How I Started And Grew A Strategy Execution Platform

In this interview series by Website Planet, I invite online business leaders to reveal how they identified and solved the most urgent problems in their fields, How they stand out even in the most competitive markets, and how they’re positioning themselves for the future. A condemned playbook backed by decades of experience and data to help you validate your ideas, position your solution, and find the best growth levers. 

Ulf Arnetz is a prominent Swedish entrepreneur and founder and CEO of Howwe Technologies, an execution software. 

His entrepreneurial success spanning several decades includes founding Springlife and leading several startups that were sold to NASDAQ-listed companies, as well as serving on the boards of several successful companies, including DICE and MSAB. He has been recognized on Deloitte’s Fast 500 list as one of the world’s fastest-growing companies, and authored multiple books on business strategy, contributing to over 20 articles in the field. 

Can you tell us about your professional background and the problems you solve with your company?

I’ve always been entrepreneurial, my journey in software began during my first year of Master’s studies at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. Over the years, I’ve founded several companies, with successful exits to NASDAQ-listed companies in the U.S. I’ve since focused on solving one of the biggest challenges businesses face today—executing strategies effectively. 

Howwe Technologies bridges the gap between strategy and execution. Too often, companies have great ideas but struggle to implement them in a way that delivers tangible results. Our platform helps executives and their teams move beyond planning and focus on real-time execution, providing a clear view of progress and performance across the organization. 

 

What are your numbers right now in terms of revenue, customers, and traffic?

We started in Sweden, where Howwe Technologies is already the go-to tool for CEOs looking to execute their strategies more efficiently, and have seen rapid growth both in the US and in Australia and New Zealand in the last year. 

Our clients have seen a return on investment of 8-10x within 12 months, and we’re expanding into new markets to replicate this success globally. 

What unique features and capabilities do you think make you really stand out? Can you share metrics or stories that show the difference you’re making?

We focus on giving executives a predictive, real-time view of their organization’s performance to understand the direct impact activities have on company-wide goals. This allows CEOs to move from traditional, retrospective data analysis to proactive, forward-looking decision-making. For example, one of our clients was able to increase revenue by $120 million within a year by implementing our platform to streamline their initiatives and improve cross-functional collaboration. In short, what makes Howwe Technologies stand out is its ability to simplify the complexity of strategy execution. 

Howwe stands for “How We” as a company could do better according to the decided plan. It’s not just about the CEO and management, it’s even more important that the application supports team leaders and employees so they feel time and stress are released and they feel more involved. With Howwe, the Employee Satisfaction Score improves alongside individual and organizational self-confidence. 

What are the biggest challenges your company has overcome since its founding? If you had to start over, what would you do differently?

One of the biggest challenges we faced early on was convincing executives to adopt a completely new way of managing strategy execution and transformation. Many were accustomed to using outdated tools like Excel, which didn’t offer the real-time insights necessary for today’s fast-paced business environment. Gaining their trust and proving the value of our platform took time. 

If I had to start over, I would have focused on educating potential clients earlier, showing them how much time and money they could save with a tool like Howwe. Getting people to see the long-term benefits of changing their systems is key. 

What are the most powerful and easy-to-apply tactics that helped you quickly increase revenue and traffic? What metrics did they move and by how much? Great if you could share an example for each.

One of the most effective tactics we implemented early on was focusing heavily on customer success. By ensuring that our clients see real results quickly, we’ve been able to build strong relationships, which naturally leads to word-of-mouth growth. This not only increased our retention rates but also brought in new clients through referrals. 

Additionally, making our platform easy to integrate into existing systems has been crucial. We know executives are busy and can’t afford lengthy onboarding processes, so we designed Howwe to be user-friendly, allowing companies to start seeing results almost immediately. 

What emerging trends and technologies will impact your industry the most in the next few years, and how do you suggest getting ready for these changes?

AI is set to be a game-changer in the strategic execution and transformation space. One of our unique modules in Howwe is a role-based library that makes the strategy or plan more understandable, actionable, and measurable per role. During the last year, we have worked with AI, and just recently integrated AI with the role-based library – you could say we made AI workable in a mid-size or large organization. 

In the next five years, AI will likely start to take on more complex roles, moving beyond simple data collection to help leaders make more informed, strategic decisions. To get ready for this shift, companies need to be open to adopting AI-driven tools that can enhance their capabilities rather than viewing AI as a threat. 

If there was one unconventional piece of advice you wish aspiring online entrepreneurs could bring home from this interview, what would it be?

Make sure you take time off. In Sweden, we believe a great CEO isn’t one who never takes a vacation but one who delegates effectively and knows how to recharge. It’s important to maintain balance because that’s when creativity and innovation happen. If you can build a company where your absence doesn’t lead to chaos, that’s a sign of great leadership.