Brain supplements Executive Day 2015

On Thursday, November 5, Generic Mobile invited some of its customers and partners to an inspiring seminar day at Stockholmsmässan. Speakers included Apple founder Steve Wozniak, Norwegian hotel king Petter Stordalen, Sweden's former finance minister Anders Borg, British leadership expert Simon Sinek and Lena Apler, founder and chairman of Collector, who earlier this year was named Female Entrepreneur of the Year by Veckans Affärer. Generic Mobile's guests came from SOS Alarm, Aurora Innovation and Telenor.

It was an inspiring day with new impressions, knowledge and insights conveyed by some of the world's leading speakers in leadership, finance and business. "Brain supplements" is the name of four seminars a year organized by Bestseller PR. For this year's Executive Day, Generic Mobile decided not only to participate itself but also to invite customers and partners. In addition to the lectures, guests were treated to lunch in the VIP dining room, a signed book by Simon Sinek, one of the world's most sought-after lecturers, and a final mingle and bubbly.

THE STORY OF APPLE
Steve Wozniak told us in an interview how he started Apple in 1976 with Steve Jobs and built it into the world's second largest company by profits. At the heart of the inventor "The Woz" story is how to take advantage of innovations and the latest technologies to become a successful business leader.

START BY ASKING WHY
Simon Sinek, British human behavior researcher and author of the best-selling book 'Start With Why', shared his model of inspirational leadership and why some teams succeed and others don't. He painted a world where almost everyone wakes up inspired to go to work, feels trusted and valued during the day, and then returns home feeling satisfied with the workday.
The idea is not impossible, Simon Sinek said, pointing to companies and organizations where successful leaders create an environment where people naturally work together and create great things together. The presentation was concrete with many examples, including from military environments. Among other things, Sinek talked about how different hormones control our behaviors and reactions at work and that the truly good leader supports and protects the group and creates an environment where people work together and not against each other.

FROM STRAWBERRY SELLER TO HOTEL KING
Petter Stordalen, the Norwegian investor and hotel magnate, gave a vivid account of his journey; how he built Nordic Choice Hotels from a bankrupt hotel to a group consisting of 170 hotels and 5 chains with more than 12,000 employees. The talk was entitled "From strawberry seller to hotel king" and started in his hometown Porsgrunn where Petter Stordalen as a 12-year-old sold strawberries to his father in the town square. The "strawberry philosophy" is still the foundation of Stordalen's business philosophy and is about focusing on "selling the strawberries you have" - no matter what they look like or what the competition looks like.

ENTREPRENEURS IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY
Anders Borg, Sweden's finance minister in the Alliance government from 2006 to 2014 and named the EU's top finance minister in 2011 by the Financial Times, shared his experiences of the international financial system and the risks and opportunities for entrepreneurs in the global economy.
Lena Apler, founder and chairman of Collector, explained how the company started in 1999 because they saw a gap in the market. The traditional banks' financing services did not match the needs of growing companies for, among other things, credit with short lead times. Collector quickly took a leading position in this area and is now listed on the stock exchange with 330 employees. Lena Apler was named Sweden's foremost female entrepreneur in 2015 by Veckans Affärer.

JOHAN ÅGREN, CEO GENERIC MOBILE:
- "The best thing for me as head of Generic Mobile was that our customers appreciated the day, that they took the time to attend and valued the lectures so much. I know first-hand how difficult it is to make time for events like this," says Johan Ågren, CEO of Generic Mobile.

What did you find the best or most interesting?

- I think Anders Borg, Petter Stordalen and Simon Sinek were the best. They were world class! Anders Borg's descriptions, for example, of how he and his current client Kinnevik work with growth companies in e-commerce, not only in the Western world but also in developing countries in Africa, were very interesting.

- Petter Stordalen was almost theatrical in his story, with big gestures, facial expressions and shouting. But it was engaging and vivid. Simon Sinek was very skillful and knowledgeable. His concrete examples of how people work in different situations and how a good leader should act for the company or group to succeed were very good.

CARINA HILLMAN, SOS ALARM:
- "I think the breadth of the participants, the different backgrounds and experiences in business, politics and economics was the best thing about the day. It was extremely interesting to listen to all of them," says Carina Hillman, Head of System Management at SOS Alarm and one of Generic Mobile's invited guests.

- A special quality that should not be forgotten is the opportunity to meet a little longer and talk about joint projects and development, Carina Hillman continues.
- "We have many new services in the pipeline that we need to develop together with Generic Mobile. To meet for a day and get a chance to discuss solutions that we at SOS Alarm need and that Generic Mobile helps us develop, is an important value of such a day. I would love to attend something similar in the future.

From left: Mikael Sjögren, Development Manager, SOS Alarm AB
Carina Hillman, Head of System Management, SOS Alarm AB
Johan Ågren, CEO, Generic Mobile