Preben Damgaard Started from Scratch

Preben Damgaard made his fortune when Damgaard Data was listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange in 1999 and when Microsoft acquired Navision for $1.45B in 2002. Since 2003 the Damgaard Company has been the platform for helping young app and cloud-based companies repeat the journey Preben Damgaard and his brother, Erik, took 18 years to complete. A journey that the Internet has made possible to complete much faster today.

Although technology will keep changing the world, there is no recipe for success, no two companies are alike, and by the end of the day, it's people and leadership that make the difference. Preben Damgaard learned these fundamental lessons as he grew Damgaard Data from the basement of his parents semidetached to become a global market leader.

Through the book From Damgaard to Microsoft, this is probably the best-documented business case in the history of IT-industry:

“Barely out of college Preben had just turned 21 when he co-founded and became the CEO of Damgaard Data. He and his brother navigated through the most turbulent decades in the IT-industry and came out on top as the market leader, showcased a timely IPO, merged with their most prominent competitor Navision Software and accepted a $1.45B acquisition offer from Microsoft in 2002.

By then the company had grown to 1.200 employees, had an annual turnover of $355M, yielded a 22 percent net profit margin and was one of Denmark's most popular places to work. Results that were driven by global ambitions, the ability to identify and swiftly execute on market and industry opportunities and by applying a Scandinavian leadership model.

The baton passed to Microsoft included a modern and competitive product portfolio and an ecosystem with more than two thousand business partners serving well over hundred thousand customers across 30 countries.”