At the orphanage, they called Jacob Risgaard a dandelion child. A child that can grow anywhere, no matter how poor the conditions are and how much resistance it faces.

It has proven to be true.

From the outside, the story of the 42-year-old serial entrepreneur and investor is incredible.

Jacob Risgaard is now a co-founder of several successful companies in areas such as software, robotics, logistics, and especially e-commerce. At the center is the nine-figure business Coolshop, which Jacob Risgaard co-founded in 2004 as a small wholesale company and has since helped elevate to the Nordic answer to amazon.com.

The orphanage has been replaced with a large villa by the beach in Frederikshavn with his partner and two children. And not only that, these days he appears on national TV as the new "lion" in "Løvens Hule". Jacob Risgaard has become a role model.

Rewind 30 years, and no one could have predicted it.

Unruly

30 years earlier, Jacob Risgaard was thrown out of his home by his single mother. She couldn't control her son, who was a boundary-pushing troublemaker.

At the orphanage in Sæby, he was also expelled a few years later. He had grown hemp plants on the windowsill and been a bad influence on the other children.

At 15, he lived alone in a 10-square-meter apartment. Once a week, he submitted fake receipts at the municipal office to get weekly allowances to finance his beer purchases. He didn't finish school before being expelled in the 8th grade.

Perhaps the only one in the country, he held the position of student council president while being expelled. There were early signs that Jacob Risgaard wanted something. It's just that other people shouldn't tell him what. As he himself says:

"I am probably the least authority-respecting person ever because I've never had an authority."

A few years later, he made his first business deal. He imported DVDs from the USA. It went well until that Wednesday in 2000 when he was called to a meeting at the bank. The bank wanted a personal guarantee for his overdraft. The next day, at 23, he went bankrupt with his business. He was left with a debt of 1 million DKK and no education.

I-can't-die

The big questions that arise in the story of Jacob Risgaard are: How is it that a man who has suffered so many defeats hasn't given up long ago? Where does his confidence come from?

"I believe in many ways that the more of a messed-up childhood you've had, the stronger you stand. I developed an 'I-can't-die gene' early on. And I have no education, so I've never learned what can't be done," he explains.

"It's like poker: It's great to get the right cards in hand, but it's about how well you play your cards. I'm far from the smartest. I always say: I'm not good at math, but I'm good at figuring things out."

When he read Malcolm Gladwell's bestseller "Outliers," it came to him as a revelation: That it's a strength to have a background like his. The book describes how many people who have had a near-death experience or a tough upbringing can turn it into a great strength because it changes their life perspective.

"Many people go into life as if life owes them something. That life owes them fun, and it's unfair if it's not. If the starting point is the opposite, you wake up and get goosebumps over how fantastic the weather is and how exciting the day will be. You become grateful."

Fearless

If ADHD had been a thing when Jacob Risgaard was in school, he would probably have been diagnosed. He has tireless energy. At Coolshop's headquarters in Nørresundby, the word "WILDER" is written in huge letters at the entrance. It's the business's mantra.

Jacob Risgaard has no natural stop. Neither when he works nor when he takes one of his fast cars to a racetrack in his free time.

"I'm never afraid of anything. I have no limits. When I race, I'm the first to go off the track because I need to see where the limit is. At some point, it might go wrong for me, so I have to be careful with what I throw myself into."

There was a time when Jacob Risgaard had pushed himself so far that he risked not coming back. For three days, he worked non-stop, with only three hours of sleep in total. His body was close to shutting down completely.

"I've worked so much that I was on the verge of dying from it."

That experience has led Jacob Risgaard to reduce his workload. Today, he wears what he calls an "ugly" Apple smartwatch, which reminds him to take small 3-4 minute breaks throughout the day.

"Even if it's just locking myself in a bathroom. It's about trying to turn off the brain because sometimes it goes into overdrive. Sometimes my cheeks burn because it's going too fast."

"During the filming of Løvens Hule, I eventually had to see a doctor and ask for sleeping pills. When I came back in the evening after a whole day of filming, everything just kept spinning. I can't turn off the power again."

Only good with others

Jacob Risgaard has realized that he can't control his wildness. Because Jacob Risgaard can be almost manic, he relies on being with one or more partners who can balance that imbalance.

"I'm only good in a business when I'm with someone. I shouldn't be CEO. Just the thought of performance reviews makes my hair stand on end."

"I'm good at moving things forward, and I'm really good at sensing what people want. My greatest strength is probably empathy."

The clown as a role model

Jacob Risgaard also has another strength: He's not afraid to fail and be laughed at. That fear was dispelled early in his life by his aunt's husband, former national football player Max Rasmussen, who has his home plastered with pictures of clowns.

"And the clown is actually a really good image. A clown isn't afraid to step into the ring and make a fool of himself to make others happy. He's not afraid to experiment and try to juggle some balls in the air. They might all fall to the ground, and people laugh. But at some point, he'll get good at juggling. I've taken that with me - not taking myself too seriously and daring to go far to make others happy. The clown is my superhero."

 Jacob Risgaard in The Consultant