Stig-Are Thrana
The Growth Architect: Driving Business & Product Development, Innovation, and Global Expansion.
a short intro
My name is Stig Thrana, and I am a business strategy artisan, with a true appriciation for great craftmanship. And my specialty? Figuring out the chaos of dynamic markets, and turning vague ideas into a very real businesses.
I do that by advising and leading people with strong integrity, emphaty and my strong business acumen. Where I excel is around these three complex things in between people, technology and business.
I am a business strategist known for my strong ability to spot emerging industry trends and translate them into tangible, transformative growth.
My professional journey, spanning the maritime industry to the cutting-edge space sector, is guided by a core philosophy:
to help companies un/fold & fly, new business
Highlights & Key Achievements
KSAT lite: Intrapreneurship That Built a World-Leading Market Standard
I spotted a global industry in transformation—the NewSpace commercial race—and acted immediately. As the intrapreneur for KSAT lite, I built a product that didn't just serve the market; it defined it. KSAT lite became the industry standard and now accounts for a substantial amount of KSAT’s revenue
Spearheaded groundbreaking internal new ventures
In a management-for-hire role, I successfully facilitated and orchestrated new internal venture lab, including the bold, strategic move to launch Hyper—taking KSAT’s ground stations to space to build a new relay service—with a pipeline of follow-up projects.
Established offices in U.S and Silicon Valley
I was the sole expat sent to establish KSAT’s first US office in Silicon Valley. I handled the entire build-out—from finding real estate to hiring local talent, securing anchor contracts across all sectors, and establishing our brand as the lead representative in the heart of the global space industry.
Innovation Leadership:
I successfully orchestrated new strategic ventures, including the bold, board-backed move to launch Hyper—taking KSAT’s ground stations to space to build a new relay service—with a robust pipeline of transformative follow-up projects.
My management-for-hire role as Head of Innovation was built on the premise that a legacy company can, and must, behave like a startup. I utilized my experience as the original intrapreneur behind KSAT lite to fundamentally reshape the department's strategy.
My goal was clear: set up better conditions and facilitate success for the next wave of internal founders. I led the charge to set a new, revenue-focused direction with the team, which included supporting the acquisition of Vake and launching an internal venture lab.
Extra credits due to the new wave of internal founders who drove the execution of these initiatives with incredible precision.
Furthermore through this work, I was at the forefront of new strategic initiatives, including both M&A and groundbreaking JV opportunities. This leadership culminated in the bold, board-backed move to launch Hyper and securing a pipeline of transformative new ventures.
Orchestrating the Next Wave of Groundbreaking Ventures
Link to KSAT.no | Photo: NASA through Unsplash
Strategic Advisory:
Spotting the Next Generation of AI Startups
I leveraged my experience in product building and success in product-market fit to commercial space/startup industry to advise and mentor Vake, an Satellite AI maritime surveillance startup.
Vake ended up in a M&A event that I would later support from KSAT.
After years leading strategic growth and global expansion at KSAT, I returned to Norway to found my own company, Orizuru. One of my very first customers was Vake, a promising pre-seed AI startup focused on revolutionizing maritime surveillance.
I was immediately impressed by the team's technical vision. My role quickly evolved into mentoring the CEO through the most critical phase: trying to find a solid product-market fit.
That intimate, strategic knowledge allowed me better to support KSAT's subsequent acquisition of a majority share in Vake later.
Link to Vake.ai | Photo: Korie Jenkins through Unsplash
Establishing KSAT in U.S. & Silicon Valley
The immense success of the KSAT lite initiative created a clear strategic imperative: to protect and sustain that rapid global growth, we had to establish a permanent presence in KSATs biggest and most dynamic market.
I took the lead on this critical international expansion. The mission was to establish KSAT’s first intercontinental office in the U.S., planted directly in Silicon Valley—the ultimate tech startup hub and and the nucleus of the space tech startups that were signing up for our service.
I approached this not as an administrative opening, but as a full, aggressive bootstrapping mandate.
As the first and only expat sent, I was responsible for launching everything from the ground up. I planted our flag firmly in the ground, recruiting exceptional local talent, I was serving as the official face and key speaker at major conferences, and, most importantly, aggressively selling and securing solid, multi-sector contracts to immediately establish our anchor revenue base. This demonstrated my ability to execute complex international expansion, bootstrap a thriving revenue presence, and rapidly build a robust operation in the world’s most competitive tech environment with the product I built.
Link to KSAT.no | Photo: Zetong Li through Unsplash
Creating a world leading product
I spotted an industry in transformation, worked with key customers, colleagues, and vendors to build a solution that a whole industry would utilize—creating the market standard, which remains unmatched today.
While serving as a sales manager at Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT), a tour across the U.S. brought the future into sharp focus: the NewSpace commercial race was exploding. I didn't just see a trend; I saw a massive market gap. I immediately returned to Norway, armed with a clear vision, and persuaded management to build a new product to capture these emerging startups.
I took decisive control. Recognizing that KSAT's legacy was a double-edged sword, I pushed the project toward standardization and COTS solutions, perfectly aligning our offering with the industry's intense startup-vibe. Crucially, I personally bootstrapped a significant amount of business to the early product, proving the model and building momentum. Working closely with key partners and leading customers, we engineered the solution: KSAT lite.
That singular business development idea didn't just succeed—it became the definitive market standard for the entire commercial space industry. A decade later, it accounts for a substantial, sustained portion of KSAT’s revenue, proving that spotting the right shift, acting with bold conviction, and bootstrapping the results is how you create market leadership.
Link to KSAT lite | Photo: Own, from Svalbard Satellite Station (KSAT)
