#29 Have You Ever Regretted Selling inUse?
I’m in Lisbon. My wife is attending a conference, and I’m here as her +1. Knowing I’d have plenty of time on my own, I reached out to Bruno Figueiredo before arriving to see if he was up for a coffee. We had never met before, but since we’ve both worked in the same field for years and organized plenty of conferences, I thought we should connect.
Somewhere in the middle of our conversation, Bruno paused, looked at me, and asked:
– Have you ever regretted selling inUse?
For those unfamiliar, inUse was one of Sweden’s most influential UX and Service Design agencies for nearly two decades. I co-founded the company with friends in 2002, sold it in 2017, and stayed on to lead the organization for another two years. When I left, I said goodbye to 134 of Sweden’s most talented researchers, designers, and strategists.
I looked back at Bruno, thinking. Had I?
The Dream of Smart and Sustainable Cities
In the fall of 2015, my colleague Ingrid received a call from a connection at Tactel. They had recently been acquired by Panasonic and had been asked to assist with a Smart and Sustainable Cities program featuring more than 15 initiatives in Denver, CO. Too busy to take it on, and perhaps hesitant due to the stakeholder and change management complexities, they passed the opportunity to us. Nine days later, Kjell Persson, Ingrid Domingues, and Fredrik Påhlman were on the ground in Denver.
We were thrilled. The challenge of transforming Denver into a smart and sustainable city pushed us to the limits of our expertise in designing spaces, services, and organizations. The collaboration with Panasonic was a success. By March 2016, Kjell moved to Denver, and we took on more exciting projects. Merging the digital with the physical and collaborating closely with cities and developers to enhance everyday spaces fascinated us, and we wanted more.
But designing spaces and services for cities required access to people we didn’t yet know. While new areas were meticulously planned, the focus was mostly on physical objects—not on designing the sustainable and desirable services they provided in people’s lives.
We realized that to move beyond our Panasonic projects, we needed strong partners. But it soon became clear that we were too small for the kind of partnerships we were looking for. These companies were more interested in acquiring a firm like inUse than collaborating.
So, we had a choice. From the very beginning, my co-founders and I agreed to always take the path that could create the greatest impact. In this case, that meant shifting our mindset—not just looking for a partner, but a Partner, with a capital P.
Finding the Right Partner
We signed NDAs with nearly 30 companies, ranging from a U.S. tech giant with a physical spaces division to a global IT company with, as we later learned, concerning ties to Belarus. We met with nine and negotiated with three. In the end, I’m convinced we made the best possible choice. Our discussions with AFRY’s leadership were promising, and with their deep expertise in infrastructure and industry, they seemed like the perfect match. They also had a small but incredibly talented team of mainly industrial designers—a huge bonus.
The first year after the acquisition was one of the most interesting in my career. I spent as much time as possible networking, understanding AFRY’s structure, and finding ways to combine our strengths to create something truly unique. The business remained profitable, the team grew, and we continued to deliver work we were incredibly proud of.
But sometime during the second year, I started to realize that, even with the best intentions and great people, it’s incredibly difficult to do new things in old structures. The vision we had for merging the digital and physical never scaled the way we had hoped. And I also recognized that, in those circumstances, I was no longer the right person for the job. So, I left.
So, Do I Regret Selling inUse?
Obviously, things didn’t go as planned. But let me be clear—even though there are things that could have been handled differently by everyone involved (including me) I don’t blame anyone, and I don’t regret trying. We had a dream, and we chased it. All the way.
I’ll admit, leaving inUse felt strange at first. For a huge portion of my working life, everything had revolved around the company, the team, and our mission. So when I left in October 2019, I wasn’t sure what to do with myself. I kept picking up my phone, checking for missed calls, refreshing my inbox—nothing. But that feeling quickly passed. A few months went by, and new ideas emerged. And in February of 2021, Jane and I kicked off our new adventure.
If we hadn’t sold inUse, there would be no Ambition. No Ambition Empower. And these new adventures, this amazing team—they give me more energy and joy than I could ever have imagined.
So, Bruno, no regrets. Just gratitude for all the experiences and the journey—and excitement for whatever lies ahead.