After moving to Malta in 2009, Sweden-born software engineer Erik Näslund – along with four other young co-founders – went on to found Hotjar, a behaviour analytics company that analyses website use.
The successful startup went from strength to strength, growing into one of the biggest behavioural analytics companies in the world. Today, the company – which is headquartered in Malta – boasts a team of over 150 employees and counts over 900,000 organisations as clients.
And now, seven years since its inception, Mr Näslund has announced his departure. In a blog post explaining his decision, he writes “I had helped build the coolest company I ever worked at – but personally, I wasn’t really happy anymore.”
“I recently realised that I haven’t been reflecting enough on important things in my life, and instead I kept myself busy with work. Once the gears started turning it became more and more obvious what I needed to do – leave the company I co-founded,” he continues, describing his desire to thrive within a smaller business setting.
The next step, the entrepreneur reveals, is “creating and running a tiny company from scratch, but all by myself this time.”
Referencing Paul Jarvis’ Company of One, Mr Näslund says it helped him realise what he wanted out of his work: to work on what he believes will positively benefit humanity, build work around his life (and not vice versa) and have complete control over company growth.
“I’m certain I wouldn’t be able to pull this off if I tried to before my years with Hotjar. I was simply too naive and lacked a lot of the skills I’ve gathered over the years. I’ll be forever thankful for what I learned at Hotjar, and all the special moments we shared,” he concludes.
Abigail Agius Mamo warns gender quotas may be needed until 2046 at current pace
She argued that the gender mechanism reinforces the stereotype it claims to fight.
‘Stop making rubbish regulations’: Ryanair CEO slams EU air passenger rights reform
Europe’s Air Traffic Control system accounts for over 90% of airline delays, Ryanair boss says.
What DR Congo’s World Cup fashion statement can teach leaders about standing out
Sometimes success is about recognising where you cannot realistically dominate, then finding a creative way to become impossible to ignore.
Claude Mifsud assumes dual Chief Technology Officer and Chief AI Officer role at Concept Stadium
'We see technology as a natural extension of our advisory role,' Claude Mifsud says.
