Mikael Grill, CEO of Polystar, is our latest executive snapshot

Mikael Grill, CEO of Polystar Mikael Grill, CEO of Polystar

What was your first job?

Designing cable-TV networks and making sure they provided the quality that subscribers expected.

What led you into a career in telecoms?

I wanted to start my own business and got the opportunity to resell some test instruments. During those early years we were reselling US brands, primarily to Ericsson and Nokia.

Without naming and shaming, tell us about your worst ever boss.

It must have been during military service. I got to appreciate the challenges with authoritarian clueless leadership.

What has been your worst business travel experience?

It was on an early business trip to Japan. When leaving for the airport, I asked for a changing room and was directed to the supposedly empty board-room. While my pants were at my ankles, the board of directors entered the room. It was the only time I ever shook hands with senior managers in my underwear, but at least I had a tie on! It was amazing how they pretended not to notice so I shouldn’t lose face.

What has been the proudest moment in your career?

I hope it is yet to come. There’s really no single event, but I generally get proud every time we launch something new and innovative.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

I’ll still be running Polystar. The ambition is that Polystar will be recognised for supplying the market with the coolest and most innovative solutions available. (And hopefully I will have lost a bit of weight.)

More articles about Polystar on VanillaPlus:
Why CSPs must focus on the most profitable customers
CSPs must capitalise fully on the surge of big data from new services, such as VoLTE – What do they need to do?

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