By bringing together people with different personalities and skill sets, I find strength to bring new ideas to fruition.
Tor Jakob Ramsøy was a Senior Partner at McKinsey & Co., the global management consulting firm, where he spent a lot of time discussing technology strategy with CEOs and other senior executives at major industrial companies in sectors such as energy and mining. Ramsøy realized that while the latest IoT and machine learning technologies from Silicon Valley were rapidly permeating adjacent verticals – such as retail, consumer and financial services – there were significant legacy barriers to adoption in heavy industries due to the nature of their physical assets and operations. He identified a massive opportunity to create a company that could bridge the gap in bringing IoT and machine learning into heavy industries.
What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?
I travel frequently to cover Arundo’s global terrain. If I’m in Oslo; Houston or Palo Alto, my days are spent meeting with current or potential customers. One habit that keeps me productive that is useful when traveling so much is that I aim to answer every email within 24 hours.
How do you bring ideas to life?
I surround myself with outstanding people. As a more conceptual and future-oriented thinker, I need someone in the room who forces me to be concrete. By bringing together people with different personalities and skill sets, I find strength to bring new ideas to fruition.
What’s one trend that excites you?
I think that the growing realization among industrial CEOs that IoT and machine learning is not a fad, but a fundamental technological shift that will transform companies and businesses. It is very exciting.
What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?
Never postpone anything. Whatever you want to happen, make it happen immediately.
What advice would you give your younger self?
To follow the flow and follow the passion.
Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.
I truly believe that everything is possible. As long as you haven’t tried it before, how can you say that it is impossible. I’ve never been one to believe that the glass is half empty. In fact, for me, I find it is almost always pouring over. This idea actually informs our values at Arundo—to stay optimistic and curious.
As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?
Just try harder. If you try something and it doesn’t pan out, there’s a lesson there either way. If you don’t put the bar extremely high and aim for the best and biggest, you’ll never deliver anything. If you do, you’ll be surprised at what you can achieve.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?
I am always optimistic and believe in people. If you have a positive view on what you are setting out to achieve and you surround yourself with people that give you energy, others will feel your positivity. Life is too short to be around people that think negatively. It’s okay to be realistic but when it comes to business, I don’t accept the idea that something can’t be done. If that’s the case, there’s an alternate solution, you just have to find it.
What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?
I forget failures. I mean, why should you dwell on them? I also don’t spend time on pain. Failure, hurt, fiasco, it’s all just a part of life. Things will always be complicated so why bother thinking about it? Just move on and try not to repeat.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
A Spotify-type company for 3D drawings that’s applicable for both consumer and industrial markets. For example, if you want to print a custom steering wheel, you need a drawing of a custom steering wheel. Essentially it would be a huge catalog of everything you’d ever want to print available for purchase.
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
A bottle of California Pinot Noir, purchased in Norway, that supported the American agricultural sector.
What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
Email and Google Docs are two items that help me be productive. As mentioned earlier, I try and respond to every email I receive within 24 hours.
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
“The Prince” by Machiavelli as it describes how people can be influenced.
What is your favorite quote?
“Everything is possible” – Unattributed mantra
Key learnings:
- There is a growing realization among industrial CEOs that IoT and machine learning is not a fad, but a fundamental technology shift that will transform companies and businesses.
- I truly believe that everything is possible. As long as you haven’t tried it before, how can you say that it is impossible?
- If you have a positive view on what you are setting out to achieve and you surround yourself with people that give you energy, others will feel your positivity. Life is too short to be around people that think negatively.
- Never postpone anything. Whatever you want to happen, make it happen immediately.
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Carlyn runs the day-to-day publishing operation here at ideamensch and interacts with our awesome customers and entrepreneurs. She is likely editing this with a cat on her lap.