John Erik Metcalf
Selected work
2008—now

Things I’ve helped build.

Companies, products, and communities across three continents. This is less a résumé than a record of what we tried, what worked, and what happened next.

2024—nowUnited States
Founder & CEO · Current

Upgraded, again

We brought the device upgrade model to the United States, beginning with MacBooks and iPads. Customers pay monthly, AppleCare+ is included, and after two years they can return the device and move to a new one.

The larger idea is to make device ownership circular by default: take the old device back, wipe and refurbish it, and keep it useful for another owner rather than another drawer.

The Upgraded MacBook Upgrade Program storefront A customer using a MacBook outdoors A customer working on a MacBook

The US launch and the MacBook Upgrade Program · Upgraded archive, 2023–25

Where it stands

Operating now. We launched with Citizens Bank and later moved to Affirm, building toward a platform for managing all of a family’s devices.

2016—2025Stockholm · Nordics
Founder · Device upgrade platform

Upgraded

Upgraded powered device financing, trade-ins, and upgrade programs across Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Sweden. What looked like a simple retail experience connected lenders, contracts, residual values, stores, returns, and refurbishment behind the scenes.

264,149customers across four countries
173,433orders placed
≈ €150Min financing originated

The production database contains a Danish customer record for roughly every 64 residents, using 2021 population as a comparison. Across the region it represented 939 stores and nearly 200,000 trade-in contracts.

The Upgraded team together in Stockholm Upgraded colleagues in Stockholm A group from the Stockholm years Outside a Digital Inn electronics store in Stockholm

The Stockholm years: team and retail partners · personal archive

What the record shows

The last identifiable real order completed on September 8, 2025. Nine years of operating the Nordic platform became a foundation for the current US business; the fuller story of why activity ended is still being documented.

The company spent nine years making endings tidy: trade it in, upgrade, begin again.

Read the full Nordic Upgraded story →
2012—2014Hong Kong
Co-founder · Data analytics

Demand Analytics

We built custom analytics tools that used real-time commerce data to help companies and institutions make better decisions. It grew out of several years spent learning how quickly businesses in China operated—and how little useful infrastructure they often had for understanding their own data.

John Erik with colleagues in Hong Kong A group from the Hong Kong years John Erik and two colleagues in Hong Kong

Hong Kong, during the Demand Analytics years · personal archive, 2012–14

What happened

The company was acquired by Groupon in 2013. Afterward, I spent time as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Arbor Ventures in Hong Kong.

2010—2012Shanghai
Co-founder · Coworking

88 Spaces

I moved to Shanghai at 24, learned Mandarin, and helped create a coworking space for the city’s independent builders and entrepreneurs. It was the second time I had worked on coworking, but in a market with a very different culture, pace, and sense of scale.

The China pavilion at Expo 2010 in Shanghai John Erik in Shanghai in 2010 John Erik at Expo 2010 in Shanghai

Shanghai, at the beginning of the China years · personal archive, 2010

What it changed

Five years in mainland China and Hong Kong shaped how I think about speed, resilience, and building across cultures. It also led directly to Demand Analytics.

2008—2010Austin, Texas
Co-founder · Community

Conjunctured

While I was still at the University of Texas, three friends and I opened Austin’s first coworking space in a little house on East 7th Street. The premise was simple: independent people did better work when they were not working alone.

Our real product was the community. Every good new member made the place more useful for everyone already there.

Conjunctured members working together at a table A presentation inside Conjunctured A workshop inside the coworking space Planning notes on a whiteboard at Conjunctured

Inside 1309 East 7th Street · personal archive, 2008–09

What happened

I was involved for the first two years. Conjunctured continued for eight and helped establish coworking as part of Austin’s startup culture.

Read the full Conjunctured story →