Victor Nilsson

Partner @WilsonSonsini | Co-Head of Nordic Desk

[Victor Nilsson @VTNilsson]

@charles_maddock It’s Strawberry season! 🍓

[Victor Nilsson @VTNilsson]

@yuris Same question for people replying “confirming receipt” to emails, and even more so when their reply already says literally anything else…

[Victor Nilsson @VTNilsson]

@bernhardsson Said every lawyer ever 😄

[Victor Nilsson @VTNilsson]

👏👏👏 The Silicon Valley of Europe

[Jessica Rosencrantz @Rosencrantz_J]

Moderaterna vill att Sverige ska vara Europas Silicon Valley.

Därför presenterar statsminister Ulf Kristersson och jag idag i Dagens industri två nya moderata vallöften för att cementera Sverige som Europas ledande technation:

• Ett världsledande program för personaloptioner
• Se över visumregler, som kan innebära ett riktat tech- och talangvisum

Sverige har länge legat allra längst fram, med framstående innovationer, hårt arbetande entreprenörer och startups. Det ska vi vara stolta över. Men vi kan inte luta oss tillbaka om vi vill vara bäst också i framtiden.

På min techturné under våren har samma tydliga budskap kommit från alla de bolag jag träffat: Sverige måste bli bättre på att attrahera världsledande kompetens och få fler talanger att stanna här och bygga framtidens företag.

Systemet för personaloptioner måste göras om, så att snabbväxande techbolag inte växer ur dem på kort tid.

Regler för visum behöver ses över för att bättre svara upp mot techbranschens behov. Det måste gå snabbare och vara enklare. Sverige ska vara den självklara destinationen för spetskompetens inom tech.

Sverige ska inte bara ha en stark techscen. Vi ska vara bäst, i dag och i morgon. Moderaterna är redo att göra de reformer som krävs för att nå dit. Vi ska vara Europas Silicon Valley. En plats där företag vill starta, skala och även stanna.

Läs artikeln i Di här: https://t.co/UpKe7lbZro

[Victor Nilsson @VTNilsson]

@SwedenTheDeal @solvapay tl;dr stockholmmaxxing in the AI era

[Victor Nilsson @VTNilsson]

Hej Stockholm — “the Silicon Valley of Europe is up for grabs.”

Last week was truly one for the books. Let’s recap:

Fresh off their pre-seed round, our client @solvapay hosted a super interesting event on the agentic economy. They are building the financial rails for this new economy with customers that never sleep and transact at a scale the old rails were never designed for. Change has never been this fast and will never be this slow again. 🤯

Next we hosted a dinner for a special group of Swedish founders and operators to explore scaling and exiting through M&A. Much like Silicon Valley founders, we’re seeing Swedish founders optimize for high-growth scale over early sale, using venture financings and strategic acquisitions to become category leaders.

Wednesday took the week to another level with @ycombinator hosting a massively oversubscribed event. Three years ago there were 50 people at a YC event in Stockholm. This time there were 1,300 people from all over Europe, and many more on the waitlist. More Swedish startups have gone through YC in the past couple of years than prior years combined. The momentum is real.

Two themes hit close to home as @gustaf and @paulg spoke. Going to Silicon Valley and returning to Stockholm to pay it forward is a key part of how we continue to develop Stockholm into “the Silicon Valley of Europe.” After two decades on each side of the Atlantic, that’s exactly what I aspire to do as a Swedish Silicon Valley lawyer. The success of this ecosystem is deeply personal to me and I couldn’t be prouder of what’s taking shape here.

But we should also recognize that this is a unique moment in time for Stockholm. Every ecosystem player needs to pull together to keep accelerating and avoid the plateauing of past cycles.

And then we co-hosted the official afterparty for YC. Probably the most talent-dense party in Europe that night. Great to see many new and familiar faces. Big things coming. 👀

Capping off the week with a @nullfellows event at @SSEBusinessLab. Really cool to see this impressive Finnish team bring together cohorts of world-class fellows that will build our future. Also super nice to see @sophianabilg and reminisce about the @Lovable hackathon we hosted earlier this year at our firm’s Silicon Valley HQ.

Many scheduled and serendipitous meetings too. Recurring questions from Swedish founders: Should we flip to Delaware? What do US VCs look for? Does management need to move to the US or can we build from Stockholm? Does everyone really sue each other all the time in the US? (On that last one, yes, and managing that dynamic typically makes the role of your US lawyer quite different.)

Top of my wishlist for next time: a real Dalacorn — part Swedish classic Dalahäst, part $1B unicorn.

Vi ses snart igen! 🇸🇪

[Victor Nilsson @VTNilsson]

@charles_maddock Snusmumriken power move

[Victor Nilsson @VTNilsson]

@HarryStebbings Flashback to @MaxJunestrand telling 1300+ people at the YC event in Stockholm a couple days ago that they are out-working everyone to win. Do whatever it takes to do your life’s work.

[Victor Nilsson @VTNilsson]

@FredrikHjelm4 100%. If you know you know and I couldn’t be prouder of our countrymen’s success. Thrilled to pay it forward by helping bridge their access to U.S. capital and commercial markets.

[Victor Nilsson @VTNilsson]

@GEVS94 The momentum in Silicon Valhalla is real 🇸🇪💪

[Victor Nilsson @VTNilsson]

@OliverMolander Exactly. Common sense that greater effort typically expands your surface area of luck.

[Victor Nilsson @VTNilsson]

A prime example of the Nordic flywheel, turning faster and faster every day! ♻️

[Anton Osika @antonosika]

I was the first employee at Sana, which was just acquired for $1.1B.

I spent three years there before leaving, and it was one of the most important chapters of my career. I learned more than I ever expected and had the chance to work with some truly great people.

Congratulations to the team on this milestone.

At Lovable, we're doubling down on what made Sana special: building an exceptional culture.

[Victor Nilsson @VTNilsson]

@antonosika Möten bokas av gammal vana, ownership utvecklas av design. Det är nyckeln till att behålla DNA:t när teamet växer och särskilt över tidszoner.

[Victor Nilsson @VTNilsson]

@klarnaseb Love it! Klarnas monumentala succé är musik i mina öron som IPO-advokat i USA och sherpa för andra svenska bolag som följer i era fotspår. STORT grattis, Sebastian! 💪🇸🇪

[Victor Nilsson @VTNilsson]

@SaidHaschemi 👓 > 🕶️

[Victor Nilsson @VTNilsson]

@antonosika is a generational Swedish founder. @lovable’s growth story is remarkable, and its impact on the Nordic startup ecosystem will be transformative. Truly inspiring.

[Victor Nilsson @VTNilsson]

@bernhardsson Exakt!

[Victor Nilsson @VTNilsson]

@bernhardsson De får iallafall ta sig igenom hela det svenska alfabetet först - Series Å, Ä, Ö, here we come! 🇸🇪💪

[Victor Nilsson @VTNilsson]

@alighodsi Wow nästan halvvägs genom alfabetet nu! Stort grattis @alighodsi!