Stavanger · Norway
Builder, investor, angler.
Co-founder of WooCommerce. Today I back early-stage Norwegian startups as an angel — and chase salmon when the rivers run right.
I build things, and back the people who build things.
From product to portfolio
From a WordPress theme shop to the world's most-used eCommerce platform — and now capital and hands-on experience for the next generation of Norwegian founders.
On the water
Salmon and sea trout from Suldal and Orkla to the Togiak in Alaska, documented on camera — and the reason I started building a fishing app of my own.
The world's most popular eCommerce platform — and it started in Norway.
In 2007 I teamed up with Adii Pienaar and Mark Forrester to build premium WordPress themes. WooThemes followed, and in 2011 we shipped WooCommerce. Automattic acquired us in 2015 — we were 55 then. Today Automattic is over 1,700 people, and Woo is one of its largest teams.
Backing early-stage Norwegian startups.
I invest as an angel, primarily in early-stage companies in Norway — capital plus the scar tissue from building WooCommerce myself.
An informal collective of Stavanger angels backing early-stage founders with capital and hands-on experience.
- Alba
- Botanist
- Counting Hero
- Justify
- Installer
- Reprice
- Tillit
- Intoto
- PaleBlue
- Auk
- Zendera
- Klingit
- Campio
- Nivel
- Pickr
- Heimdall Power
- Enin
- Zelo
- Aivero
- Conta
- Bikefinder
- 1X
- Elanovations
- Barde
- Insert Logic
- Foovi
- Turfpal
- Zaptec 💰
- Futurehome 💰
- Assitech 💰
- Snapmed 💰
- Elveguiden 💰
- Zoaring 💰
- Flowmotion 💀
- Vimana Snow 💀
- Höylytt 💀
- ClevAir 💀
- Field 💀
Also via funds: Nordic Web Ventures I–III · StartupLab Founders Fund IV–V · Alliance Venture Delta · Long Ecommerce Ventures II · Sondo
Fly fishing.
Salmon and sea trout, from home water in Rogaland to the far north — Suldal, Orkla, and the Togiak in Alaska.
Speylog
The fishing app I'm building.
A bilingual catch log for fly anglers — log salmon and sea trout, the flies, and the rivers. Built mobile-first for catch-and-release, and named for the River Spey and the Spey cast.
From the blog.
Say hello.
Building something, raising a round, or just want to talk fishing? I read everything that lands in my inbox.