principles and practices that have served me well through nearly 30 years in Norway.
Do female entrepreneurs seeking venture funding get discriminated in Norway?
In Norway, however, only 2 % of all venture funding goes to companies founded by women, as opposed to 80 % to companies with male founders. The remaining 18 per cent goes to companies where at least one of the entrepreneurs is women. These figures are alarming and raise many questions. One may wonder why so few of scale-up companies are founded by women and if then, supported by venture funding.
Kritisk til “kvinnekapital”: Et nei fra en investor trenger ikke handle om kjønn
Ble det stilt strengere krav til meg enn mine mannlige kolleger da jeg søkte finansiering hos eksterne investorer, spør artikkelforfatteren. Innlegg skrevet av Anjali Bhatnagar, Dr.scient., gründer, tidligere forsker samt direktør for produkt- og prosjektutvikling i Telenor, blant flere lederstillinger.
En fremtidig økonomisk vekst i Norge forutsetter at flere smarte mennesker etablerer innovative bedrifter og næringer — og får gode vekstvilkår for disse.
Fashion rental platforms: 3 remedies to improve the chances of survival
Customers seem to be steadily approaching more sustainable fashion consumption alternatives like resale and rentals. Nevertheless, I believe that businesses providing sustainable fashion alternatives will struggle to become financially sustainable, because of three main reasons: they are in direct competition with an already struggling retail industry; resale and rental businesses have, by definition, low financial margins, and both demand high operational costs.
3 reasons why startups within online resale- and rental fashion platforms will struggle
The message that the fashion industry is the second most polluting industry globally finally seems to be catching up with the mass market in the western world. Resale is growing 21 times faster than retail and is expected to bypass fast fashion within the next decade.
However, the challenge in making secondhand and rentals a mass-market phenomenon is not only about convincing consumers. The struggle also lies in finding financially sustainable and scalable business- and supply models that can provide consumers with what they expect from online resale and rental shopping: easy access to quality secondhand clothing for a price they deem reasonable.
Ferske investorer kan bli utnyttet på kynisk vis
Kvinner står bak kun én prosent av alle investeringer i gründerselskaper. Andelen burde vært høyere. Derfor var jeg positiv da klesutleietjenesten Fjong i fjor satte i gang en folkefinansieringskampanje rettet mot kvinner. De lyktes med å få mer enn 100 kvinner til å registrere seg som investorer, fikk mye oppmerksomhet fra mediene, en hel del nye ambassadører og, viktigst av alt, frisk kapital for å kunne iverksette sine vekstplaner.