Welcome Andreas! Tell me about yourself. Who are you?

As you mentioned, my name is Andreas, and I’m 26 years old. I work as the CEO of SSE Business Lab, the startup incubator at the Stockholm School of Economics. I’m passionate about entrepreneurship and sustainability, which I try to incorporate into my role at the Business Lab.

Tell me more about the incubator at SSE Business Lab. What does a typical day look like, and why did you start there in the first place?

At SSE Business Lab, we support startups where at least one co-founder has a connection to SSE—usually a student or alumni. My role involves managing the team and overseeing the programs we run for startups at different stages. There’s a lot of leadership and management, which has been fun to learn in this somewhat new role for me. I started as the program manager, running our three programs. I chose this role because I’ve always been interested in entrepreneurship, and it’s been a rewarding experience to work with various companies across different industries.

And what’s the vision and mission of SSE Business Lab? Were you part of shaping it?

The mission of the organization is to strengthen Sweden’s competitiveness by providing a platform for exceptional entrepreneurs. This aligns with the Stockholm School of Economics’ mission. A few years ago, SSE Business Lab developed its own vision, which was a collaborative effort led by the board and the former CEO, Jorunn Lea. I had some input in shaping it. Our vision is to contribute to a world of exceptional entrepreneurs who act as role models and create sustainable impact through their businesses.

Are you excited about this vision you helped create?

Absolutely. It’s rewarding to contribute to Sweden’s position as an entrepreneurial hub. I’ve always said that building companies just for the sake of it doesn’t interest me as much. I want the companies we support to make a positive contribution to society or the climate. Our vision of entrepreneurs being role models and creating sustainable impact is central to why I do what I do. It gives my work meaning.

You’re currently a small team of about seven people. Do you have any advice for larger companies where the vision might feel disconnected from day-to-day work, especially for employees further from leadership?

That’s a great question. It’s always harder to establish a vision that resonates when you have 500 employees. What we often do with early-stage startups is help them figure out why they started their company. Reflecting on why your business exists can guide you toward a vision and mission that makes sense. This should apply regardless of your company’s size. Hopefully, once leadership aligns on the “why,” it will resonate with the entire team, helping everyone see the purpose in their work.

That sounds like Simon Sinek’s approach—asking “why” repeatedly.

Exactly! One of my favorite books is Start with Why by Simon Sinek. You probably noticed that in my response.

Once you have the vision, how do you break it down into more tangible goals? Do you use any specific framework?

We’ve been using OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) for the past few years. It’s the framework we use to translate our vision into concrete objectives and measurable KPIs. This year, we added something new—POKRs, which stands for Purpose, Objectives, and Key Results. When setting our objectives, we made sure each one had a purpose linked to our vision and mission. This helped the whole team understand why these objectives matter.

I haven’t heard of POKRs before. That’s a great idea! How do you cascade these objectives down to the SSE Business Lab teams ?

We’re a small team of seven. We have different functions, like partnerships, marketing, and programs, each led by one or two people. In the past, we set key results at a team level, but this year we shifted to letting each team member decide their own key results, aligning them with the organization’s objectives. This gave them more ownership and autonomy.

That’s great for engagement. Plus, OKRs are meant to encourage stretch goals. Any success stories with stretch goals?

Yes! At the start of the year, one of our team members set a goal for SSE Business Lab to be mentioned in the Financial Times. We all thought it was a bit ambitious since we’re a small organization in Sweden. But a few weeks later, we got a call from the Financial Times saying we had been ranked as the incubator with the best track record in Europe. So even ambitious goals can be achieved!

That’s an amazing example! Can you share more about how you run your goal-setting workshops at SSE Business Lab?

We usually have a two-day retreat at the start of the year. I facilitated most of the workshops myself, though the team also led a few. One of the exercises involved time-traveling to the end of the year and looking back at what we had achieved. We also asked questions like, “What am I most proud of?” and “What opportunity am I glad I took?” It was a great way to frame goals as if they had already been achieved.

What are some common pitfalls when it comes to OKRs?

For not-for-profit organizations like ours, OKRs can sometimes feel disconnected from day-to-day work. It’s important to have a framework to guide you, but you also need to be diligent with follow-ups. We do quarterly check-ins now, which has been helpful, but I think more frequent follow-ups could be beneficial in some cases.

Lastly, what advice would you give leaders who want to implement OKRs in 2025?

My first piece of advice is to go for it—it’s a helpful framework. Secondly, don’t see it as solely your responsibility. Make it a team effort. Involve your team in setting and owning the goals. That way, they feel a sense of responsibility and pride when those goals are met. It really makes a difference.