Jørgen Sigurd Lien
Jørgen Sigurd Lien is the co-founder, and CEO of eHelp Corporation (formerly known as Blue Sky Software).[1] eHelp Corporation was the worldwide leader in Help authoring solutions before it was acquired by Macromedia, Inc. in 2003.[2]
Early life and education
Jorgen Lien, who was born in Bergen to parents Terje Lien (father) and Inger Lise Lien (mother), had an early exposure to entrepreneurship. His paternal grandfather was Jørgen Sigurd Lien, Sr., co-founder and director of Jørgen S. Lien AS, one of the pioneer companies in Norway producing cash registers and safes.
Lien attended school at Snarøya, Lysaker and Stabekk. Thereafter, Lien trained at the Norwegian Air Force Academy and graduated as one of the top officers. Lien also won the Norwegian Judo Championship twice.
He is the alumnus of University of California, Santa Barbara. While at University of California, he earned his bachelor's degree summa cum laude in Electrical Engineering. He won the Mortar Board Award for being the top graduating student and achieving a 3.96 grade point average. Lien then undertook graduate research in parallel processing and artificial intelligence, and completed his master's degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Career
Prior to co-founding eHelp Corporation, Lien was the manager of the Windows Development team at Norsk Data in Norway, and has been involved with Windows development since Windows 1.0
Lien served as the President and CEO of eHelp Corporation from the mid-1990s until September 1999 alongside co-founder Trond Bergquist.[3]
From 2001 eHelp was acquired by Macromedia, Inc., itself later acquired by Adobe Inc. in 2005.[4]
His ability to accurately forecast industry trends has enabled him to position eHelp Corporation and its products ahead of the technological curve, which is critical to continued success in the rapidly evolving software industry. Lien's vision, personal leadership and motivational skills have underpinned the dramatic growth of eHelp Corporation in terms of both personnel and revenues, and have helped the company avoid the pitfalls experienced by many high-tech companies that undergo rapid expansion.
In the highly competitive software industry, Lien has led eHelp Corporation to become a multimillion-dollar corporation with 37% compound growth in revenues over the past five years and 40 consecutive profitable quarters. Up until 1999, these accomplishments were achieved without any outside investment, as the company was completely self-funded through its own growth.
In 1999, eHelp attracted investment worth around $19 million from venture capital firms HarbourVest and Geocapital Partners,[5] to help fund the ongoing growth of the company and the development of exciting new Internet-oriented technologies and products.
Under Lien's leadership, eHelp Corporation achieved twelve years of profitable growth. In 2003, Macromedia, Inc. acquired eHelp Corporation - the majority shareholders of eHelp Corporation were HarbourVest and Geocapital Partners . Robert M. Wadsworth from HarbourVest and Lawrence W. Lepard from Geocapital Partners were eHelp Corporation's board members.
Awards and honors
In 2000, Lien was one of ten business people who received an "Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year: San Diego Region" award. [3]
Lien's firm Blue Sky Software Corp. has been honored as a “1997 Developer of the Year” finalist, by the Software Council of Southern California.
In 1999, eHelp Corporation was named the 33rd fastest growing technology company in Southern California by Deloitte & Touche, due to its outstanding average annual revenue growth of 304.7% over a five-year period.
In 2002, eHelp Corporation has been selected by the Association of Support Professionals as a winner of the "Ten Best Web Support Sites of 2002" award.
In 2003, eHelp Corporation received the Brandon Hall Excellence in Learning Gold Award under the 'Innovative Technology' category.[6]
Philanthropy
In 2002, Lien's software firm eHelp contributed a total of US$12,000,000 worth in RoboDemo(R) eLearning Edition tutorial software to accredited colleges and universities through its Academic Software Donation Program.[7]
In 2003, eHelp contributed a total of $75,000 donation in retail value of eHelp's RoboDemo eLearning Edition software to University of California through the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology [Cal-(IT)²].[8]
References
- ^ "Blue Sky Software, Worldwide Leader in User Assistance Software, Announces Major Product Update". The Free Library. Gale Group. 4 April 2000. Archived from the original on 26 February 2017. Retrieved 21 October 2025.
- ^ "Macromedia to Acquire eHelp". ActionScript.org. 24 October 2003. Archived from the original on 15 December 2006. Retrieved 21 October 2025.
- ^ a b "eHelp Corporation Co-founder and Chairman, Jorgen Lien, Named Entrepreneur of the Year". PR Newswire. PR Newswire Association LLC. 22 June 2000. Archived from the original on 31 May 2001. Retrieved 21 October 2025.
- ^ "Adobe Acquires Macromedia". Adobe Press Room. Adobe Inc. 7 December 2005. Archived from the original on 7 December 2005. Retrieved 21 October 2025.
- ^ "PE Week Wire – Friday, October 24". Buyouts Insider. Buyouts Insider. 24 October 2003. Retrieved 24 October 2025.
- ^ "Brandon Hall 2003 Excellence in Learning Awards Winners". Brandon Hall Group. Archived from the original on 26 October 2008. Retrieved 21 October 2025.
- ^ "eHelp Corp. Launches $12 Million Software Donation Program to Colleges and Universities Across the Nation". CSRwire. CSRwire. 5 August 2003. Archived from the original on 6 May 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2025.
- ^ "eHelp Corporation Donates RoboDemo Software Worth $75,000 at Retail to the University of California, Sand Diego". UCSD News. University of California, San Diego. 10 April 2003. Archived from the original on 2 July 2003. Retrieved 21 October 2025.