Startupland
Conventional wisdom says most startups need to be in Silicon Valley, started by young engineers around a sexy new idea, and backed by VC funding. But as Mikkel Svane reveals in Startupland, the story of founding Zendesk was anything but conventional.
Founded in a Copenhagen loft by three thirty-something friends looking to break free from corporate doldrums, Zendesk Inc. is now one of the hottest enterprise software companies, still rapidly growing with customers in 150 countries. But its success was anything but predestined. With revealing stories both funny and frank, Mikkel shares how he and his friends bravely left secure jobs to start something on their own, how he almost went broke several times, how they picked up themselves and their families to travel across the world to California and the unknown, and how the three friends were miraculously still together for Zendesk's IPO and (still growing) success.
Mikkel Svane will also be attending Gener8tor's Meetup and High Tech Happy Hour while in Madison on May 28.
Mikkel Svane
Mikkel Svane co-founded Zendesk and has served as the company's Chief Executive Officer since August 2007. Prior to founding Zendesk, Svane founded and served as the Chief Executive Officer of Caput A/S, a software company, and served as a technology consultant. Svane holds an A.P. in marketing management from Arhus Kobmandsskole. He is the author, along with Carlye Adler, of the book Startupland published by Jossey-Bass. Follow @mikkelsvane.