#134 Karl Liapunov: Starting Cold, Nordic Ambition and the Bridge to America

#134 Karl Liapunov: Starting Cold, Nordic Ambition and the Bridge to America

From EXPresso by Henrik Holth

July 10, 2026 · 1h 15m · Season 4 · Episode 134

About this episode

Karl Liapunov discusses his journey from the US to Norway and his work with Nordic founders.

Karl Liapunov joins EXPresso for a conversation about growing up between the US and Norway, taking a one-way ticket to Oslo, working with Nordic founders through StartupLab, and launching Starting Cold - a new video series focused on Nordic founders, operators, athletes and outliers building at an international level. Karl Liapunov grew up in the US with a strong Norwegian connection, Norwegian spoken at home, and summers spent in Norway. After starting his career in investment banking in Houston, he decided to leave the safe path behind, buy a one-way ticket to Oslo, and build a new chapter in Norway. That decision eventually led him to StartupLab, where he spent several years working closely with Norwegian and Nordic founders, particularly around energy, climate tech, internationalization and the bridge between the Nordics and global markets. Now Karl is based in New York and has launched Starting Cold — a new video series and platform built around Nordic founders, operators, athletes and outliers who are building at an international level. In this episode, we talk about what it means to grow up between two cultures, the difference between Norway and the US, why Norway is an…

People in this episode

Host: Henrik Holth

Guest: Karl Liapunov

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: StartupLab

Places: Norway, US, Oslo, New York

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