SaaS Success & Failure: Lessons from a $150M Exit & a Failed Startup – with Hampus Jakobsson [192]

SaaS Success & Failure: Lessons from a $150M Exit & a Failed Startup

Hampus Jakobsson is a serial entrepreneur, angel investor and venture capitalist.

He's currently a venture partner at BlueYard Capital, a VC firm based in Europe and an angel who's invested in over 80 companies.

In 2002, Hampus co-founded TAT a company that developed and licensed mobile user interface software to companies such as Motorola, Samsung and Nokia. TAT was acquired by Blackberry in 2010 for $150 million.

In 2012, Hampus co-founded Brisk, a SaaS product designed to make sales teams more productive. That startup failed and was folded 4 years later in 2016.

In this interview we talk about how Hampus and his co-founders built TAT and sold it 8 years later for $150 million. We also discuss the lessons Hampus learned from the failure of Brisk and what he wishes he'd done differently.

And we talk about life as an angel investor and VC. And Hampus shares what types of companies and founders he likes to invest in.

I really enjoyed my conversation with Hampus and I hope you enjoy listening to this interview.

Book Recommendation

• “The Mom Test: How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you” by Rob Fitzpatrick
• “Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It” by Chris Voss and Tahl Raz
• “Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead” by  Brené Brown
• “Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment” by Robert Wright
• “How to Be a Stoic: Using Ancient Philosophy to Live a Modern Life” by Massimo Pigliucci
• “A Little Life” by Hanya Yanagihara
• “The Golem and the Jinni” by  Helene Wecker
• “The Golden Compass” by Philip Pullman
• “The Quantum Thief” by Hannu Rajaniemi

The Show Notes

• BlueYard Capital
• Lifex Ventures
• Minut
• Aula
• Nordic Makers
• Adobe
• Dropbox
• Hootsuite
• Marketo
• Salesforce
• Hampus's Blog
• Hampus on LinkedIn
• Hampus on Twitter
• Omer on Twitter