The Scale-Up Trap: How Emil Sur­vived His Own Suc­cess at Jag­ger and Otto

It is a classic and overlooked dynamic in successful growth companies: you start from the ground up during the chaotic scale-up days, where success is achieved through sheer energy. Years later, you find yourself with international ambitions and new directions on the drawing board. But when you have grown alongside a company over many years, your early days can easily come to define your internal career path.

You risk becoming the person who reached a certain level, and then development stopped. Emil saw that barrier approaching in 2022 and made an active choice to upgrade his professional foundation.

"What drives me is being the natural choice for leadership when the company needs to move forward. I don’t want to be the guy who reached a certain level and was then bypassed because his toolkit couldn't keep up with the ambitions. It's also about something more fundamental: I thrive when I am constantly challenged, especially through new responsibilities. Once I've got to know an area, I want to move on to the next. That is the hunger that gets me out of bed in the morning."

The Problematic Dough and the Theory That Unites the Business

When a restaurant chain rolls out a major relaunch, it is a massive undertaking. A new interior design across 34 restaurants, a new menu, a new visual identity, and a new dough, which Rasmus Oubæk (former Michelin chef and founder of Jagger) spearheaded and tested countless times across three different ovens.

In that environment, it is easy to get bogged down in day-to-day operations. However, the EMBA programme has given Emil the mental models within finance, economics and marketing that lift daily life out of the echo chamber. He has learned to shift the short-term focus on this month's figures to a strategic bird's-eye view.

"The interesting thing is that we can now see it taking effect. The restaurants' performance is moving in the right direction, and the feedback from our loyal guests has been strong. It’s exactly that feeling: having driven something through that genuinely moves the business, while at the same time watching the team grow with the task, ultimately making it sustainable and independent of individuals.”

The professional grounding has triggered a noticeable shift in Emil’s confidence when communicating with the executive board. It is a matter of linking business decisions directly to the underlying economic logic. He no longer speaks from a gut feeling, but from robust strategic frameworks.

"More generally, I have learned to pause and ask, 'what game are we actually playing?' instead of only focusing on whether we hit this month's figures. It sounds banal, but it makes a huge difference to the decisions you make."

When the Syllabus Sidelined the Consultants

The most concrete proof of the programme's value came when the new, complex EU requirements for sustainability reporting (CSRD) landed on the group's desk. Where many companies automatically reach out to external consultants, Emil took matters into his own hands, drawing directly on his CBS textbooks.

"I led the process of making us compliant. I had Andreas Rasche's (Professor on the EMBA Corporate Sustainability course) material on hand when I had to figure out how we should practically approach the reporting. Without the EMBA, I would probably have hired a consultancy firm to tell me what to do, but with the EMBA experience, I could manage the process myself and use the consultants in a more targeted way."

The structured approach has also changed the way he leads his own team on a day-to-day basis. Emil has become conscious of separating operational details from long-term visions, so meetings do not get muddled.

From Strong Operator to International Executive

The next chapter of the journey has been written. Having built a strong position in Denmark, international expansion now awaits. It is a game that requires entirely new models for organisation and capital structure – and a solid break from the industry-blindness that often characterises the restaurant world.

For Emil, the network at CBS has been a crucial eye-opener, as his business has been dissected during coffee breaks by peers from pharma and finance. One of his former fellow students now acts as his trusted mentor.

As Emil looks ahead to the coming years, his focus is now firmly on the executive level:

"We have built a strong position in Denmark with 34 restaurants, and the next step is to take the concept across borders. This places entirely different demands on how we think about organisation, capital structure and brand, and that is precisely where the EMBA comes into its own. It is also where you truly notice the difference between a 'strong operator' and a 'potential executive': the international game requires mental models I didn’t have before I started."

3 Down-to-Earth Pieces of Advice for the Leader Considering Taking the Leap:

1. Family. Job. EMBA. In that order: Prioritisation is crucial for making it sustainable at all. It might sound strange to put the EMBA last, but it is the only thing that makes it viable. Remember to praise your family along the way – they are actually doing the degree alongside you.
2. Agree on the framework with your workplace before you start: My CEO and I made a clear agreement that I should prioritise being present for the classes, and we informed my colleagues about when I had modules. This reduces the noise within the organisation tremendously.
3. Lean into it – both professionally and socially: The international modules are fantastic, but only if you turn up and are fully present. That is where the real magic happens.