Torben Anderson
- Specialism: Strategic Technology Consulting, Project Management, part-time Chief Technology Officer
- Track Record: CJ Learning, Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, RBS, BP, Arthur Andersen, Cognizant
- Offer: We provide product and technology managers and executives, at a fraction of the cost of a full time person. Our mission is to help you remove barriers to growth, and help CEO’s scale their business when you need it most. TECHNOLOGY DIRECTOR + PRODUCT DIRECTOR = RADICAL SCALING!
- Torben says: “Breaking through your business growth traps with part-time Product and Technology Leadership”
- Try me (scaleupguys.com)
Becoming a Portfolio Executive is a great way to jump out of the corporate world, as it has the potential of a quick start, and to do some work while keeping your day job. Leaving only once you are ready or have an alternative income stream.
In order to get started, I lowered my monthly expenses, saved for a 6-month runway, and then I took a 6-month sabbatical from my day job. During this time I launched my business and was able not to go back to work. A 3 day a month role at Handelsbanken, which kept me free on the other days to find new business, was my first real success as a Portfolio Executive.
Along the way I’ve learnt that it is harder than I thought. It’s easy to fall back into old habits of just being a contractor or full-time person, even while trying to be a Portfolio Executive. I can say that I’m now beyond that, I feel it takes about 2 years, to drop the habit, at least that’s how long it took me.
Currently, I’m free of the corporate world, which I hold with incredibly high regard. I wouldn’t say the portfolio way is always working for me right as I’ve struggled a lot to promote myself, even when I get calls, I don’t always manage to convert. I feel this is a balance between price and the smaller companies I am attracting. I am now partnering with Peter, to create Scaleup Guys. For me I feel that working with someone is key to success, I’m no longer a big fan of solo working I feel its isolating and not God’s plan for us. Peter and I have only worked on 1 client so far, and our biggest challenge is finding time to promote the business!
I hope to find a way that we can generate leads, and that my business partner and I can build more trust and therefore work closer together. So much more can happen, once we pull together more, and that first customer has landed, as growth can begin. Getting those first few customers is a challenge, but that is the most important area of breakthrough. I am seeking to gain more experience and wisdom with regards to pricing as I feel I’ve lost some business due to this.