Jesper Balser

Jesper Balser co-founded Navision in 1984 together with two college friends. Headed by Jesper Balser, the company grew over the next 18 years from a small Scandinavian business to an international provider of business software for medium-sized companies. This growth included a successful stock market IPO in 1999, a well-organized merger with Damgaard in 2000 and culminated with Navision being acquired by Microsoft in 2002. After ensuring a smooth transition from Navision to Microsoft, Balser left the company to pursue other interests.

Preben Damgaard

Preben Damgaard co-founded Damgaard Data A/S in 1983. Its objective was to develop user-friendly integrated enterprise solutions. In October 1999, Damgaard A/S was successfully listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange. The offering was oversubscribed by more than 16 times. As a leading provider of end-to-end e-commerce and collaborative business solutions for medium-sized companies, the new organization boasted a global customer base of more than 121,000 installations and a strong international sales channel of more than 2,000 business partners, a presence in 25 countries and over 1,000 employees. In 2002 in their largest purchase to date, Microsoft Corporation acquired Damgaard/Navision for USD 1.55 billion in cash and shares, thereby founding a new division within Microsoft – Microsoft Business Solutions. Preben Damgaard became Vice President, Europe/Middle East/Africa Operations as well as a member of the European management team at the company’s European headquarters in Paris. In 2003 Preben Damgaard left Microsoft to spend more time with his family and to pursue other interests.