I recently received an entrepreneurial award with a scholarship from the Familjen Knut & Ragnvi Jacobsson for building iGoMoon with good business acumen, providing digital tools and modern processes to ensure profitable growth for our customers.
It felt surreal when Marianne Brismar called me and shared that they were impressed by what I have accomplished, and they had chosen me as one of this year's scholarships. You grind and grind as an entrepreneur and after 10 years you get a call and get recognized for the hard work. Emotionally moved and grateful. I am.
The foundation
The Familjen Knut & Ragnvi Jacobsson foundation was founded by five sisters in honor of their father Knut Jacobsson and his wonderful entrepreneurial spirit, which led to the success of his forklift manufacturing business Atlet. He founded Atlet in the 1950’s and built the business from nothing to a company worth billions in SEK.
The selecting process
Every year they reward a few entrepreneurs and scientists with diplomas that are connected to different scholarships. For entrepreneurs to apply, it is needed to have a company that is up and running and has been through some things, it is not a venture capital foundation. The foundation focuses a lot on the entrepreneurial journey, story, and the turmoils you go through as a founder and asks the question of whether Knut would have liked the story when selecting the winners. This means a lot to me and I believe it’s very important to focus on the story and journey. The main purpose for starting iGoMoon and my Youtube show MattGron Talks was to actually be the voice out there for other entrepreneurs alike and inspire them with my story and journey. Therefore, I relate my story and journey to Knut’s of building a company from nothing to something.
Applying for the award
The main reason why I decided to apply was that I want to learn as much as possible and to reach the goals for iGoMoon also requires me to develop as a leader. I also believe that to develop as an entrepreneur I need to understand what I’m good at and learn things I didn't know and widen my perspective. The application for the award was sent in during the spring after I heard about it from Ulf, the chairman of the board at iGoMoon, who has also won the same award. The criteria's for the award include:
- Business acumen
- Momentum
- Buoyancy in the vision and business idea
- Innovation level
- Need/demand in the market
You also need to have a company registered in Sweden, show 2 years of financial statements, and have a focus on one or more areas in innovation, logistics, quality, and internationalization.
The award & scholarship
The award was a diploma with the recognition and connected to that, a scholarship which was a prize of 400,000 SEK for me to attend an owner/president management program (OPM) at Harvard business school. This program is based on 9 weeks of transformative learning, divided into three units over a 3 year period and the goal is to boost the company value and leadership skills with several key benefits. Within the time between the units, the idea is to apply and practice the learnings from each unit in everyday business.
I'm super excited about the program and believe that I will learn a lot of new things which I can apply to the growth of iGoMoon. For me, it is a great opportunity to learn by doing some practical educational cases together with others and to grow my international network by meeting global leaders and entrepreneurs. Since my background is more practical than academic I’m sure that the program will help me gain a broader perspective and approach to different situations.
The ceremony in GBG
The ceremony this year, which took place in Gothenburg was extra special since it was also the 10 year anniversary of the foundation rewarding entrepreneurs and scientists and it was an amazing day. In this year's award ceremony both the winners of this and last year were celebrated due to the pandemic and around 50-70 people attended the event. A short presentation from all the winners was also included where we presented ourselves, our companies as well as how we planned to use the scholarship. During the ceremony, there was also a nice dinner with some entertainment and friendly competition between the tables where every table had to build a small forklift with given materials which was a lot of fun even if our table didn’t win.
From the bottom of my heart I am honored and grateful, thank you to the Familjen Jacobsson foundation for the opportunity, for myself and iGoMoon ❤️ Thanks 🙏
For me this award is the first receipt of confirmation and recognition for all the work I’ve done and that I’m actually making a difference. It is also a chance for me to keep developing as a leader and entrepreneur and have the opportunity to keep doing good, make a difference and create workplaces for people.
If you as an entrepreneur are wondering how to get to this point, survive the journey and maybe apply for the same award in the future, I would recommend you to remember to focus on your own story, keep on grinding and always be aware of yourself. A few other needed characteristics to make it as an entrepreneur are optimism, perseverance, and patience.
Again, a big thank you to the Familjen Knut & Ragnvi Jacobsson foundation! ❤️🙏🏻