He arrived in Portugal without knowing it would become the final stop on a years-long tour of Ericsson subsidiaries. In Portugal, he and his close ally Meinrad “Meini” Spenger chose to step away from the corporate world to launch a telecommunications operator. The seed idea behind MásMóvil was to break the oligopoly later formed by Movistar, Vodafone, and Orange. Reflecting on those days, Christian Nyborg recalls that in 2006 Spain’s telecoms market suffered from a lack of real competition, which pushed them to enter. Today, the landscape is different but perhaps more challenging: there is abundant competition, and users increasingly need guidance. So, after three years away from the telecom business, this Norwegian-born entrepreneur embarked on a second venture in the industry: an internet and mobile price comparison platform. [Nyborg interview]
Shortly before MásMóvil reached its first significant milestone, Nyborg decided it was time to chase new challenges. The operator was profitable, employed hundreds, listed on the stock market, and continued to grow. Yet the mission that excited him had begun to feel routine, and he sought fresh horizons. [Nyborg interview]
“MásMóvil stood as Spain’s first unicorn, even as we faced bankruptcy scares six times. Entrepreneurship is tough, across all industries, and no venture is free of risk,” he notes, while making clear that this path is far from easy. “Nine years in telecoms felt like enough; I am drawn to building new ventures.” [Nyborg interview]
After parting ways with his former partner and friend Spenger, he briefly turned his attention to investing, then relaxed into travel with his wife, hoping to enjoy the simple life. Yet nothing gave him the same satisfaction as entrepreneurship, so he returned to the field and pressed forward. [Nyborg interview]
His first plan was tofound a company that would hire Spanish engineers to work in Norway, but the project faltered when oil prices plummeted, affecting the Scandinavian economy. The second venture became the price-comparison platform that is now entering its first year with ambitious growth plans. [Nyborg interview]
Three years in evolution
Ysi — short for What if there was something better — emerged over three years and only recently became accessible to a broader user base. The question Nyborg poses is simple: today people often choose operators based on friend recommendations, ads, or a well-timed phone call, but what if a better approach existed? [Nyborg interview]
The company, which Nyborg describes as a price-compare specialist and a personal consultant, has quietly saved three million euros of the founder’s personal capital. An early investor who believed in the concept is now testing the venture, and after two years on the market with a small team of about fifteen, including executives from MásMóvil, the focus has shifted to expanding awareness. [Nyborg interview]
“Those first twelve months are just the start: more people need to learn about us, and we must forge partnerships to drive traffic to our database,” Nyborg acknowledges. “We expect to scale up and take a bigger leap in a year because this project requires substantial funding, likely from venture capital.” [Nyborg interview]
Commissions and analytics
Today Ysi operates as a web platform that asks visitors what they seek — be it 20 gigabytes for a mobile plan or a bundle that includes a TV — then analyzes offers from hundreds of operators to present the most suitable option. Some operators supply real-time data, others are discovered by the team, and some are captured automatically; specialists also monitor the fine print to identify compelling deals three months out. [Nyborg interview]
Their revenue comes from commissions for each user who signs up with an operator, along with trend and market reports produced for partners. Nyborg argues that the value lies in access to a broad array of offers, something traditional comparison sites often lack, and aims for objectivity on the checkout page. [Nyborg interview]
To date nearly 100,000 users have joined, and the team is thinking bigger. “One entrepreneurial trait is transparency, which is why MásMóvil was founded — not for quick wins, but for enduring performance. Users appreciate that our platform works well and operates openly,” the founder notes. He adds that the business model is scalable: the vertical can extend to other countries and cross over into new sectors. [Nyborg interview]