Entrepreneur

INTRODUCTION BY PETER WARNOE

‘Peter, do you think we can …?’

I don't know how many times I have heard these words from Lars Tvede, co-author of this book – but it's many. For instance, once when we were three couples sailing his boat along the Italian coast, he suddenly asked:

‘Peter, do you think we can drink beer under water?’

I guess I didn't, but Lars soon became quite insistent and before I knew it, we were three guys in scuba gear deep down drinking beer. (You hold it upside down, blow air in and swallow, as beer comes out. I have it on video.)

Another example: in 2017, Lars was invited as speaker for the Danish Growth Fund's annual meeting, a yearly flagship event in Danish venture business attended by government ministers, leading investors and entrepreneurs, etc. However, about half an hour before he went on stage, he pulled me aside in a hallway and asked with a smirky grin: ‘Peter, do you think I can end my speech by saying “Fuck you”?’

I thought he was joking, so I laughed it off. OK, mistake, because when he later jumped on stage, he immediately pointed me out in front of the 1900 delegates and proclaimed that I didn't believe that he would end this speech by saying ‘Fuck you’. ‘Just watch me’, he continued while staring at me from the stage. OMG!

Towards the end of his speech, he called me up on stage, put his arms around my shoulders and then pulled up a PowerPoint slide of a now famous email from Marc Andreessen to Ben Horowitz, which ended with ...