20 VC: Morten Lund on Skype, Bankruptcy, Fintech and Why "Banks Are Full Of Lots Of Stupid People Doing Nothing"

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The Twenty Minute VC

Finance, Venturecapital, Tech News, News, Siliconvalley, Technology, Investing, Startups, Business

4.4 • 637 Ratings

🗓️ 4 January 2016

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Morten Lund, best know for his seed investment in Skype, he has also founded and co-invested in more than 100 startups including the likes of Airhelp who you might recognize as we interviewed their CEO Nicolas Michaelsen in episode check 32, as well as Bullguard, Maxthon and many more. In today’s incredible interview we talk about the story behind his skype investment, how he went from $150m to bankruptcy moving to the present both with his work with Coders Trust helping coders in developing countries to improve their lives to his rocketship journey with one of the world’s most exciting fintech companies in Tradeshift, who have raised a total of over $200m. If you love today's episode, simply click here and share the love!

A special thank you to Mattermark for providing all the data displayed in today's show and you can find out more about Mattermark here!

In Today's Episode You Will Learn:

1.) How Morten got into the technology industry and the world of investing?

2.) How did Morten's investment in Skype come about? How did Morten deal with the bankruptcy and how it changed him as a person?

3.) How does Morten view the current state of European fintech? Where are the significant market opportunities that are yet to be exploited?

4.) Following Morten bankruptcy, he only works with "really cool people". So what makes Morten like someone and believe in them?

5.) How did TradeShift come about from Morten's basement? What was the a-ha moment? What has driven the immense success with over $200m invested? What is the future for the company and the future of money?

6.) Looking forward, what is Morten's main goal and aspiration and how does he plan on attaining it?

Items Mentioned In Today's Episode:

Morten's Fave Book: Shantaram

Morten's Fave Blog or Newsletter: The Economist

Morten's Most Recent Investment: Hippocorn

As always you can follow The Twenty Minute VC, Harry and Morten on Twitter here!

If you would like to see a more colourful side to Harry with many a mojito session, you can follow him on Instagram here!

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	You are listening to the 20 minute VC with your host Harry Stebbings and once again a very happy
0:04.9	new year to all of you and what a lineup of shows do we have coming for you this new year in the
0:10.0	likes of Ariel Zuckerberg, Tim Draper, Gil Penchina and many more and joining me today is a legend of
0:17.2	the industry and a personal hero of mine. I don't think anybody embodies persistence and
0:22.1	determination more, and his brutal honesty is just fantastic. It is, of course, Mortonland,
0:28.0	best known for his seed investment in Skype, and he's also founded and co-invested in more than
0:33.1	100 startups, including the likes of Air Help, who you might recognize as we interviewed their
0:38.7	CEO, Nicholas Michelson, in episode 32. Check that out if you haven't listened, as well as
0:44.5	Bullgard, Max Thorn, and many more. In today's incredible interview with Morton, we talk about the
0:50.3	story behind his Skype investment, how he went from 150 million to bankruptcy,
0:55.6	moving to the present, both with his work with Coda's trust, helping coders in developing
1:00.5	countries to improve their lives, to his rocket ship journey with one of the world's most
1:04.9	exciting fintech companies in trade shift, who at last funding raised an astonishing 75 million. Huge congratulations to them for that.
1:14.0	Also, do not forget to check out the 20-minute VC's two-minute takeaway from today's episode,
1:19.6	which summarises the key points and theses highlighted by Morton. And you can find that on the 20-minute
1:25.6	VC.com, all in letters letters and on my medium page under
1:29.4	harry stebbings and if you love the show today please do click the clicks tweet link in the show
1:34.3	notes on the and on the site and that just shares the love for the 20 minute VC which we are so
1:40.1	grateful to you for i'd also like to say a huge thank you to Mattermark for providing all the
1:44.6	data and analysis for today's show with Morton. And if you're looking for a New Year's resolution,
1:49.4	join me with mine in reading every article on Mattermark daily every day. But now it's time for me
1:55.6	to hand over the reins to the legendary Morton Lund. Three, two, one, zero.
	...

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