Ready set SCALE by Microsoft for Startups

Our Microsoft Regional Director (RD) Ståle Hansen is onboarded as one of the mentors for the startups attending the Ready set SCALE which is an event organized by Microsoft for Startups. Microsoft is using the RD program to coach startups in the way of technology and doing business with Microsoft and within IT

“I am stoked to be part of the Microsoft for Startups initiative and look forward to share my thoughts and learnings from my experience working with Microsoft as partner, senior management and building companies from scratch” – CEO and RD Ståle Hansen

Check out Ståle’s mentor profile

I have been part of two startups myself as CEO, with focus on infrastructure consultancy. I now run a successful company which is almost 4 years old and we are now 7 employees in Norway, Sweden, Ireland and USA. As CEO I am managing internal admin tasks, budgeting, weekly reporting, employee engagement, marketing, sales and hands-on consultancy.

I know four things are important for success:

• Have an accurate accounting, without it you have no clue and can go bankrupt at any time
• Know how to pitch your message and keep it to the point and practical. This I have learned as public speaker for 10 years and when working in a larger company to pitch new ideas for senior management, and as CEO today.
• Manage your time, I have spent the last 5 years optimizing my time management, which is something I can coach someone in
• Build your startup around Microsoft 365 secure productivity from the start. Even though you are a startup, you need to act like an enterprise in terms of how you handle data integrity and customer information. GDPR is important, and if you are going to be a Microsoft vendor, this is required from day1

I think I can contribute on the business aspect, how to pitch an idea, how to organize your time and how startups can use M365 to protect themselves