That’s when you see just how inefficient the workflow is.
Bjarte Laa
From festival work to an award-winning business idea
As a technical manager at festivals, Bjarte Laa (23) saw first-hand how much time was lost because of fragmented and poorly organised information. Now, the NHH student and his co-founders have won NOK 200,000 for Livespec, named Western Norway’s best student business idea.
At OPP Innovation Week last week, Bjarte Laa and his co-founders Zebastian Rødsten and Tarjei Jensen Gåsvik came out on top in the competition for Western Norway’s best student business idea. Livespec aims to make it easier to coordinate information and logistics for stage productions.
Bjarte Laa is in the second year of his bachelor’s degree at NHH. At just 23, he has already gained considerable work experience.
‘I’ve always worked. Growing up on a farm, I have been involved in the work for as long as I can remember,’ he says.
Laa set up his own sole trader business at the age of 15, with permission from the authorities because he was so young. He can also add festival director of the local rock festival Sundreball in his home town of Ål to his CV.
Growing frustration
It was his experience from Sundreball, as well as working as a technical manager at several other festivals, that gave him the idea for Livespec. The software platform and app are designed to make it easier to coordinate information and improve logistics for stage productions.
Having worked as a technical project manager at several festivals, he became increasingly frustrated with the way things were organised.
‘You see how inefficient the workflow is. Every artist arrives with their own lists, requirements and specifications, all in different formats, and then we have to try to piece everything together,’ says Bjarte Laa.
That frustration led to the idea for Livespec, an app that allows everyone involved in a stage production to enter and coordinate information and requirements in one place.
At this year’s OPP Innovation Week, the idea earned the team NOK 200,000 in prize money from Agenda Vestlandet, as well as services worth NOK 50,000 from VIS.
Makes studying more interesting
Combining life as an award-winning entrepreneur with being an NHH student gives Laa a clear perspective on the value of what he learns during his studies. At the same time, his experience from Livespec gives him practical insights to bring back into the classroom.
‘The work makes my studies more interesting. I now understand the theory behind what we are actually doing in practice,’ he says.
He also highlights his management courses as particularly relevant to his work with Livespec, and regularly brings new ideas from his studies into the company.
‘The management courses and learning how to build teams are really interesting, and the theories we study are relevant,’ says the entrepreneur.
Within three years, Livespec should provide us with a decent living.
Bjarte Laa
The goal is to make it his full-time job
The plans for Livespec’s next phase are already in place. The product was tested at several festivals during this year’s festival season, and next year the team aims to have paying customers.
‘Within three years, Livespec should provide us with a decent living,’ he says.
‘There are 2,800 potential customers in Norway, and our ambition is to take the product international,’ says Bjarte Laa.
The jury for the best student business idea included representatives from VIS and Agenda Vestlandet. In its assessment, the jury highlighted Laa and his two co-founders’ ability to execute and their understanding of the market.
‘They have a strong understanding of the problem they are trying to solve because they have experienced it themselves,’ the jury concluded.