THE INSIGHTFUL STARTUP by David Today with Peter Torstensen
A New Paradigm for Startup Success
Regardless if you are a startup-founder, a startup investor, a startup mentor, or a startup ecosystem organizer, you will find the book Insightful.
Unlocking Startup Success: The Crucial Role of Original Insight
Why is Original Insight the single most important ingredient for startup success and how can startup founders obtain it? The Insightful Startup takes you on a personal journey, from the author's own venture backed startup, emerging among the first generation of tech startups from Denmark in the mid-2000s, to his decade-long career as a venture capital investor investing in tech startups at the earliest stages. David Today shares how his understanding of startup success evolved over three paradigms spanning fifteen years. The book provides you with real-life examples from Nordic startups the author founded, invested in, and mentored.
Readers familiar with the Nordic ecosystem will find this a refreshing vantage point, as it hereby distinguishes itself from the classic US-centric Silicon Valley entrepreneurship literature. Regardless if you are a startup-founder, a startup investor, a startup mentor, or a startup ecosystem organizer, you will find the book Insightful.
David Today
David Today Ventzel is a General Partner and Fund Manager at the venture capital management company Accelerace in Copenhagen, Denmark. At the time of publishing this book, David has served in this role for more than 11 years. David has been directly involved in more than 100 investments across 4 funds: Accelerace Invest I, Accelerace Invest II, Overkill Fund I, and Overkill Fund II. Since 2016, David has also written articles about startups and venture capital on his website davidventzel.com.
Peter Torstensen
Peter Torstensen is Founder and General Partner at the venture capital management company Accelerace in Copenhagen, Denmark. And the CEO of the co-working office provider Symbion. At the time of publishing this book, Peter has served in these role for more than 16 years. Peter has been a key figure in the inception of the Danish startup and venture capital industry since in mid 1990s as secretary in the Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs with special focus on startups and venture capital.
Accelerace
Since 2008, Accelerace has been the first stop for 900+ parents, university students, c-level executives, first-timers, crazy people and everyone in-between that today lead some of Europe’s most promising startups and scaleups. Through investment, acceleration, mentoring and learnings, Accelerace aim to increase the likelyhood of early stage startups experiencing success.
E-book preview
Read an excerpt from the e-book, and dive straight into the first attempt that the author himself had with a startup, and what would be one of the earliest insights he did in the world of startups.
Audio book preview
If you prefer to listen to your insights, give this audiobook excerpt a go before you commit to buying the book on print, as e-book or as audiobook.
Get even more insights from The Insightful Startup podcast
If you are interested in getting a preview of what types of minds this book comes from, listen to the podcast, where the author talks to those who have influenced this book, and prepare to be intrigued! Or, if you have already bought the book and are looking for an expansion of the chapters, this is the place for you as well. 6 episodes will cover the 7 chapters of the book, and will be released every Monday until January 1st.
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Chapter 7 - Scaling Original Insight
Jan 1, 2024 • 38:57
To discuss the last chapter of the book, David has invited co-founder of Templafy, Christian Lund, into the studio to discuss how Original Insight is of continuous importance. [...]Read More... from Some Useful Links for You to Get Started
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Chapters 5 & 6 - Developing and Extracting Original Insight
Dec 25, 2023 • 27:01
David is joined by Peter Marculans from Overkill Ventures to uncover how startups can develop and further their Original Insight. [...]Read More... from Some Useful Links for You to Get Started
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Chapter 4 - Startups are Built on Original Insight
Dec 19, 2023 • 30:48
David is joined by venture partner Mads Løntoft, to discuss how you recognise whether a founder has original insight. [...]Read More... from Some Useful Links for You to Get Started
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Chapter 3 - The Fallacy of Market Gaps
Dec 11, 2023 • 28:36
Many startups pitch a proverbial gap in the market, but are these gaps actually present? Claus Kristensen joins David in the studio to discuss whether gaps exist in the market and how Normal fits in. [...]Read More... from Some Useful Links for You to Get Started
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Chapter 2 - Real life problems of the lean startup approach
Dec 4, 2023 • 28:56
David speak with Peter Torstensen about how The Lean Startup needs to be reinterpreted in the light of developments in the startup ecosystem. [...]Read More... from Some Useful Links for You to Get Started
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Chapter 1 - The Startupfication of Everything w/ Nicolaj Højer Nielsen
Nov 17, 2023 • 29:45
David is visited by Nicolaj Højer Nielsen and they discuss how all companies are being startupficated, even though it is not necessarily beneficial to either the company or the industry. [...]Read More... from Some Useful Links for You to Get Started
