Becoming A Thinkfluencer with Nellie Wartoft
On today’s episode, Equalman sits down with Swedish entrepreneur Nellie Wartoft who launched the social learning platform Tigerhall in 2019, revolutionizing how professionals learn from one another in the real world. Under her leadership, Tigerhall has quickly gained traction with users across 32 countries, and employees in 12 markets. Tigerhall’s customers include global Fortune 500 firms in technology, FMCG, professional services, and financial services.
Erik and Nellie discuss Nellie’s journey to becoming a thinkfluencer and the CEO of a social learning platform. Nellie explains how social media gives people quick access to a diverse range of sources and the visual and interactive nature of social media aids in memory retention. Nellie offers practical advice to entrepreneurs and much much more on today’s Super U Podcast.
Nellie has been named on the 2021 Tatler Gen T list of Future Leaders and was recognized as one of the Top Entrepreneurs to Watch in 2023 by the International Business Times.
5x #1 Bestselling Author and Motivational Speaker Erik Qualman has performed in over 55 countries and reached over 50 million people this past decade. He was voted the 2nd Most Likable Author in the World behind the Harry Potter series.
Need a sneak peek? Below are the main takeaways from the episode.
Becoming A Thinkfluencer with Nellie Wartoft
Episode Preview:
“I have this very high desire and need to do something very different, um, to to do something that’s very challenging. And because life is short, and I’m kind of like, I want to do something before I die, right? Like, while I have the chance. So those were the two factors that pushed me like, Yeah, I’ll just do it. And they also have this, like, what’s the worst thing that can happen? Like, for example, I moved alone to Singapore when I was 18. And no one in my family has ever been to Asia, we grew up in a very small village in Sweden, and people have barely been out in Europe. And then when I was 18, I booked a one-way flight to Singapore, I’m going to move to Singapore. And people were like, what your what? Like, no one even knew where Singapore was right? But all I thought was, what’s the worst thing that can happen? The worst thing is that I have to take a flight back. Like, that’s literally the worst thing that can happen. And the same when starting a company, right? Like, what’s the worst thing that can happen? I have to look for a full-time job again or do something else, like I’ll figure it out, right?
So I made the decision to do something different and, and try it out. And then when I started out, I raced around before I had any product or anything. So it was me and a PowerPoint deck. And I’ve always been a volume person. So I’ve always been someone that, like Michael page, for example, I worked 7am to 11pm every single day, because everyone else had way more experience than I have. They have been there for longer. They knew more clients and candidates, I was like the only thing I could compete with was work ethic. And that’s how I how I made it there. And it was a little bit similar when I started raising capital. I’ve always been someone who was throwing myself out there contacting a lot of people making long lists, meeting tons of people networking, reaching out connecting with people, that’s kind of been my way of combating any kind of challenge that I have. And the same when I’m trying to learn something new. I’m like, Who could I learn this from? Who could I reach out to who could I have a chat with? So when I was fundraising, I was telling everyone that I was fundraising. And I took up a lot of these roles, like hosting, I was the ambassador of a Small World in Singapore, which allowed me to host events. And that’s something I really, really recommend for networking is to always be the host. Never go to a ton of events, but host a ton of events. Because then you have a natural chance to speak with everyone who’s there. So that’s what I did.
I told everyone I was fundraising, and [through] one of these events, I met someone who knew someone who was looking to invest in a digital education business in Asia. This was a man who was running a business in Denver, Colorado, this investment banker I had met connected us. And I pitched this PowerPoint presentation to him. And he said, Why don’t you come work for us? And I was like, No, that’s not the point. Like I’m gonna do this, but you can come work for me like you can invest in the company and be part of this. So that’s how it started. And then I use that to build the platform and recruit the initial team. And then the same way I got Sequoia Capital on board was again called email. So a lot of things in my life I’ve done by persistency and resilience, just reaching out trying like talking to people, and that’s how I got Sequoia Cold emailed Peter Kemp’s, who’s still our partner and who I worked very closely with. And I dropped him a cold email, I said, Hey, I’ve heard great things about you, and how you work with your founders. And this is what I’m trying to do. And the problem I’m trying to solve, would love to talk more about it. And he was like, telling me to tomorrow. And then we met. And then two days later, I met the other partners, and then we decided to work together. So he has a cold email and outreach and networking have been a big part of of what I’ve been doing.”
Connect with Nellie:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nelliewartoft/en/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/tigerhall/
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The Super U Podcast is hosted by #1 bestselling author and Motivational Speaker Erik Qualman.
