Hi, my name is Claes Persson, I’m 82 years old (born in 1943). Early in my working life, I held a variety of jobs – in industry, healthcare, the Air Force, and even as a police officer.

But since 1968, I’ve dedicated my life to starting and running companies – more than two dozen of them! Over the years, I’ve had the chance to create jobs for almost 2,000 people. Of course, not every venture was a success, but quite a few were – some even groundbreaking.

My very first company, Lottaperuker, imported and sold wigs. We had our own stores in Sweden, sold through resellers, and even did mail orders. The business took off quickly and became a big success.

Later, I started two IT companies – IMP Data and Lap Power.

Lap Power was especially fast-growing and even became a publicly traded company. At one point in the 1990s, it was named Sweden’s fastest-growing company and was one of the top-performing stocks on the Stockholm Stock Exchange.

Another exciting project was ICCM, a development company where we built the world’s first factory for producing low-radiation computer monitors. This was back in the late ’80s in Taiwan, and we had around 250 employees. Since our technology was unique at the time, we quickly attracted major global clients like IBM, Philips, Ericsson, and Olivetti.

The knowledge we gained there helped us launch PCQT, which made rugged computers for use in harsh environments – for military, industrial, and other demanding users. PCQT also became a listed company later on.

Wellton Way was a company that, financially speaking, didn’t go so well. But it was still a groundbreaking project. I even received a US-patent for a type of ”icon button” that you now see on all smart TVs and smartphones. (sold 2013)

In the early 2000s, global tech giants like Intel and Microsoft showed serious interest in this new button technology.

Back in 1994, I also wrote a little book about the Internet and the future.

At that time, computers were still fairly new, and few people truly understood what the World Wide Web would become. The book was surprisingly popular – 200,000 copies were printed in Sweden alone! I gave the rights away for free to anyone who asked, so it was quickly translated into several languages. Companies, organizations, schools, universities, and even the military and police used it as a teaching tool.

These days, I work fewer hours – just around four a day. But I still spend a lot of time thinking about society and what we can actually do to solve real-world problems.

For many years, I’ve been fascinated by the idea of producing hydrogen in a simple and low-cost way – which isn’t easy. That interest, combined with my frustration over misleading claims in the climate and energy debate, led to the idea behind my invention:

HyMeAir AB and Nano Towers – a way to extract hydrogen, methane, and water from the atmosphere.

Starting and building companies isn’t always a walk in the park. Sometimes, you really have to fight – and I mean really fight. At times, it can feel almost absurd.

Here are a few old newspaper clippings, media mentions, and some nostalgic memories from the journey.

Oh, and one fun memory: back when I was a police officer, I randomly ended up as a bodyguard for Arnold Palmer and the Rolling Stones when they visited Sweden. Years later, during my Wellton Way days, I even organized a celebrity event for Rolling Stones with Ronnie Wood – guitarist for the Stones – showcasing his artwork.

Lotta Peruker, (Lotta wigs) 1968-1978, my first company, became a well-known company with several stores across Sweden, selling wigs to ”every” Swedish woman, including artists such as ABBA and many others.

In addition, I founded several small companies during the 1970s and 1980s, including a small high-tech company that developed and sold zinc-air batteries, surface heating fabric, and analog computer ferrite memories.

Other companies developed and/or sold kitchen utensils, roller skates, fire extinguishers, etc. Most of these small businesses were very successful.

When the Swedish government allowed private companies to sell answering machines, I founded the telecom company CPO Telecom, active from 1980 to 1986. The company was at the forefront of telecommunications technology development. However, my telecom adventure had only just begun – my rapid success would soon come with a heavy price.

In 1981, I discovered that my answering machine competitor, the state telecom monopoly Televerket, was routinely engaged in serious tax fraud, accounting crimes, and other severe criminal activities. Televerket (the state) turned out to be Sweden’s largest crime syndicate.

My, to say the least, embarrassing revelations were swiftly brushed aside by the Swedish government. The Parliamentary Ombudsman (JO) was the only authority that condemned Televerket and its director’s deeply offensive remarks about me. Eventually, the JO was fired, likely because he had sided with me.

Despite – or perhaps because of – my disclosures, Televerket and Swedish state authorities continued to persecute me for six years. Several state agencies instead attempted to prosecute and imprison me – the messenger.

Eventually, the Swedish telecom monopoly was dismantled, partly due to my efforts.

When computers started becoming portable, I seized the opportunity to start a new computer company, Lap Power, specializing in laptops.

See my first computer advertisement, published in 1991, featuring pictures of me and my wife at the time. The ad was publicly condemned by all Swedish media by ERK (the Ethical Council for Marketing).

See the ”Lap Power” ad: Even though she was fully clothed, she was – simply because she was a woman – considered too provocative for the public to appear in a computer advertisement.

This ridiculous and misogynistic ”ruling” spread globally and, according to the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, became Sweden’s biggest international news story in 1991 – around the world, people were asking how something like that could happen in supposedly gender-equal Sweden.

Lap Power – A Meteor on the Swedish Tech Horizon

When Lap Power entered the Swedish stock exchange in 1993, few could have predicted the meteoric rise that would follow. Next year 1994, the Lap Power yacht stunned the sailing world by winning one of the globe’s most prestigious yacht races: Gotland Runt.

Within just a few years, the company had become Sweden’s fastest-growing business-and eventually, the top performer on the entire Stockholm Stock Exchange 1995 +233%.

By the end of 1996, Lap Power wasn’t just a local success story-it had become the leading provider of Internet connections in all of Europe. Behind the scenes, our bold and creative marketing played a crucial role. Its impact was strong enough that major industry players-Microsoft, IBM, Telia, among others-invited me to manage significant parts of their own marketing strategies as part of our collaborations.

But as the spotlight grew stronger, so did the shadows. Success brings admiration, but also envy. During the height of Lap Power’s fame, my then-wife and I became two of the most talked-about figures in Sweden media – often praised, just as often scrutinized. For better and for worse, we were household names.

Below image: IMP Data’s catalog, published twice a year, was considered the ”Bible” of the computer industry during the 1980s.

Back in 1994, I published a small book about the Internet and the future.

During the 1990s, computer sales were booming. Every article, every headline seemed to focus on the technology itself. But very few realized that we were standing at the edge of a global revolution.

At the time, computers were still relatively new, and the true potential of the Internet-and its brand-new World Wide Web-was understood by only a handful of people.

People have always had difficulty predicting technological developments: Thomas J. Watson, CEO of IBM, stated in the late 1940s: ”I think there is a world market for about five computers”. In 1996, Sweden’s responsible IT minister, Ines Uusmann, asked the question: ”What should we use IT for?” That’s why, in 1994/1995, I wrote a short book about how computer technology was going to transform our entire society-not just from a technical standpoint, but also in terms of human behavior, politics, and sociology.

This little nonfiction book ended up reaching 200,000 copies in Sweden alone.

I freely gave away the publication rights to anyone who asked, which led to the book being quickly translated into multiple languages. It found its way into companies and organizations, military units and police forces, universities and schools across the globe. It became a popular educational tool.

I also received a number of invitations to speak at universities and colleges, both in Sweden and internationally.

Here are some images of the book cover from the 1994 to 1996 editions.

When I stepped away from Lap Power, it caused quite a stir in the Swedish media.

After selling my shares and officially leaving the company, IDG-one of the world’s largest IT publishing houses-ran several articles. One of them was a particularly rare, personal tribute piece, with headlines like:

”The great emptiness”

”Oh my, how we miss Lap Power”

”Lap Power came back, all is forgiven”

”Oh my, how we miss Lap Power”

”The great emptiness”

”It was an unbridled success in the premises on Sveavägen” ”Helen, Claes, Nicolas – with them – a bit of the magic disappeared. Lap Power is our lost innocence, and I wish with all my heart as a journalist that we could get it back.”

”It was an unbridled success, and the heels were on the roof in the premises on Sveavägen”

”In the newspapers, it was Helen who was seen and Claes who was the one who swore”

Here are a couple of all the thousands of articles about Lap Power and some typical advertisements that I produced during the 90s:

Wellton Way (2000-2009) – Ahead of Its Time

At the turn of the millennium, it became clear to me that computers, TVs, and mobile phones were on a path toward convergence. This realization sparked the idea for Wellton Way: a company built around creating a unified interface that could bridge all these technologies.

In 2001, I filed a U.S. patent for a new type of digital interface-featuring ”icon buttons” that are now standard in today’s smart TVs and smartphones. What you now see in modern iPhones and smart devices? We envisioned it years before the world caught up. (Patent sold 2013)

Wellton Way grew rapidly. In 2004, we landed second place on the Deloitte Fast 50 list. Two years later, in Paris, we took first prize in our category at the Deloitte Fast 500 Awards-an acknowledgment of both innovation and execution.

Early on, giants like Microsoft and Intel sought close partnerships. In fact, Microsoft was our largest client in 2000. But by 2003, the partnership ended Microsoft had released a poor imitation of our interface, which they later abandoned. Still, the concept we pioneered lived on. In the years that followed, large global companies adopted (and at times blatantly copied) our approach.

Wellton Way’s interface was unique. What we lacked, however, were the deep financial resources-and perhaps the ”special kind of business ethics”-required to compete head-to-head with the world’s largest corporations.

Below is one of many articles about my company Wellton Way. ”Wellton prepares for battle.” Claes (Wellton) Persson. IDG media.

IDG has given me permission to use the above articles in my presentation. Presentationen är tryckt och mångfaldigad av Claes Persson i Stockholm 2013. Copyright; IDG and Claes Persson 2013. IDG International Data Group is a publisher of IT-related information. IDG was founded in Boston in 1964 and is present in 85 countries. It publishes more than 300 computer magazines around the world. Subsidiaries: International Data Corporation, Mac Publishing, Web Publishing.