Hi, I'm Lars Holdgaard

28 Years old and entrepreneur since 2012. Currently building the Danish fintech growth-startup, Likvido, with a new approach to the enormous debt collection industry. I also wrote an article: why start a debt collection company?

Previously I co-founded the fintech startup, Monera, which got to 45 employees but later closed. I also built the software outsourcing company Jarboo with 10+ freelancers and I sold my first big project, GodeKarakterer.dk, in 2014.

I believe technology will change the world universe as we know it over the next decades

Software is eating the world, and we're just getting started. To me, this is more than an interest - it's a guiding principle of how I see the world and my own life. That is what I write about on this site.

1.

We will live (much) longer

Biotech and nanotech will explode, making 100 the new 60 years. Already today, the richer poulations add 0.2 years to our expected living age - every year. I believe we will hit the longevity escape velocity within (some) of our lifetimes.

2.

Jobs will be automated

AI and machine learning are not widely accessible yet. This will change dramatically,year by year. As more and more corporates and startups get access to AI/ML, people will be asthonishment how many tasks and jobs we automate.

3.

We will travel the universe

Cost of space travel is plummeting, which will result in the privatization of space. Mars trips, space vacations and space habitats will be extremely unpractical starting out, but the novelty will result in an explosion.

4.

A much better world

Every metric: peace, starvation, famine and illiteracy - are all improving at a very significant rate. Technology will help solve the biggest problems in the world - making the world better, safer and more open to everyone on the planet

Latest posts

Below is my latest posts. I try to post at least monthly!

Category:

Review of the last 3 months: June, July & August

27/08/2018 in Uncategorized

Every 3 months I update my personal goals, and last time was end of May. Not it’s time for another short review.

The last 3 months

I gotta admit things has been different than I thought.

I had a plan to live more balanced than last time I ran a startup. I planned to have time for friends, learning new skills & try new things. However, just like in my last startup, it has swallowed me. I work from morning to evening, leaving “personal time” to a minimum.

This is, however, on purpose. I don’t feel an external pressure. No one else is making these decisions. However, the absolutely biggest goal & dream of my life is to succeed on a big scale with my startup – and a fast-growing startup just needs every hour you can get. That means I have A LOT of 9am-9pm days, including weekends. That is entirely fine, but it also means every other goal has suffered.

Work, however, has excelled, obviously. Jesus Christ. We’re growing like crazy & performing like maniacs. I’m fucking proud.

 

My 3 months goals from June to August.

Business & Economy & Work:

  • Continue the amazing hard-work at Likvido. The next 3 months will be very preparing our systems to handle at least 5.000+ active debt-collection cases and make integrations with partners that can deliver those cases

Totally. And much, much more 🙂 We’re on a different planet.

  • Make sure none of my bank accounts has above 750.000 DKK so I’m covered by the Danish state in case my bank goes bankrupt

Kindaish done. On the limit.

  • Do another dollar-cost-averaging index-fund investment

Done.

Health & mind & body:

  • Keep doing sports at least 5 times a month, preferably 6.

Actually, this is done!

  • Sign up for another marathon in 2018 and at least one more half-marathon

Running in 2 weeks  in Estonia.

  • 2 More bodybuilding cycles (doing 5-week cycles), so I example should be at 50 kg bench press, squats, bend-over-curls and more (yeah, I’m still weak.. 😉 )

Been doing the cycles but improved slower than I planned, because I have been more disciplined on my running. Still bodybuilding 2-3 times a week, but..

  • Get the last 1-2 kg off my body and stay at 78kg

Failed. Been enjoying too much food.

  • Skip dinner on weekdays (a small snack like an apple or skyr)

Failed. Been enjoying too much food.

  • Daily routine with meditation, going on the weighing scale and very low amount of carbs/animal protein

Meditation? Fuck, I forgot.
Weighing scale? Kindaish
Ha, ha on carbs.

  • Sleep on average at least 7.5 hours per week, meaning no-phone and in bed at least 8 hours per night

50% Of the time.

Intelligence & “bio-hacking”:

  • Go to a doctor and get a full blood sample analysis
  • Try a blood-sugar measurement device despite being afraid of the pain, and add to a daily routine if it’s survivable
  • Have a plan for more supplements in addition to my daily omega 3, magnesium and Rhodiola

Failed & Not priotized.

Lifestyle, learning & experiences:

  • Enjoy my amazing 2 week trip in Italy+France in July fully

Fucking yes!

  • Read 8 books, with subjects: deep work, microservices architecture, contindelivery/testingsting, culture, management and potentially some culture related books (like a book about Japanese culture)

Finished 9 books.

  • Finish my 2 active Udemy courses on unit testing and productivity in Visual Studio

Done-ish!

  • Finish 3 more courses: how to learn and two more I haven’t decided yet
  • Host at least 3 small parties/events at my home
  • Find at least 3 interesting people on LinkedIn and invite them out
  • Keep being social at least 1 times a week – either new people or existing friends

Failed.

 

 

Summary and review of “The Courage to be Disliked” by Ichiro Kishimi, [book]

28/07/2018 in Life philosophy

As a new attempt, I want to review the books I’ve read. My main reason for doing this is reflecting a bit more on what I read, and by reflecting, getting more out of the books I read. I read 2-3 books a month, track the whole progress on Goodreads, and feel I get a lot out of the books I read.

However, recently, I’ve started to “read” lots of audiobooks on Audible. This is a great gift as I get to read MUCH more books: I read while running, cooking, cleaning and every time I have a few spare minutes. DOWNSIDE is the books seem a bit easier to forget than when I read.

However, enough talk, let me dig into the first book I want to review: “The Courage to be Disliked” by Ichiro Kishimi

Continue reading »

Soon halfway through 2018 – personal reflections

27/05/2018 in Life philosophy

Alright, so I make these personal posts now and then. This post is probably relevant to no one but myself, but I do find a big pleasure in making this public. Just like I have all my personal goals in public, I also like to reflect on things in the public.

I started the year by making this post about my goals in 2018. This post is still relevant since my goals have not really changed.

2018 Has been crazy

My 2017 was shit, but 2018 has been absolutely fucking crazy.

Started the year by having the most amazing 6 weeks in Asia. Japan, India, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan… That was so good. Met some amazing girls whom I traveled with, I got to work and just saw amazing things.

After I arrived home, I’ve managed to be very disciplined. I’ve worked out 5-6 times a week and is in my absolute best shape ever. I finished a half-marathon in 1h52m, and hope to get it further down. My startup, Likvido, has not only been doing well, it has been completely nuts. We’re doing insanely considering we’ve been live for 3 months.

I’ve also taken a very serious look at longevity and what it takes to be healthy and live longer. I’ve started on a decade-long learning process with what it takes to obtain a life expectancy of at least 100 years.

I’ve also had a lot of fun. Amazing weekend trips with girls, a network trip in Barcelona and remembering to meet friends most weeks. So all in all, I can say that 2018 has been the best first 5 months of a year – ever.

Some patterns

The last month has worried me though.

Since Likvido has been growing so damn fast, I’ve started to work a lot. Again. That means I’ve seen myself prioritize friends, fun and learning new things much less.

I’m not sure what is the right way to go. On one hand, I love “no matter what it fucking takes” approach, and just get some things live. On the other hand, I do feel significantly more stupid when I don’t step back and take the time off. I read an extremely inspiring article which points out that intelligence is the most important thing we have, and if we don’t have time for learning, relationships and our basic human needs – we become stupid.

And I do agree. When you start to work from 9 am to 9 pm every day, you miss out on a lot of things. I don’t mean things like seeing friends or relax time. Fuck that. No, I mean time for learning new technologies, meet new cool business people, post on my blog or have that amazing weekend trip and meet some new inspiring people.

This is also why I made this post. To collect my thoughts and re-design 2018 a bit. In my goal page, I had my 3 month plan from February to May which was:

 

Business & Economy & Work:

  • MUST WIN: Launch my new startup and get +10 customers onboard as test clients. April 2017 (postponed from last 3-month goal block, because of license postpone and decided to make product better #nonMVPstyle)
    Status: Absolutely fucking done! 🙂
  • Solve my crypto taxation situation. May 2017 (started the process in December 2017, but not waiting for Danish authorities)
    Status: Well, pending still.. But have been doing what I possibly can.
  • Be social and meet a friend / a new person at least once per week. Whole period.
    Status: Been doing it most weeks (a few misses in May)

Health & mind & body:

  • MUST WIN: Do sports 5 times a week. Every. Fucking. Week. This includes when I’m traveling. (Was also a goal in last 3-month block – and I did it!)
    Status: Done it!
  • Keep bodybuilding 3 times a week whole period
    Status: Done it!

Lifestyle & Experiences:

  • Launch my react React.js app. Deadline April 2018
    Status: Done it!
  • Finish a full Udemy course (with practice sessions in real projects!) about React and Typescript. Deadline April 2018
    Status: Done it!
  • Release a public API people can use with documentation. Deadline May 2018
    Status: Nope

 

So no, I haven’t done all. But I’ve done more. And it has been awesome.

Looking ahead the next 3 months, however, I want to be more ambitious.

The next 3 months

Business & Economy & Work:

  • Continue the amazing hard-work at Likvido. The next 3 months will be very preparing our systems to handle at least 5.000+ active debt-collection cases and make integrations with partners that can deliver those cases
  • Make sure none of my bank accounts has above 750.000 DKK so I’m covered by the Danish state in case my bank goes bankrupt
  • Do another dollar-cost-averaging index-fund investment

Health & mind & body:

  • Keep doing sports at least 5 times a month, preferably 6.
  • Sign up for another marathon in 2018 and at least one more half-marathon
  • 2 More bodybuilding cycles (doing 5-week cycles), so I example should be at 50 kg bench press, squats, bend-over-curls and more (yeah, I’m still weak.. 😉 )
  • Get the last 1-2 kg off my body and stay at 78kg
  • Skip dinner on weekdays (a small snack like an apple or skyr)
  • Daily routine with meditation, going on the weighing scale and very low amount of carbs/animal protein
  • Sleep on average at least 7.5 hours per week, meaning no-phone and in bed at least 8 hours per night

Intelligence & “bio-hacking”:

  • Go to a doctor and get a full blood sample analysis
  • Try a blood-sugar measurement device despite being afraid of the pain, and add to a daily routine if it’s survivable
  • Have a plan for more supplements in addition to my daily omega 3, magnesium and Rhodiola

Lifestyle, learning & experiences:

  • Enjoy my amazing 2 week trip in Italy+France in July fully
  • Read 8 books, with subjects: deep work, microservices architecture, contindelivery/testingsting, culture, management and potentially some culture related books (like a book about Japanese culture)
  • Finish my 2 active Udemy courses on unit testing and productivity in Visual Studio
  • Finish 3 more courses: how to learn and two more I haven’t decided yet
  • Host at least 3 small parties/events at my home
  • Find at least 3 interesting people on LinkedIn and invite them out
  • Keep being social at least 1 times a week – either new people or existing friends

Health widget – showing my current weight and other health metrics online

31/03/2018 in Health, Technology

Lately, I’ve been very focused on my general health.

My whole youth I was severely overweight, and it was first when I was 18 years, I decided to fix the problem back in 2018:
I went from 105kg til ~82kg, and have pretty much stayed there ever since (with slight jumps to higher eighties).

However, my recent goal is a bit different. After my marathon in December, I have made a new goal of getting a sixpack. This probably requires ~12-14% bodyfat (currently ~20%) and quite a lot of bodybuilding, which I started for the first time just over 3 weeks ago.

Continue reading »

2008 vs 2018: Has technology improved our daily life – and is technology accelerating in 2018?

24/02/2018 in Technology

If we are to follow the beliefs and trends in technology, it should be accelerating. Everything from Moores law, to the concept of accelerating returns coined by likes of futurist Ray Kurzweil, to what seems like to be a general belief: technology is ever-accelerating.

I’m actually a strong believer in this “faith”. I buy the argument technology is improving faster and faster, and I think that when we dig into the numbers and graphs, it’s quite true. However, I’m also disappointed. For the last last 5 years, I’ve followed technology development very much. I’ve read *many* books, blogs and listened to podcasts. I’ve added Singularity University events. I’ve even been through a special 5-day program introducing all these new amazing technologies. 

Continue reading »

First time in India: my experience in New Delhi

09/01/2018 in Digital nomad

I’ve been in more than 35 countries, and have largely ignored India. I’ve been to Asia many times and had plenty of opportunities to visit. I’ve ignored this trip largely because of two reasons:

  1. The visa process seemed like a nightmare, and multiple of my friends spoke about insane queues at the embassy
  2. Everyone I’ve talked to were always a bit challenged when I asked if they liked it, and all replies started with “well…”.

In addition, I’ve had my troubles with software developers from India. They usually quite good, but because of very big cultural differences, I’ve personally never had any successful projects. This probably says more about me than Indian software developer, but it’s clear, there is a pretty huge cultural difference.

However, I’ve had Taj Mahal – one of the new “7 world wonders” on my bucket list for a while and ignoring such a large country seemed wrong to me. With more than a billion people, and growing towards the most populous country – it was time for a visit!

Continue reading »

An example of a potential blockchain usage: replacing publishing houses

05/01/2018 in Blockchain and cryptocurrency, Entrepreneurship, Technology

Today we’re in 2018. 9 Years ago we saw the Bitcoin white paper and the first Bitcoins were mined, and since we have also seen the sharp rise in prices. The last part of 2017 was full of media writing non-stop about Bitcoin, but mostly with a speculation angle.

We have to admit: we lack serious projects, which has an actual impact. However, as I wrote in my huge 15.000+ words piece, I argued this is caused by we’re currently in the infrastructure phase, not much further than the seventies of eighties of the Internet. This lack of impact seems to let some people believe we won’t see it, and simply neglect the potential.

Continue reading »