The Principal
Mads Nissen
Advisor & AI Operator
Twenty years of building software, companies, communities and teams across three continents. Four surgeries that changed everything. Now operating an AI studio running on principles most people haven't figured out yet. This is the backstory of how I got here.
SAN DIEGO → SEATTLE, 2003
The Road Trip
In 2003 I drove a VW Rabbit convertible from San Diego to Seattle with a Dell laptop and a trending coding blog. Roaming the Microsoft Redmond campus, I found a recruiter smoking a cigarette behind the Xbox recruitment building.
I camped out in San Francisco waiting for the job, and eventually went home to my girlfriend in Oslo for Xmas. The recruiter called and offered me a plane ticket back to Redmond.
I chose the girlfriend. She's now the mother of my three children. I'm still working out of Oslo, Norway.
SAN DIEGO → SEATTLE, 2003
The Road Trip
In 2003 I drove a VW Rabbit convertible from San Diego to Seattle with a Dell laptop and a trending coding blog. Roaming the Microsoft Redmond campus, I found a recruiter smoking a cigarette behind the Xbox recruitment building.
I camped out in San Francisco waiting for the job, and eventually went home to my girlfriend in Oslo for Xmas. The recruiter called and offered me a plane ticket back to Redmond.
I chose the girlfriend. She's now the mother of my three children. I'm still working out of Oslo, Norway.
OSLO → COLOMBO → PUNE, 2006–2018
The Company Builder
The career happened anyway — just on different terms. I entered consulting, became a Microsoft MVP and presented at TechEd Los Angeles.
While consulting, I built a series of vertical solutions on the Microsoft Platform. Legal Portal, Shipping Portal, Banking Customer Portals. The drive to create enterprise software products was strong.
In 2008 I founded Puzzlepart to build Business Apps for SharePoint. What started as a just-me consulting shop in Oslo grew into teams across Norway, Sri Lanka, and India — 20+ people across three countries building enterprise software. But I was about to hit a bluescreen.
OSLO → COLOMBO → PUNE, 2006–2018
The Company Builder
The career happened anyway — just on different terms. I entered consulting, became a Microsoft MVP and presented at TechEd Los Angeles.
While consulting, I built a series of vertical solutions on the Microsoft Platform. Legal Portal, Shipping Portal, Banking Customer Portals. The drive to create enterprise software products was strong.
In 2008 I founded Puzzlepart to build Business Apps for SharePoint. What started as a just-me consulting shop in Oslo grew into teams across Norway, Sri Lanka, and India — 20+ people across three countries building enterprise software. But I was about to hit a bluescreen.
EIGHTEEN MONTHS IN HOSPITAL
The Reset
I'd been building software since I was a teenager. Companies since my twenties. At 29 I was running marathons, founding Puzzlepart to build Business Apps for SharePoint, while invoicing consulting hours in the same week.
Then ulcerative colitis put me in hospital for eighteen months. Four surgeries and trying all the gizmos at the hospital, shrinking me down to 50% of my original body weight.
That experience re-based everything.
What came back was the same drive — but patient, grounded, deliberate. Balance became the thing to strive for. I started sitting Vipassana in annual silent retreats. My attention to attention is a key feature now.
EIGHTEEN MONTHS IN HOSPITAL
The Reset
I'd been building software since I was a teenager. Companies since my twenties. At 29 I was running marathons, founding Puzzlepart to build Business Apps for SharePoint, while invoicing consulting hours in the same week.
Then ulcerative colitis put me in hospital for eighteen months. Four surgeries and trying all the gizmos at the hospital, shrinking me down to 50% of my original body weight.
That experience re-based everything.
What came back was the same drive — but patient, grounded, deliberate. Balance became the thing to strive for. I started sitting Vipassana in annual silent retreats. My attention to attention is a key feature now.
TEN STARTUPS, FORTY THOUSAND DELIVERIES
Crayon, Angels and Operators
Puzzlepart’s growth had caught the attention of Crayon Group — a global top-3 software license reseller. They acquired us, and I spent three years as Chief Strategist at a billion-euro company, learning how scale and SaaS distribution works from the inside.
When I left, I was looking for something different. Angel investing — ten startups mentored, CTO-in-residence at Eyr Medical, lead mentor at Katapult. Learning what other founders needed, not just what I could ship.
TEN STARTUPS, FORTY THOUSAND DELIVERIES
Crayon, Angels and Operators
Puzzlepart’s growth had caught the attention of Crayon Group — a global top-3 software license reseller. They acquired us, and I spent three years as Chief Strategist at a billion-euro company, learning how scale and SaaS distribution works from the inside.
When I left, I was looking for something different. Angel investing — ten startups mentored, CTO-in-residence at Eyr Medical, lead mentor at Katapult. Learning what other founders needed, not just what I could ship.
OSLO, NOW
Startups, Investing and VC
Then Slowly.no. Circular home delivery for Norwegian households. Forty thousand products delivered. Real logistics, real customers, real operations — not consulting about it. With decades focused on the Microsoft Enterprise ecosystem behind me, it was liberating to build apps and e-commerce powered by AI. B2C is truly a great teacher for effective funnels and communication.
During that time I was invited back for Puzzlepart’s fifteen-year anniversary, five years after i left. The team was still the most profitable Crayon subsidiary by headcount, still passionate about the craft. The culture we built was still holding and living on in the team. Clear proof that building culture is key, and a deeply gratifying thing to have been part of.
OSLO, NOW
Startups, Investing and VC
Then Slowly.no. Circular home delivery for Norwegian households. Forty thousand products delivered. Real logistics, real customers, real operations — not consulting about it. With decades focused on the Microsoft Enterprise ecosystem behind me, it was liberating to build apps and e-commerce powered by AI. B2C is truly a great teacher for effective funnels and communication.
During that time I was invited back for Puzzlepart’s fifteen-year anniversary, five years after i left. The team was still the most profitable Crayon subsidiary by headcount, still passionate about the craft. The culture we built was still holding and living on in the team. Clear proof that building culture is key, and a deeply gratifying thing to have been part of.
The Practice
Today I run Right Aim — an AI-augmented solo builder and advisory practice with a set of AI associates builds software products, content engines, and growth systems together. Not as an experiment. As the actual operating model.
Twenty years of building companies taught me what matters: small teams, clear ownership, and the patience to do it right. The AI layer doesn't replace that — it amplifies it. One person with the right architecture can now do what used to take twenty.
I live in Oslo with my wife and our three children. I sit Vipassana. I build things. That's the practice.
The Practice
Today I run Right Aim — an AI-augmented solo builder and advisory practice with a set of AI associates builds software products, content engines, and growth systems together. Not as an experiment. As the actual operating model.
Twenty years of building companies taught me what matters: small teams, clear ownership, and the patience to do it right. The AI layer doesn't replace that — it amplifies it. One person with the right architecture can now do what used to take twenty.
I live in Oslo with my wife and our three children. I sit Vipassana. I build things. That's the practice.
