For several years now, 'Løvens Hule' has been pretty much the only TV program I've consistently set time aside to watch, even as I’ve been busy running Watery. It's only natural—I’ve seen myself in many of the entrepreneurs who've appeared on the show, and I've actually known quite a few of them.
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Yet despite this, it never really crossed my mind to take part myself with Watery. In fact, I didn’t even register in time for this season’s application.
But one autumn day, as I was out in the warehouse packing orders, I had one of those sudden impulses that just wouldn’t let go. I’m sure many of you know the feeling. Suddenly, it was so obvious: I had to try my hand at 'Løvens Hule'.
And I needed to do it right then and there.
Within ten minutes—before I had time to hesitate or talk myself out of it—I shot off a quick email to the show's team. Honestly, I figured my chance was probably gone anyway, so what did I have to lose by giving it a shot?
I went back to packing the final orders that needed to be shipped before 3:00 PM, and just as I was finishing the very last one, my phone rang. It was the show's executive producer. She’d read my email and thought there was something compelling about a young guy with oversized ambitions.
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Long story short, once I signed all the necessary contracts and paperwork, I was able to participate after all. Only then did it really hit me what I’d gotten myself into. So I talked to four or five other entrepreneurs in my network who knew Watery well, asking about things like company valuation, what to highlight in my pitch (since I’d never made one before and had never gone looking for investors), and what I actually wanted to get out of the experience.
On filming day, I drove to Copenhagen alone—not knowing what to expect. With so little time, I didn’t get to make any studio props, so I simply brought a big bag full of our own swimming products, including our popular Watery swim caps.
When I arrived in the studio, I was met with around 10–15 cameras and probably twice as many staff. I was led backstage so the lions wouldn’t see me before my entrance down the famous stairs. But first, there was a short pre-interview about my expectations for the experience. I tried to come across as confident and clear, but inside, I truly didn’t feel settled—my mind was racing.
Just before stepping out in front of them, the nerves really hit me. Even though I’ve spoken about entrepreneurship and e-commerce in front of 500–600 people before, this was totally different—this was my business being validated. It was my own venture I'd been pouring 70–80 hours a week into for the last two years, putting it ahead of family, friends, and school. So many people had helped me with Watery, investing countless, thankless hours. The weight of that was enormous.
But down the stairs I went, greeted everyone just as my mom taught me, and then focused all my energy on delivering my prepared pitch (fun fact: I wrote it the night before and tried it out in front of a friend for the first time on the very morning I left for Copenhagen). The opening lines made me the most nervous, since I’d changed my valuation and the seeked amount only hours beforehand.
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All or nothing—I got through the pitch, and then came the part I’d been most excited about: all the questions from the lions. Ahead of time, one of last year's contestants had sent me a list of the 100 most commonly asked questions. I answered each of them in a Word doc so I’d be ready for anything. The questions covered everything from:
- How big is the swimming market? (A: It's Denmark's third largest sport, with 228,000 club members)
- Which countries will Watery expand to? (A: First Sweden in a few months, then Norway and the Netherlands)
- What's Watery’s cost per acquisition on Google Ads? (A: That’s a secret—my competitors are probably reading this!)
- Why am I the right person to crack the code for swimming gear online? (A: I’m a former elite swimmer with over 10 years’ experience and I have a background in online business)
- How much outside capital has been invested? (A: 0 kr.)
And so on.
Pretty quickly, I got a feeling for how things would go—which only sent my thoughts racing while I stood perfectly still on my mark.
What actually happened in the studio and how it all turned out? You’ll have to tune in tonight to find out!
Once it was over, I found out my time with the lions had lasted just 22 minutes. I was expecting to be in there for at least an hour, but time just flew by.
And then, out of the blue, Lars Løkke (yes, the Prime Minister!) stopped by—apparently, he’d watched my whole pitch from backstage. We chatted briefly (and I managed to mention that the Prime Minister's office—so ultimately him—had refused my application to start Watery two years ago. He agreed that wasn’t good enough and promised to look into it. But best of all, he promised to buy his next swim trunks from me. Still waiting on that order though…)
After an hour, I got back in my car, called my parents, and headed home to Horsens—because there were more packages from all of you waiting to be packed the very next day.