Loops amplify profitability
I’m Jasper – former Microsoft director with 25+ years at the company, part of the team that turned a perpetual-licence software line into a SaaS business now serving over 45 000 customers, millions of users, and growing usage more than 75 per cent year-on-year.Today I advise CxOs on the same pivot to recurring revenue. Using Systems Thinking, we pinpoint the two or three feedback loops quietly governing your growth — then tune them into profit and valuation gains you can prove.The instinct is to act. My first counsel: pause and think – because slowing down is how you go faster. Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.
Think slow – act fast
There are infinite ways to deploy your resources – people, processes, capital, technology.
Without a shared story and a proven method, that infinity turns into costly, slow trial-and-error.Think slow – map the organisation as an interconnected living system. Surface the feedback loops that hold you back and identify the leverage points that pull you forward.Act fast – commit capital to a tightly focused, well-thought-out initiative. Validate impact in short cycles – then scale only what moves the P&L.You are unique – and you’re in good company. Others have cleared the same hurdles. Tap their hard-won lessons and move faster than working alone.
Your partner for growth
Shifting to Everything-as-a-Service (XaaS) reshapes technology, product, and revenue all at once. I provide the strategic advice that aligns those threads – so your pivot to recurring revenue lands cleanly across the organisation.I’ve led this transition multiple times – guiding companies from perpetual licences to subscription engines that scale with demand. That experience helps you decide faster and your teams execute with conviction.When a challenge reaches beyond my core domain, I tap a trusted international network of senior experts – keeping risk low and momentum high.I’m not here to stay forever. I transfer the playbook, embed the right feedback loops, and step away while your teams scale the next growth curve.
About me
I hold a Master of Science in Engineering from the Technical University of Denmark, along with executive education in business management and innovation from Stanford University, University of Indiana, INSEAD (France), and SIMI Executive Programmes (now CBS).I spent over 25 years at Microsoft – two decades in leadership – working across strategy, product development, technical sales, and public affairs.Over the years, I’ve led international teams, guided change, and made high-stakes decisions – in fast-moving markets, with large enterprises, small organisations, and everything in between – across both the private and public sectors, and sometimes under intense public scrutiny.I was part of the senior product leadership team that transformed Dynamics NAV – a successful on-premise product – into what is now the global SaaS platform Dynamics 365 Business Central. That work gave me firsthand experience with the real challenges of moving to SaaS – including the importance of strong alignment, inspiring leadership, and strategic clarity.For almost a decade, I sat on the Microsoft Denmark leadership team through the pivotal years when Microsoft shifted from traditional licence sales to a cloud-first, everything-as-a-service model. During that time, I also served as national spokesperson on technology policy, working closely with government and contributing to the broader public discourse.I stay deeply engaged in how technology shapes society – and I’m always learning: from books, from people, and from the hard work of thinking clearly – seeking and aspiring to phronesis.In 2025, I founded Etara ApS to help organisations navigate what’s next – when the path isn’t obvious, and the decisions really matter.
What I do
Why
Start from right to left – begin with the outcome and work backwards. Clarify the why so every stakeholder is aligned before a single euro is spent.Map the system
Expose the feedback loops that silently shape your growth trajectory.Find the leverage
Identify the two or three leverage points where a small move shifts the metrics that matter – revenue, churn, time-to-value, and more.Advise on critical bets
From business architecture and pricing to AI-enabled services, I advise on high-stakes decisions – replacing guesswork with informed conviction.Shape the partner model
Decide where to go direct and where to scale through trusted partners – design the channel mix, incentives, and governance that accelerate adoption without eroding margin.Embed capability
Transfer the playbook to your teams, anchor metrics to the new loops, and secure momentum long after I’ve left the room.Act fast, prove value
Commit capital only when the logic is rock-solid, execute in tight cycles, validate impact in the next board pack, and scale what moves the P&L.
What others say...
"I had the pleasure of collaborating with Jasper as part of an international leadership team for Azure Customer Engineering at Microsoft.Jasper consistently brings a comprehensive perspective to any situation and facilitates thoughtful discussions to consider additional crucial aspects when necessary.He introduces novel and alternative viewpoints in a non-confrontational manner, promoting collaboration within the leadership team while striving for action, progress, and sustainable business success.Jasper contributes substantial experience to any team, and his sense of humor makes him fun and enjoyable to work with"- Julia Nathan, Microsoft Corp, USA.
Is this you?
You’re part of the senior leadership team at an upper mid-market or larger organisation. Results are solid – but momentum is slipping, and complexity is rising. The board is pushing for a sustainable recurring-revenue model.Perhaps you’re weighing a pivot to Everything-as-a-Service, deciding where AI belongs, or untangling tech-debt that quietly erodes margin.Maybe you’re consolidating after a merger, working to align teams, systems, and offerings under a shared direction.That’s where I come in.
Clarity, purpose, and conviction
Strategy isn’t a plan – it’s a guiding story. One that aligns leadership, clarifies priorities, and creates space for meaningful conversation, collaboration, and innovation.Thinking in systems gives that story a map – revealing which feedback loops to amplify, which to dampen, and where a single, well-placed move can turn motion into momentum.
Need a fresh perspective at a critical moment?
Start the conversation – a clear, candid conversation about direction, alignment, feedback loops, leverage points, and what’s next.
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: +45 40 90 41 68
© Etara ApS. All rights reserved.
Thank you!
Thank you — I appreciate you reaching out. I’ll get back to you shortly, and I look forward to the conversation.
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: +45 40 90 41 68
© Etara ApS. All rights reserved.
Need a fresh perspective at a critical moment?
Let’s talk – no sales pitch, just a clear conversation about where you’re going and how to get there.
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: +45 40 90 41 68
© Etara ApS. All rights reserved.
Jens Munch Lund-NielsenHead of Trade & Supply Chains, IOTA FoundationCo-founder of TWINFormer head of Enabling Trade programme
A. P. Møller - Maersk
"He listens carefully, thinks clearly, and has that rare ability to move between technical depth and big-picture strategy without losing sight of either"
"I work in the complex space of international trade – most recently with the intersection of trade, policy, and blockchain technology. It’s not a space that’s easy to drop into. But Jasper is one of the few people I’ve met who can not only understand it – he can engage with it strategically.I’ve known Jasper for many years, and every time we’ve interacted, I’ve come away with sharper insight and better questions. He listens carefully, thinks clearly, and has that rare ability to move between technical depth and big-picture strategy without losing sight of either.If you’re looking for a strategic partner who can help you navigate what’s next – especially when the terrain is unfamiliar or complex – I can give Jasper my strongest endorsement."
"Focus on the right things to create a positive reaction to change"
"Jasper has extremely good technical knowledge, across multiple domains and technologies, but I think he's greatest strength is his leadership, combined with the dedication for his team.He's always open and available if you need guidance, showing emotional intelligence and empathy.Jasper is also a visionary and leads by example, providing clarity and aligning the team with the directionHe can also easily adapt and focus on the right things in his team, in order to create a positive reaction to change.Jasper's ability to inspire and motivate, together with his impressive decision-making skills and strategical thinking make him an exceptional, strong leader for any team."
Laura GhimpeteanuSenior Engineer,
Microsoft Germany
Some of the organizations I’ve Worked With:
| Skills | Proficiency |
|---|---|
| Advising Executive Teams | ●●●●● |
| Product Strategy & Execution | ●●●●○ |
| Team Development & Coaching | ●●●●● |
| Systems Thinking | ●●●●● |
| Cross-Domain Fluency | ●●●●○ |
| SaaS & Cloud Architecture | ●●●●● |
| Hands-on Technical Consulting | ●●●●○ |
| Technical Depth (incl. Programming) | ●●●●○ |
Skills are self-assessed on a 5-point scale, where ●●●●● represents deep, demonstrated expertise – and ●●●●○ reflects strong experience and the judgment to involve others when it adds value.
Need a fresh perspective at a critical moment?
Let’s talk – no sales pitch, just a clear conversation about where you’re going and how to get there.
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: +45 40 90 41 68
© Etara ApS. All rights reserved.
The strategic imparative for incumbents
In today’s evolving market, established companies often find themselves at a crossroads. Particularly when launching innovative new products or services that reflect deeper shifts in technology, market dynamics, or customer expectations.Cloud, XaaS, AI – resets the rules. Established companies must decide whether to keep optimising today’s engine or step onto a new growth curve with unfamiliar dynamics and higher uncertainty.
The S-Curve of adoption
The S-curve is a useful way to visualize the adoption lifecycle of a product or technology: slow early growth, rapid acceleration, and eventual maturity.Most successful companies operate their core business near the top of this curve. Their structures, processes, and incentives are designed to optimize incrementally on what already works – with a focus on consistency, efficiency, and continuous improvements.But launching a new product – particularly one that’s fundamentally different – often means returning to the starting point of a new S-curve. The rules are different here. Efficiency gives way to exploration. Alignment gives way to ambiguity. And mature organizations can find themselves struggling to adapt.What worked to scale the last success may offer an important spring board for what's next, but it also comes with it's unique set of challenges and internal contradictions.
New ideas may fail solely because existing feedback loops dampen them before they get a chance to take hold — failing because they’re introduced into systems not designed to support them.
The alignment challenge
Introducing a new offering isn’t just a market or technology challenge. It’s an organizational one.Metrics, funding rhythms, and decision rights are tuned for the core business’s feedback loops. A new offer competes for oxygen in a system wired to maintain the status quo – unless leadership intentionally retunes these feedback loops that govern attention, budget, and legitimacy.Without a clear, well-articulated strategy and a firm understanding of the overall system, even good ideas struggle. New efforts get pulled back toward the gravitational center of the core business. Instead of momentum, you get friction. Instead of progress, dilution.
Strategy as loop design
Strategy isn’t simply a plan; it’s a guiding narrative and an deep understanding of which feedback loops to amplify and which to dampen and what leverage points to push to turn desired change into reality.An effective guiding narrative is one that aligns leadership, clarifies priorities, and creates space for something new to emerge. When the narrative is clear and shared, leadership can align resources flow, and exploration has space to breathe.A strong strategy doesn’t just explain what’s happening. It explains why it matters. It makes assumptions explicit and shared. And it gives people a reason to act and a critical context for doing the important planning work that follows.
Principles for system-level innovation
Every organization is different. But for organizations seeking to innovate meaningfully, a few recurring principles stand out:Separate, but connected:
Create dedicated teams for new initiatives – with enough autonomy to move, but enough connection to benefit from the broader organization.Measure what matters now:
Traditional performance indicators may not apply in the context of the new. Redesigning metrics that reflect the stage, goals, and realities of the new effort is imperative.Leadership visibility:
When leadership champions the strategy – consistently, visibly, inclusively it sends a powerful signal. Not just to teams, but to the whole organization.Cultural safety:
Encourage experimentation, tolerate the inevitable early stumbles, and reward learning. Strategic innovation depends as much on mindset as on execution.
In closing
Innovation inside established firms requires strategic clarity and is a systems problem before it is a product problem.Map the feedback loops, pick the leverage points, craft the narrative – then the new S-curve can compound instead of colliding with the old one.It’s not just about building something new – it’s about building the conditions in which new things can thrive to create space for movement, alignment for action, and a path from complexity to conviction.
Need a fresh perspective at a critical moment?
Let’s talk – no sales pitch, just a clear conversation about where you’re going and how to get there.
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: +45 40 90 41 68
© Etara ApS. All rights reserved.
