{
  "id": 15706051,
  "title": "I sold my apartment, cashed out my pension, and took on debt to build a semiconductor startup. I'd do it again.",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/20/i-sold-my-apartment-cashed-out-my-pension-and-took-on-debt-to-build-a",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-10-20T04:51:21.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Business Insider",
    "slug": "business-insider",
    "url": "https://www.businessinsider.com/semiconductor-founder-sold-apartment-cashed-out-pension-financial-crisis-2026-10"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Hans Hasselby-Andersen, CEO of Danish semiconductor startup Lotus Microsystems, shared his story of starting a company during the 2008 financial crisis. He had four young children at the time, making the decision to quit his job at Texas Instruments a big one. To fund his venture, Hasselby-Andersen sold his apartment, cashed out his pension, and took on debt. It took nearly a year to raise his first funding, which amounted to about $150,000 to $200,000. He traveled to Japan, South Korea, and Singapore to meet potential customers and validate his idea. After nine years, Merus Audio, his company, was acquired by Infineon. Hasselby-Andersen admitted that his decision to start a company at 40 made him a different kind of founder, but he felt more comfortable with the startup life.",
  "summary": "Hans Hasselby-Andersen quit his engineering job during the 2008 financial crisis with four kids and spent a year raising his first funding.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}