Entrepreneurship without risk is hardly entrepreneurship at all. Every new venture requires stepping into the unknown, testing ideas against market realities, and accepting that some efforts will succeed while others will fail. The key is not to avoid risk, but to embrace what Rickard Gillblad, founder of Torus Pak, describes as healthy risk-taking: the balance between ambition and calculation, between boldness and responsibility.
“Healthy risk-taking is never reckless,” Gillblad explains. “It means doing your homework, knowing where in the value chain you are entering, and being prepared for scenarios you can’t fully control– something I learned in my early years of entrepreneurship when I wasn’t as risk-averse.” He adds that all innovation carries unpredictability: competitors may emerge, consumer behavior may shift, and global crises, such as the pandemic, can overturn even the strongest business models.
The willingness to face these unknowns is, paradoxically, a positive sign. “If you have never failed, you probably haven’t taken enough risk,” Gillblad says. In some places, a failed venture is often seen as evidence of boldness, persistence, and learning. But in some countries, even a single bankruptcy can cast an entrepreneur as irresponsible. That cultural gap, he believes, is one reason why risk-taking remains misunderstood.
Gillblad’s own journey has been shaped by this tension. Over decades, he has built companies, backed ventures, and faced setbacks when investments didn’t unfold as planned. One high-profile example involved supporting operators who sought to expand a restaurant concept, Fiffis, built on his packaging innovation. He financed the idea but deliberately avoided a governance role. “I was clear that I couldn’t run the restaurants,” he recalls. “My role was as an investor, not a board member or managing director. Those responsibilities belonged elsewhere.”
When the venture eventually faltered, hit hard by the pandemic and later by a wave of restaurant bankruptcies, critics questioned whether Gillblad should bear more responsibility. He acknowledges the challenge: “As an investor, I trust others to manage. If they don’t, I may lose money, but the governance decisions remain theirs. That distinction is often blurred in public debate.”
Still, Gillblad views the experience as instructive. One takeaway is the need for structural oversight. “I now believe in having an investment committee to monitor governance, not to interfere, but to protect the brand from being associated with practices that don’t align with our values.”
His reflection touches on a broader truth: entrepreneurship thrives where societies tolerate risk and allow for second chances. “Innovation depends on environments where people understand that risk means some failures are inevitable,” Gillblad says. “In the early stages of my entrepreneurial journey, I viewed risks differently than I do now. The point is not to pass blame but to learn and move forward.”
For him, the line between healthy and unhealthy risk often comes down to ethics. Was the decision defensible at the time? Was it based on fair assumptions and genuine effort? “You can only act with the information available,” he notes. “Hindsight is easy. But in the moment, the test is whether you made choices you can stand by.”
These lessons are not unique to Gillblad; they resonate with entrepreneurs everywhere. Growth requires letting go of control, trusting others, and sometimes watching things unfold differently than planned. It also requires resilience, the willingness to accept setbacks, and the commitment to recalibrate.
“Entrepreneurship is really about living with uncertainty,” Gillblad concludes. “You take risks not because you want them to fail, but because without them, nothing new happens. The responsibility is to take those risks ethically, and to keep moving forward when the outcome is not what you hoped.”
In an era where innovation drives economies, this perspective is more than personal reflection; it is a reminder that progress rests on a collective willingness to accept risk, learn from failure, and pursue the next opportunity with clarity and conviction.
