Having never actively sought overseas distributors until exhibiting at CeBIT, our early signings were an eclectic mix. The Danish distributor, JAI, was an established video equipment distributor in Copenhagen. Legend had it that, like Stephen and myself, the founders started out working from home and were desperate to sign up their first audio-visual equipment manufacturer. Turned down by most major suppliers on the grounds they were too small, there was just one name left on the list. They set up a presentation in a hotel and, on meeting the Sales Director at Copenhagen airport, suggested a visit to what was to be their new headquarters. Their guest was then given a guided tour of a secondary school, which was close to completion. An artist’s impression of the completed ‘office block and sales centre’ featured prominently during the subsequent presentation. So, JAI became the Danish representative for a company that, it later transpired, realised it was being scammed, recruited by a leading Japanese electronics company that believed it needed an innovative and lateral thinking distributor to give it an edge in Europe …
… (An extract from The Ghost in the Labyrinth by Peter Kruger)
