Starting Cold

Episodet

• EP02: The Fighter Pilot That Transformed Norwegian Performance Culture 16.07.2026 1h 13min

  Bjørn Mannsverk is the mental performance coach behind two of the most successful cultures in the world: The football club Bodø/Glimt, and Norway's $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund. Bjørn's methodology is derived from his experience of +20 years as a fighter pilot in the Norwegian Air Force where he had more than 3000 hours in the cockpit of an F-16 and flew active combat missions.In this episode, Bjørn traces the full arc: from dropping bombs over Libya, to the dressing room at Bodø/Glimt during their historic Champions League run, to one of the most demanding financial environments on the planet.— How do you spot a high performer in the first five minutes?— What separates self-esteem from confidence, and why does it matter when you're hiring?— Why should you stop measuring results, and what should you measure instead?— How do you process overwhelming pressure without letting it drive your decisions?— What is the one thing every high performer needs to protect above everything else?----------------------------Timestamps00:00:00 Intro00:01:13 Growing up at The Edge of The World00:04:34 Train for a War You Hope Never Comes00:11:42 The Weight of the Bomb00:34:15 Ending up at Bodø Glimt00:43:26 The Performance Breakthrough
• EP01: Becoming Norway's Quietest International Tech Giant | Erik Bakstad, Ardoq 11.06.2026 1h 8min

  Erik Bakstad is the CEO and Co-Founder of one of the biggest success stories from the Nordics that most people have never heard of. Ardoq didn't follow a playbook, because for most of their journey, they didn't have one.Yet somehow, Erik and his team have built one of Norway's most successful software companies from the ground up.Today Ardoq is closing in on $100M ARR, with 300 employees across four countries and clients like ExxonMobil, British Telecom, and Carlsberg depending on their platform to navigate some of the most complex decisions in enterprise technology.In this episode, Erik takes on the full journey: from an idea they had while working as consultants, to the basements of Startuplab, to a $125M Series D: one of the five largest private rounds in Norwegian tech history. — What matters when fundraising from international VCs?— Can you build real US traction without leaving Norway?— When should a technical founder step into the CEO role — and when should they step aside?— What does it actually cost to move to New York when your family is in Oslo?— How do you keep your values from drifting when you've hired 200 people who never met the founding team?Chapter 1: From Hockey to Coding (1:00)Chapter 2: The Cold Call That Changed Everything (05:06)Chapter 3: Building the Company (15:02)Chapter 4: GDPR Changes The Game (27:44)Chapter 5: Building Culture Across 2 Continents (52:18)
• Starting Cold | Trailer 31.05.2026

  We are on a journey to tell the stories of the greatest outliers from the New Nordics like you've never seen them before. Starting Cold is not like other podcasts. Our studio travels to our interviews with the most successful founders, executives, athletes, and high performers and captures their journey's while physically sitting in their element. Whether its a NYC high rise, or a boat in the Lofoten Islands, or a loft in Stockholm, Starting Cold is there to capture the playbooks of the best of the best from one of the highest performing regions in the world.