{"id":15226,"date":"2012-11-01T12:15:39","date_gmt":"2012-11-01T11:15:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/?p=15226\/"},"modified":"2017-01-21T01:04:34","modified_gmt":"2017-01-21T01:04:34","slug":"student-now-entrepreneur-offers-start-up-advice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/student-now-entrepreneur-offers-start-up-advice\/","title":{"rendered":"Student, now entrepreneur, offers start-up advice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last year, Mads Mathiesen was one of the winners of the innovation competition Venture Cup<\/a>. Now he, and other Copenhagen graduates, are running a successful company WiMed.<\/p>\n

As recently documented on the University Post, the 2008-2012 financial crisis and recession set off a small wave of entrepreneurship.<\/a> In Denmark, the numbers of student-started companies has gone up<\/em>, not down, since Europe\u2019s paralysing recession ground the normal amount of jobs for graduates to a halt. <\/p>\n

The spirit was not driven out of budding student entrepreneurs. And apparently not with this particular graduate, now CEO of WiMed, Mads Matthiesen. The University Post caught up with him, now a year after, to ask him how life is after the prestigious entrepreneurial prize? And what words of inspiration can he share with our readers?<\/p>\n

Enjoy the journey<\/h2>\n

Tell us a little behind how WiMed<\/a> got started?<\/em>
\n\u00bbWe saw that there was something potentially missing, something that the healthcare system was suffering from. I had no idea about the design, or the specifics of the problem. It was just \u2018okay, this looks like it could be a big problem\u2019 and we were starting totally from scratch. It was a very nice progressive journey, where we learnt bit by bit, it was an awesome experience and continues to be\u00ab.<\/p>\n

\u00bbThe trick is if you can understand there is a problem. For example, only a few patients are treated in the full scale of things, whilst too many patients proceed without getting the right attention. So it\u2019s a clear medical problem and area that we felt passionate about innovating\u00ab. <\/p>\n

What about your background?<\/em>
\n\u00bbI was in a programme at the University of Copenhagen called Medicine and Technology at the Faculty of Health Sciences. I was actually a student until 7th August this year, so it has really been a balancing act! The project has gone alongside my studies, and in fact it\u2019s been a good time to learn and combine the two. Meeting and talking with experts, along with networking within the university with researchers. It is important to meet with people who might have tried similar things before, collecting advice and letting them know who you are, don\u2019t be afraid to introduce yourself, you never know what it might lead to\u00ab. <\/p>\n

Society is looking for someone to ‘do it’<\/h2>\n

What about those who are tempted to ‘go and get a real job’ instead of the risk or potential failure? What are your words of wisdom to them?<\/em>
\n\u00bbRemember this…what society is looking for, is not so much that you might be incredibly smart or that you can solve the biggest of the world\u2019s problems, the new Facebook or a cure for cancer. \u00ab<\/p>\n

\u00bbThey’re looking for someone who can ‘execute’. It\u2019s not very romantic to admit it, but all ideas are taken, but not a lot of people carry them out, and there\u2019s not really any good reason for this.\u00ab<\/p>\n

\u00bbYou should be able to look at yourself in the mirror and say this one thing: \u2018What do you do?\u2019
\nIf just a few people feel the effect of your work, then you\u2019ll know it\u2019s been worthwhile and fulfilling\u00ab. <\/p>\n

\u00bbI love to know that I do something that very few people in the world do, I hate to think that maybe in thirty years I look back and see I have sacrificed so much, but that I never actually got round to doing what I once intended\u00ab. <\/p>\n

\u00bbThere is a Danish saying \u2018I don\u2019t look forward to going home before 4pm\u2019. If that\u2019s you, then you are passionate about what you are doing. If not: Then maybe it could be time to re-evaluate\u00ab. <\/p>\n

Tips of the trade<\/h2>\n

Of course it\u2019s hard to communicate best advice to budding entrepreneurs in an interview like this, but what words of encouragement can you give to our readers?<\/em>
\n\u00bbThe key is: You don\u2019t really know anything as a young entrepreneur, but you should just come up with your \u2018best case scenarios\u2019. You should come in with a sound plan. Be humble about it and make it sound like this direction is the most plausible direction to be heading in. If you can make it sound convincing and human enough, trust and be passionate in your product, you will give your self the best opportunity, it\u2019s very much \u2018calculated risk\u2019 being an entrepreneur\u00ab. <\/p>\n

\u00bbBe humble. Tell yourself that even though you had a good thesis, a good grade, or a good student job, you have more years to learn, go out in an industry and you will still have to learn many new attributes. Surround yourself with like-minded people. Get feedback from people who can inspire you. This can keep up your motivation high, especially during the more difficult lulls in pushing for your dreams.\u00ab<\/p>\n

\u00bbRemember that you’re still an \u2018apprentice\u2019 and keep soaking up as much information and advice as possible. Communication is always the key\u00ab. <\/p>\n

\u00bbGo out and give it a try, your future career will be very much boosted by getting out there and being able to look at yourself in the mirror and feeling satisfied with a good body of work, or day filled with tackling goals head-on\u00ab. <\/p>\n

universitypost@adm.ku.dk<\/p>\n

Stay in the know about news and events happening in Copenhagen by signing up for the University Post\u2019s weekly newsletter here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Society is not looking for your perfect ‘idea’. It is looking for someone to carry out the ideas that are already out there. Nuggets of wisdom from a Copenhagen student, just graduated, who is now also CEO of a company that makes systems to treat heart arrhythmia patients<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":15229,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus","expression-news_article"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nStudent, now entrepreneur, offers start-up advice<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/student-now-entrepreneur-offers-start-up-advice\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Student, now entrepreneur, offers start-up advice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Society is not looking for your perfect 'idea'. It is looking for someone to carry out the ideas that are already out there. Nuggets of wisdom from a Copenhagen student, just graduated, who is now also CEO of a company that makes systems to treat heart arrhythmia patients\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/student-now-entrepreneur-offers-start-up-advice\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"University Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uniavis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-01-21T01:04:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/lab_venture_winners_2011-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1776\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MIGRATED_ARTICLES FROM_OLD_SITE\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Uniavisen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Uniavisen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MIGRATED_ARTICLES FROM_OLD_SITE\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/student-now-entrepreneur-offers-start-up-advice\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/student-now-entrepreneur-offers-start-up-advice\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"MIGRATED_ARTICLES FROM_OLD_SITE\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b4df0b22f9be3943039e58e94c400606\"},\"headline\":\"Student, now entrepreneur, offers start-up advice\",\"datePublished\":\"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-01-21T01:04:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/student-now-entrepreneur-offers-start-up-advice\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":909,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/student-now-entrepreneur-offers-start-up-advice\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2012\\\/11\\\/lab_venture_winners_2011-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Campus\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/student-now-entrepreneur-offers-start-up-advice\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/student-now-entrepreneur-offers-start-up-advice\\\/\",\"name\":\"Student, now entrepreneur, offers start-up advice\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/student-now-entrepreneur-offers-start-up-advice\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/student-now-entrepreneur-offers-start-up-advice\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2012\\\/11\\\/lab_venture_winners_2011-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-01-21T01:04:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b4df0b22f9be3943039e58e94c400606\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/student-now-entrepreneur-offers-start-up-advice\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/student-now-entrepreneur-offers-start-up-advice\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/student-now-entrepreneur-offers-start-up-advice\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2012\\\/11\\\/lab_venture_winners_2011-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2012\\\/11\\\/lab_venture_winners_2011-1.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1776,\"caption\":\"Co-founders of 'WiMed' Rune Paamand (to the right) and Mads Matthiesen (to the left) with a clinic doctor (in the middle).\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/student-now-entrepreneur-offers-start-up-advice\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Student, now entrepreneur, offers start-up advice\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/\",\"name\":\"University Post\",\"description\":\"Independent of management\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b4df0b22f9be3943039e58e94c400606\",\"name\":\"MIGRATED_ARTICLES FROM_OLD_SITE\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b6c147fc36e92c08c95515aba962dbc89107ed33613c690182f7e243d0c0a2ab?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b6c147fc36e92c08c95515aba962dbc89107ed33613c690182f7e243d0c0a2ab?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b6c147fc36e92c08c95515aba962dbc89107ed33613c690182f7e243d0c0a2ab?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"MIGRATED_ARTICLES FROM_OLD_SITE\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uniavisen.dk\\\/en\\\/author\\\/migrated_articles\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Student, now entrepreneur, offers start-up advice","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/student-now-entrepreneur-offers-start-up-advice\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Student, now entrepreneur, offers start-up advice","og_description":"Society is not looking for your perfect 'idea'. It is looking for someone to carry out the ideas that are already out there. Nuggets of wisdom from a Copenhagen student, just graduated, who is now also CEO of a company that makes systems to treat heart arrhythmia patients","og_url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/student-now-entrepreneur-offers-start-up-advice\/","og_site_name":"University Post","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/uniavis","article_published_time":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-01-21T01:04:34+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1776,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/lab_venture_winners_2011-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"MIGRATED_ARTICLES FROM_OLD_SITE","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Uniavisen","twitter_site":"@Uniavisen","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"MIGRATED_ARTICLES FROM_OLD_SITE","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/student-now-entrepreneur-offers-start-up-advice\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/student-now-entrepreneur-offers-start-up-advice\/"},"author":{"name":"MIGRATED_ARTICLES FROM_OLD_SITE","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/#\/schema\/person\/b4df0b22f9be3943039e58e94c400606"},"headline":"Student, now entrepreneur, offers start-up advice","datePublished":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2017-01-21T01:04:34+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/student-now-entrepreneur-offers-start-up-advice\/"},"wordCount":909,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/student-now-entrepreneur-offers-start-up-advice\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/lab_venture_winners_2011-1.jpg","articleSection":["Campus"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/student-now-entrepreneur-offers-start-up-advice\/","url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/student-now-entrepreneur-offers-start-up-advice\/","name":"Student, now entrepreneur, offers start-up advice","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/student-now-entrepreneur-offers-start-up-advice\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/student-now-entrepreneur-offers-start-up-advice\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/lab_venture_winners_2011-1.jpg","datePublished":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2017-01-21T01:04:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/#\/schema\/person\/b4df0b22f9be3943039e58e94c400606"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/student-now-entrepreneur-offers-start-up-advice\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/student-now-entrepreneur-offers-start-up-advice\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/student-now-entrepreneur-offers-start-up-advice\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/lab_venture_winners_2011-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/lab_venture_winners_2011-1.jpg","width":2560,"height":1776,"caption":"Co-founders of 'WiMed' Rune Paamand (to the right) and Mads Matthiesen (to the left) with a clinic doctor (in the middle)."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/student-now-entrepreneur-offers-start-up-advice\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Student, now entrepreneur, offers start-up advice"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/","name":"University Post","description":"Independent of management","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/#\/schema\/person\/b4df0b22f9be3943039e58e94c400606","name":"MIGRATED_ARTICLES FROM_OLD_SITE","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b6c147fc36e92c08c95515aba962dbc89107ed33613c690182f7e243d0c0a2ab?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b6c147fc36e92c08c95515aba962dbc89107ed33613c690182f7e243d0c0a2ab?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b6c147fc36e92c08c95515aba962dbc89107ed33613c690182f7e243d0c0a2ab?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"MIGRATED_ARTICLES FROM_OLD_SITE"},"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/author\/migrated_articles\/"}]}},"advancedCustomFields":{"layout_group":[{"acf_fc_layout":"Headline","use_post_title":true,"headline":"","style":"default","highlighted_words":"","text_size":"medium"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Image","image":{"ID":15229,"id":15229,"title":"lab_venture_winners_2011-1","filename":"lab_venture_winners_2011-1.jpg","filesize":911660,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/lab_venture_winners_2011-1.jpg","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/student-now-entrepreneur-offers-start-up-advice\/lab_venture_winners_2011-1\/","alt":"","author":"0","description":"Co-founders of 'WiMed' Rune Paamand (to the right) and Mads Matthiesen (to the left) with a clinic doctor (in the middle).","caption":"Co-founders of 'WiMed' Rune Paamand (to the right) and Mads Matthiesen (to the left) with a clinic doctor (in the middle).","name":"lab_venture_winners_2011-1","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":15226,"date":"2017-01-19 09:05:52","modified":"2017-01-19 09:05:56","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":2560,"height":1776,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/lab_venture_winners_2011-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/lab_venture_winners_2011-1-480x333.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":333,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/lab_venture_winners_2011-1-768x533.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":533,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/lab_venture_winners_2011-1-1280x888.jpg","large-width":1280,"large-height":888,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/lab_venture_winners_2011-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1066,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/lab_venture_winners_2011-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1421,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/lab_venture_winners_2011-1-290x201.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":201,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/lab_venture_winners_2011-1-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/lab_venture_winners_2011-1-700x486.jpg","narrow-width":700,"narrow-height":486,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/lab_venture_winners_2011-1-990x687.jpg","extended-width":990,"extended-height":687}},"style":"screen","text_placement":"metadata-below","image_link_url":"","image_link_title":"","caption_prefix":"","enable_alternative_caption":false,"alternative_caption":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"Standfirst","subject":"","text":"Society is not looking for your perfect 'idea'. It is looking for someone to carry out the ideas that are already out there. Nuggets of wisdom from a Copenhagen student, just graduated, who is now also CEO of a company that makes systems to treat heart arrhythmia patients","use_post_excerpt":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"Byline","is_author":false,"contributors":[{"use_registered_user":false,"user":false,"contributor_name":"Andrew Bartle","contributor_title":" ","contributor_image":false}]},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>Last year, Mads Mathiesen was one of the winners of the innovation competition <a href=\"http:\/\/www.venturecup.dk\/\" target=\"_blank\">Venture Cup<\/a>. Now he, and other Copenhagen graduates, are running a successful company WiMed.<\/p>\n<p>As recently documented on the University Post, <a href=\"node\/14686\">the 2008-2012 financial crisis and recession set off a small wave of entrepreneurship.<\/a> In Denmark, the numbers of student-started companies has gone <em>up<\/em>, not down, since Europe\u2019s paralysing recession ground the normal amount of jobs for graduates to a halt. <\/p>\n<p>The spirit was not driven out of budding student entrepreneurs. And apparently not with this particular graduate, now CEO of WiMed, Mads Matthiesen. The University Post caught up with him, now a year after, to ask him how life is after the prestigious entrepreneurial prize? And what words of inspiration can he share with our readers?<\/p>\n<h2>Enjoy the journey<\/h2>\n<p><em>Tell us a little behind how <a href=\"http:\/\/wimed.dk\/WEB\/\" target=\"_blank\">WiMed<\/a> got started?<\/em><br \/>\n\u00bbWe saw that there was something potentially missing, something that the healthcare system was suffering from. I had no idea about the design, or the specifics of the problem. It was just \u2018okay, this looks like it could be a big problem\u2019 and we were starting totally from scratch. It was a very nice progressive journey, where we learnt bit by bit, it was an awesome experience and continues to be\u00ab.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThe trick is if you can understand there is a problem. For example, only a few patients are treated in the full scale of things, whilst too many patients proceed without getting the right attention. So it\u2019s a clear medical problem and area that we felt passionate about innovating\u00ab. <\/p>\n<p><em>What about your background?<\/em><br \/>\n\u00bbI was in a programme at the University of Copenhagen called Medicine and Technology at the Faculty of Health Sciences. I was actually a student until 7th August this year, so it has really been a balancing act! The project has gone alongside my studies, and in fact it\u2019s been a good time to learn and combine the two. Meeting and talking with experts, along with networking within the university with researchers. It is important to meet with people who might have tried similar things before, collecting advice and letting them know who you are, don\u2019t be afraid to introduce yourself, you never know what it might lead to\u00ab. <\/p>\n<h2>Society is looking for someone to ‘do it’<\/h2>\n<p><em>What about those who are tempted to ‘go and get a real job’ instead of the risk or potential failure? What are your words of wisdom to them?<\/em><br \/>\n\u00bbRemember this…what society is looking for, is not so much that you might be incredibly smart or that you can solve the biggest of the world\u2019s problems, the new Facebook or a cure for cancer. \u00ab<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThey’re looking for someone who can ‘execute’. It\u2019s not very romantic to admit it, but all ideas are taken, but not a lot of people carry them out, and there\u2019s not really any good reason for this.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbYou should be able to look at yourself in the mirror and say this one thing: \u2018What do you do?\u2019<br \/>\nIf just a few people feel the effect of your work, then you\u2019ll know it\u2019s been worthwhile and fulfilling\u00ab. <\/p>\n<p>\u00bbI love to know that I do something that very few people in the world do, I hate to think that maybe in thirty years I look back and see I have sacrificed so much, but that I never actually got round to doing what I once intended\u00ab. <\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThere is a Danish saying \u2018I don\u2019t look forward to going home before 4pm\u2019. If that\u2019s you, then you are passionate about what you are doing. If not: Then maybe it could be time to re-evaluate\u00ab. <\/p>\n<h2>Tips of the trade<\/h2>\n<p><em>Of course it\u2019s hard to communicate best advice to budding entrepreneurs in an interview like this, but what words of encouragement can you give to our readers?<\/em><br \/>\n\u00bbThe key is: You don\u2019t really know anything as a young entrepreneur, but you should just come up with your \u2018best case scenarios\u2019. You should come in with a sound plan. Be humble about it and make it sound like this direction is the most plausible direction to be heading in. If you can make it sound convincing and human enough, trust and be passionate in your product, you will give your self the best opportunity, it\u2019s very much \u2018calculated risk\u2019 being an entrepreneur\u00ab. <\/p>\n<p>\u00bbBe humble. Tell yourself that even though you had a good thesis, a good grade, or a good student job, you have more years to learn, go out in an industry and you will still have to learn many new attributes. Surround yourself with like-minded people. Get feedback from people who can inspire you. This can keep up your motivation high, especially during the more difficult lulls in pushing for your dreams.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbRemember that you’re still an \u2018apprentice\u2019 and keep soaking up as much information and advice as possible. Communication is always the key\u00ab. <\/p>\n<p>\u00bbGo out and give it a try, your future career will be very much boosted by getting out there and being able to look at yourself in the mirror and feeling satisfied with a good body of work, or day filled with tackling goals head-on\u00ab. <\/p>\n<p>universitypost@adm.ku.dk<\/p>\n<p><em>Stay in the know about news and events happening in Copenhagen by <a href=\"http:\/\/universitypost.dk\/newsletter\" target=\"_blank\">signing up for the University Post\u2019s weekly newsletter here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"ArticleEnd"},{"acf_fc_layout":"OtherStories","headline":"","hand_picked_posts":false,"references":false,"category":false,"theme":false,"number_of_posts":"4","style":"default"}]},"taxonomyData":{"category":[{"term_id":44,"name":"Campus","slug":"campus","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":44,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":1547,"filter":"raw"}],"post_tag":[],"post_format":[],"expression":[{"term_id":15,"name":"News Article","slug":"news_article","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15,"taxonomy":"expression","description":"","parent":0,"count":11493,"filter":"raw"}],"translation_priority":[]},"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/lab_venture_winners_2011-1-1280x888.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15226"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15226\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35349,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15226\/revisions\/35349"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}