About
Carl-Fredrik Wållgren.
Goes by Keke.
I was around 10 when I discovered how much fun programming can be. A new computer lab, a teacher with infectious enthusiasm, and the imagination of a kid paired with QBasic. Sure, I might have wrecked a machine (or two) but I also managed to build small games and a really crappy graphics editor.
The love for tech has been with me ever since. A curious tinkerer. But I didn't follow the expected route of a CS degree. Starting a Junior Achievement company in high school gave me a taste for building not just products but businesses — and that pulled me toward a MSc in Business Administration instead.
At first, studying business felt like studying common sense. But it also gave me insight into how businesses were built. My studies also brought me out into the world; first to Japan and then to Korea. These semesters were golden for a student hungry to learn more about the world we live in. They taught me to stay curious and humble when met with new perspectives. In hindsight, majoring in marketing feels inevitable. I fell for it being the discipline where everything connects. It sits at the core of business.
Pretty soon I found myself in a startup at the frontier of what people were starting to call SaaS and MarTech: Mynewsdesk. Joining a small crew with big ideas felt like coming home. It taught me how companies are actually built as I held roles across almost every function; from sales and operations to product and marketing. My approach is marketing at the core: connect brand and revenue, build the engine, then scale it. I see a world where challenges are opportunities and where there’s always something to learn.
Location
Stockholm, Sweden
Specialisms
- Demand generation & inbound growth
- Brand positioning & repositioning
- Full-funnel & ABM
- PLG & product-led growth
- Go-to-market strategy
- Marketing leadership & team building
Contact
keke@waallgren.seCareer
Head of Acquisition & Growth → Marketing Director
Joined post-Series B with a mandate to build the marketing function properly. Starting in demand generation and expanding across the full function — brand, content, ABM, paid, events, PLG, and sales development. Inbound share of sales-led revenue grew from below 50% to around 70%. PLG business grew 20% with AOV up 25%. Grew the ethical hacker community 50%. Part of the working group for brand repositioning from security tool to category contender in application security. 55M → 155M SEK ARR over the engagement, all grown without acquisitions.
CMO
First marketing leadership hire at an EdTech company with new PE backing and an acceleration mandate. Built the positioning platform, demand generation capability, and marketing function from scratch. Launched a new website with always-on campaigns generating leads for sales and partner channels. Implemented full-funnel analytics and scalable digital processes. Navigated international expansion across EMEA and the PlagScan acquisition. 30M → 65M SEK ARR over the engagement.
Head of Demand Generation
Returned to Mynewsdesk in a leadership capacity. Built the demand generation programme from scratch and delivered 30–60% inbound revenue growth year-on-year. Co-created the brand positioning and value proposition. Part of the leadership team behind "Give A Beep" — a campaign created for customer Hövding, awarded at Cannes Lion, D&AD, Drum, Guldägget, SPINN, 100-Wattaren, and Webby.
Demand Generation Manager
Globally responsible for marketing automation, search and social media marketing, lifecycle marketing, and outsourced sales development. Co-created the content and online strategies. Projectplace was acquired by Planview (backed by Insight Partners) in 2014 — stayed through the transition to roll out lifecycle marketing for the US and Swedish PLG business unit.
Sales, CSM, Operations, Product & Marketing
Joined as company hire #15 and grew with the business as it scaled from a small Stockholm startup to over 100 people across five countries. Worked across almost every function over five years — an education in how companies are actually built. Part of the founding team behind what later became The Nordic PR Awards. ARR grew from approximately 5M to 100M SEK during this period.
Education
Berghs School of Communication
Executive education — PR and brand strategy
Stockholm
Yonsei University
Exchange programme in business and economics
Seoul, South Korea
Kansai Gaidai University
Exchange programme in language and business
Osaka, Japan
Jönköping University
MSc in Business Administration
Jönköping, Sweden