When Business Is Love

“A CEO’s readable and heartwarming story of building beds with love.”–Kirkus Reviews“When Business Is Love is a wonderfully personal account of the values, beliefs, and principles that guide Jan Ryde’s leadership at Hästens. While the book is a captivating story about how a struggling local family business at the brink of bankruptcy has become a thriving global premium producer of high-end beds and mattresses, it is not your usual management book. Jan Ryde outlines a philosophy that is not only about business; it is about life.”–Professor Mattias Nordqvist, SEB Chair of Entrepreneurship and Family Business, Director of the Center for Family Enterprise, Stockholm School of Economics, and House of Innovation“I’ve been a fan of Hästens for years and now I’m a fan of Jan Ryde. Brain science has awakened us to the critical importance of sleep–both for mental health and mental acuity. Yet the extraordinary quality of a Hästens bed is surpassed by the values and culture that define the company. Jan Ryde sees love as the defining principle of his life and work and wants not only to elevate the way we sleep but to elevate the way we live. This book is not only the story of a bed designed and made by love, but a company fueled and driven by love.”–Erwin Raphael McManus, Founder of McManus Mastermind and author of Mind Shift“Jan Ryde is a fifth generation CEO, and although this is a business memoir, it’s rather unconventional, in which he asks whether a business can be founded on love. And let me tell you, he definitively answers ‘Yes’, saying the purpose of his company is to spread love, peace, joy, and abundance.”

–WBZ Book Club

Jan Ryde, CEO of Hästens, is the fifth-generation family member to lead the powerhouse bed manufacturer since 1852. Jan studied industrial engineering and management at Sweden’s Linköping Institute of Technology, where he received a Master of Science degree before commencing doctoral studies in business. As an Associate Professor, Jan earned among the highest student rankings at Linköping University, where he taught business for several years prior to taking the helm at Hästens. As with every employee – regardless of their ultimate role in the company – Jan began as an apprentice, learning and contributing to each step in the process of hand-making a Hästens bed. Jan is honored not only that the sixth generation has joined the family business, but that multiple generations of other families continue to spend their careers at Hästens, dedicated to improving people’s lives by helping them sleep beautifully.

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