The Mindset of A Serial Entrepreneur

He founded his first company 20 years ago and now considers himself to be a serial entrepreneur. He lives in Norway with his wife and adopted children and he enjoys solving complex problems and working with brilliant people to create unicorn startup companies capable of international success. Who is this brilliant person you may ask? None other than H?vard Lillebo , someone who continues to blaze trails and challenge the status quo of what it means to be an entrepreneur in the truest sense of the word. He has interests in robotics, artificial intelligence, antimatter, and nanotechnology. His interest in entrepreneurship came at an early age. His father was also an entrepreneur so Havard naturally gravitated toward this path. He describes being fed with an entrepreneurial mindset at an early age and the attitude that nothing is impossible.

Havard's first company was an IT company that worked in the online advertising space. He was fortunate enough to land ebay as the company's first customer which is an incredible achievement. Undoubtedly the success he must have felt and experienced by having such a large customer as ebay must have been exhilarating. However, a negative article was written about his father shortly after in a newspaper and the investors pulled their funding from his company. The company was too reliant on pulling money in and its burn rate was too high, leaving them destitute. Imagine being in his shoes at this time and how he and his partners felt, having it all one moment and then losing it all the next, for no fault of their own. Some may have taken this lesson as a failure and stopped entrepreneurship altogether but he persevered and kept going on his path. It is common for entrepreneurs to face criticism from naysayers when they begin their journey and even when they begin to experience success. There will always be people like this that want to pull you down but Havard describes one of the most important things you can do as an entrepreneur is to design a supportive ecosystem around you that focuses on constructive criticism by people who are genuine, experienced, knowledgeable, and genuine.

"How do you view failure? What is failure? How do you define that? For me, failure is actually failing to learn from a given situation." -Havard Lillebo

One of the simplest ways you can succeed as an entrepreneur is to validate biases and test as quickly in the beginning as you can at the inception of your business. When you pitch there will be questions, it is important to have respect for the questions that are being asked about your product or service because there could be potential weaknesses or blind spots within your model that you may not realize exist otherwise. This is another key to a strong entrepreneurial mindset, the ability to leave your ego at the door and accept feedback. Personally, I learned this lesson the hard way when I began my entrepreneurship journey. You assume that you know everything and it is common to refuse help and guidance but nothing can be farther from the truth. As you pitch you have to remember that you are trying to convince others why your idea is worthy but are you in fact convinced of its worthiness? Working on the fundamentals and identifying the shortfalls early can prevent many shortcomings and issues down the road.

Havard is the CEO and Founder of Watbots but as of October 13, 2022 he has decided to step down from his CEO position so that the company can step up the game - and he can work more with what he truly loves which is working with brilliant people to solve big problems. He still loves Watbots, and will still be a Founder and part of the team. He is also the Founder of Nanize, and LazeraH and the Co-Founder of Asistobe and Drive365. His goal is to use his LinkedIn platform to share his experiences and pay-it-forward in an effort to help other entrepreneurs on their road to success. He is someone that is genuinely interested in helping others succeed and wants to make the world a better place for all. When I asked him if he wanted to promote his products or businesses in this newsletter he said he had no interest in selling anything, he just simply wants to help others and give back. Havard is truly one of those people you meet with that believes in people over profit and lives his life this way on a daily basis. I appreciate his sincere personality, willingness to help others, and being so giving of his time. On LinkedIn, you can meet wonderful people from all over the world doing brilliant things and at any moment you could be one connection or one opportunity away from a completely different life. Take the time to get to know the people you are connected with and hear their stories, you may be surprised at what you can learn and how you can grow in the process.

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