One man, three hats
(and a solid network)

Hovgaard Ventures is me, Erlend. I’ve spent 14 years helping companies improve and grow, or create and scale — building hard-won expertise across corporates and startups.

I run a lean venture studio and innovation consultancy. I handle strategy, design, and venture building myself — and bring in trusted designers, developers, and domain experts when extra capacity or skills are needed.

You won’t get an army of juniors. You’ll get me, myself and I, with sleeves rolled up, plus exactly the people the job requires.

Work experience

  • Founder, Hovgaard Ventures (2025– ): Venture studio, consulting and angel investments.

  • Partner, Reodor Studios (2021–2025): Scaling the studio, leading innovation and venture building project with corporates and startups.

  • Design Director, Designit (2015–2021): Team manager, headed service and business design projects across industries.

  • Customer Experience Consultant, Creuna/Knowit (2011–2015): Leading and executing B2B projects within strategy and digital innovation.

Education

  • MA, Service Design and Innovation,
    Laurea University

  • MBA, Strategy & Entrepreneurship,
    Quantic School of Business & Technology

  • Diploma, Qualitative Research,
    London School of Economics

  • BSc, Management, Bayes Business School

Core skills

  • Product management and development

  • Service design and user experience

  • Strategy and business model design

  • User and market research

  • Prototyping and testing

  • Sustainability and circular economy