In my previous column, I shared how I accepted the increasingly exciting challenge of chairing the merger of Office IT-Partner, Dicom, and Zetup.
After many years in the industry, including roles as CEO of Martinsson and Atea, I had a broad understanding of the sector and its players.
However, as I delved deeper into the companies acquired by FSN, I discovered organizations that had “quietly” and diligently focused on nurturing and developing their customers, achieving profitability that both surprised and impressed me.
Upon closer inspection, I observed both similarities and differences among these companies. The challenge was to preserve as much as possible of what had made them successful while identifying a common denominator to motivate and facilitate increased growth ambitions in the Nordic market.
With these thoughts in mind, I headed to FSN’s office to meet Fredrik Almén for the first time—the CEO FSN had recruited for the task (prior to my appointment as chairman).
I had a pretty good idea of Fredrik’s background, with experience from Eniro, CGI, and TietoEvry, which enabled him to swiftly step into the CEO role and be productive from day one.
I will never forget my first conversation with Fredrik. We both approached the meeting with the same overarching question: How can we best devise a strategy that enables growth and value creation without jeopardizing the companies’ inherent strengths?
In my next column, I’ll delve into that conversation between Fredrik and me, which laid the foundation for the remarkably successful IT company, Nordlo.
(Picture showing Nordlo CEO Fredrik Almen)