Entrepreneur. Educator. Security Architect.

I am a startup founder and technologist with over twenty years of experience. My core expertise is in Identity and Access Management (IAM), API security, OAuth, and OpenID Connect. The CLI, sales meetings, boardrooms, whitepapers, contracts, and budget reviews are all within my comfort zone.

After moving to Sweden in 2010, I focused on building a global digital identity software company, Curity, and an API-related community called Nordic APIs. I sold the controlling interest in those in 2023, successfully transitioning the CEO responsibilities the year after, and stepped out of the day to day in 2025. Currently, I am writing, mentoring, and working on projects that pique my interest. Those things keep me at the intersection of cutting-edge technology and strategic growth (e.g., AI-agent security, building in public, and startup innovations).

Defining Achievements

Some climb Everest in their careers; I've managed to summit Galtåsen. Here are some milestones I've hit along my way.

• Technical Vision & IP Creation

  Anticipated complex, industry-wide identity challenges and led the market to ideally crafted solutions. This long view manifested in multiple RFCs, protocols, patents, and hundreds of thousands of lines of production code.

• Thought Leader

  Honored to be called a luminary in the digital identity space after contributing to several specifications, advancing the state of the art with a banking-grade implementation, and educating the market through hands-on classes, webinars, and other mediums.

• Capital Efficiency

  Maintained a ruthlessly bootstrapped operational culture, achieving a near 1:1 ratio of invested capital to ARR. Preserved this ratio throughout multiple funding rounds that included financing from FFF, angels, VC, venture debt, and private equity.

• Global Businessman

  Built and scaled an enterprise software company in a foreign country, navigating complex international business ecosystems to drive the business to a high-seven-figure dollar ARR before exiting.

• Meritocratic Culture

  Fostered a respectful environment of humility and continuous learning where the boss was "good ideas" and titles were irrelevant. Interviewees contributed to marketing plans, junior engineers commented on the CEO's pull requests, and marketing and sales worked in partnership. The crux was a non-biased hiring process that hit me while mowing the lawn one Saturday afternoon.

• Ecosystem Influence

  Established and led a global community of API practitioners for over a decade, expanding the organization into an influential voice on topics like API security, design, and business models using ad-free blogs, free ebooks, and an open culture.

Speaking & Media

I have delivered keynotes, technical workshops, and strategic presentations at nearly a hundred conferences worldwide. My talks bridge the gap between deep tech and executable business strategy, covering topics such as AI, digital identity, Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA), API security, and startup life.

Other examples include:

Identity & Access Management

High-level strategy and deep technical sessions at premier identity conferences, including Identiverse, the Gartner IAM Summit, Cloud Identity Summit (CIS), and the European Identity Conference (EIC).

Software Engineering & Architecture

Keynotes and technical tracks focused on developer tooling, API design, and microservices at global programmer-centric events such as GOTO, DeveloperWeek, API World, and apidays across North America and Europe.

Industry & Innovation

Strategic presentations and award-winning startup pitches at industry-specific showcases, including FinovateEurope, the Florida Venture Summit, and Internetdagarna.

Ecosystem Building

Years of participation and community-building through online engagement, organization, and relationship building as the driving force behind the Nordic APIs Platform Summits and its international tours.

Publications & Standards

Over the past two decades, I have authored e-books, contributed to major tech publications, and published dozens of articles on API strategy, decentralized identity, startup leadership, and other topics.

Examples of my writing include:

• A Memoir

  Currently writing a memoir reflecting on the journey to build Curity and Nordic APIs, with actionable lessons, candid honesty about severe mistakes, cultural challenges, and the truth about being a tech CEO in the venture capital world. Spoiler alert: My primary contribution with this book is my description of the painful challenge of letting go of your creation and the loss of identity that brings.

• Protocol Standards

  Authored the internet drafts OAuth 2.0 Assisted Token and The OAuth 2.0 Authorization Framework: Claims. Acknowledged contributor to foundational IETF RFCs and OpenID Foundation specifications, including Best Current Practice for OAuth 2.0 Security and the FAPI 2.0 Security Profile.

• Books & E-Books

  Author of several e-books on API security and digital identity, including Securing the API Stronghold and The API Lifecycle. Also wrote the foreword to Cloud Native Data Security with OAuth and served as a technical editor for A Guide to Claims-Based Identity and Access Control.

• Industry Publications

  Regular contributor to Forbes Tech Council, Global Banking & Finance, The New Stack, Nordic APIs, and other online publications, covering topics like decentralized identity, future web innovations, API security, and vulnerability response.

Contact

I am currently open to speaking engagements, advisory roles, and mentoring opportunities—particularly those focused on startup life, software engineering, and the intersection of AI and security. Please feel free to reach out via social media.

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• Twitter