So in Denmark there is a big discussion of DK founders leaving or founding their companies in other countries, most recent with the question to the minister for business https://www.ft.dk/samling/20201/almdel/eru/spm/442/svar/1778834/2387774.pdf I got contacted by journalists as I always do when these things play out

Demanding and answer why I had the audacity to leave Denmark, always annoyed me for a number of reasons, but the biggest one being that I think it's a GOOD thing when founders go to other countries and create their companies, here is why:

1) When we created Tradeshift, we wanted to be the best at what we do, not just the best in Denmark, Nordics, or Europe, so just like an athlete who wanted to be the best at soccer (Michael Laudrup a famous danish soccer player come to mind) we went to the superleague of tech, SF

Here the toughest investors, the best talent, and strongest competitors forced us to be better, sharper, and think bigger than we would ever have experienced in Denmark, so consequently, we created a big company from which a lot of people benefited from.

2) Most Danish founders I know who have been successful have hired a lot of employees in Denmark, in fact, if you look at the top 10 companies on the list above, I think they have all created more jobs in Denmark than the startups that didn't leave, so net Denmark wins

one big reason for this is we went to the super league, got pushed hard, and executed hard to build something amazing, having access to leadership talent and investors there are nowhere else, bigger company, means more economic muscles and more jobs for Denmark

3) Finally having a Danish diaspora of founders is GREAT for Danish companies, I have personally invested in a number of Danish startups, made introductions for many with my network here in SV, and tried to share lessons, so have all the other founders on that list

and I know many of them are active investors and helping build the Danish start-up ecosystem. So I hope we can move away from the same old tired angle of "why did you leave?" and instead celebrate we have talent that can compete internationally, just like we do when it's sport.