October 2011
2 posts
Helsingin Sanomat editorial: In search of...
“The American growth business guru, the former Silicon Valley serial entrepreneur, Stanford University Professor Steve Blank has a rather simplistic explanation for the phenomenon: it all boils down to the Finnish mentality and the society type.
“By nature Finns are not good at tolerating risk”, Blank writes in his blog. According to Blank “this gets compounded by the cultural tendency...
HS: Kasvuyritysväki ryhtyy aktiivisesti lobbaamaan
Today’s Helsingin Sanomat sporting some recent developments from the Parliament as well as a short teaser to the up-and-coming #Helsinkispring manifesto.
Read the article (pdf) below
» Kasvuyritysväki ryhtyy aktiivisesti lobbaamaan (5.10.2011)
September 2011
30 posts
Kasvuyrittäjä löysi poliitikot - ehdotus...
Kolmikon mukaan Suomeen on syntymässä kasvuyrittäjyyden mahdollistava ekosysteemi, mutta rahoitus on iso ongelma. Iso osa startup-yrityksen rahoituksesta tulee ulkomailta. Erityinen ongelma on yrityksien alkuvaiheeseen tehtävien sijoitusten vähyys.
He kaipaavat valtiolta toimenpiteitä, jotka edistävät yksityisen rahan virtaamista kasvuyritykseen sen sijaan, että valtio tukee yrityksiä...
Riskirahoituksen puute hankaloittaa kasvuyritysten...
Lasse Männistö, Risto Siilasmaa and Mikael Junger in Helsingin Sanomat talking about the risk funding scene in Finland & future tax redemptions for startup investments. Go go!
Steve Blank on Helsingin Sanomat 12.9
Read what Steve said in Helsingin Sanomat about the finnish growth enterpreneurship climate:
“Ulkomaalaisten virta on Blankin mielestä merkki suotuisasta innovaatioympäristöstä, mutta hänestä se näyttää jäänneen suomalaisilta huomaamatta. Blank mielestä “Suomi loistaa ympäristöönsä kuin valaiseva majakka”
» Suomalaisten valtti on kylmä intohimo (HS 12.9)
Friday Tweets
Friday’s schedule saw action with media representatives as well as Garage coaches and in the evening, the whole week got the conclusion it deserved as a hundreds-strong startups advocate group gathered for an unforgettable BBQ, which hopefully shall be remembered as the Woodstock of this generation of Helsinki startup community.
1) Welcome to the Church of Steve
2) The Finnish Parliament...
Steve: Finnish media treat beacons of hope as...
Whenever a paper mill is shut down in an obscure village in Lapland, TV cameras rush to the scene, politicians establish a task force to “create jobs” to the area, and newspapers run spreads and op-eds to reflect on this unexpected disturbance in the Force.
When Finnish wind and solar power startup The Switch was sold to the US with 190 million euros, leading business magazine...
Steve Blank recommends: Books
We’ve compiled a list of books that Steve has recommended during his visit to Finland as a Amazon Wish List
The Trifecta of Scalable Startup Literature
Business Model Generation by Alex Osterwalder
The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses by Eric Reis
The Four Steps to Epiphany by Steve Blank
Clayton...
Thursday's Tweet Review
On Thursday, there were signs of Steve Blank fatigue on Twitter, whereas Steve himself seemed to have just gotten started, as well as the commentators. Now, people, is the time to unload all thoughts and ideas, feedback and suggestions and share to the world! As Steve Blank’s visit is nearing its end, we wish to hear from all sides and, as cheesy as it may sound, unite to together build the...
The Mighty Eagle says Finland should now compete...
When Steve Blank’s visit to Helsinki started on Monday, for some, the idea of developing Finland into Europe’s startup hub may have seemed like a fantasy objective of a few dozen hyped nerds who had spent too much time staring at their laptops.
By the end of the week, we have Helsinki Spring, and the stakes have been supported, raised and officially confirmed.
“Why would we want to be...
”You ought to believe that God has given you a...
“Twenty-five of the 28 companies here will go out of business. Sorry. But the three will be filthy rich.”
In these bubbly times and sky-high validations of companies Mr. Blank encouraged the audience to believe in startups in Portfolio day organized by the Finnish Innovation Fund, Sitra. The day gathered people from companies Sitra has invested in.
After a few days in Finland,...
Sorry, Finns, your national anthem got it wrong
Our land is poor, so it remains
This could be the credo of many an economist and policy maker in Finland. Government funds are needed to establish industry. Capital is scarce, and the little we have we can’t afford to give to the risky business of startups.
Perhaps we believe this nonsense, because it’s dug in our subconscious. The line is from the second – though rarely sung – verse of Finland’s...
Jungner of SDP promises to fight for tax cuts for...
Social Democrat party secretary, MP Mikael Jungner promises that tax incentives for business angels are not a lost cause. He says he’s personally committed to finding a solution for resurrecting the initiative that crashed during PM Matti Vanhanen’s Government in 2009.
“The reasons for not finding solution were in my opinion practical rather than political. I believe they can be solved”, Jungner...
How to build a magical startup cluster?
Welcome immigrants with baskets of flowers, says Steve
Immigration is a central element in making Finland the leading startup hub in Europe, says serial entrepreneur, professor Steve Blank.
”If I were you I’d be on the border with flower baskets to welcome entrepreneurs from Estonia, Russia and elsewhere in the Baltic area. Make entry for entrepreneurs to this country as easy as you can”, he...
In the time of destruction, create something
Tuula Teeri’s thoughts on entrepreneurship and innovation in a university context
President’s Circle, 6.9.2011
“Those who are waiting for the recession to end, so someone can again hand them work, could have a long wait”
“We are not going back to the good old days without fixing our schools as well as our banks”
Thomas Friedman
On Tuesday evening, Tuula Teeri,...
Wednesday Tweets Collection from FVCA Panel
Steve Blank certainly knows his customers: Day after day, the man produces clever, tweetable one-liners and tweet we do. Apart from @sgblank, today’s tweeters include the ever-so-viral Mikael Junger, Taneli Tikka reflecting on the “Finnish spring” and the media-critique @FinlandInc who raises caution on becoming over-enthusiastic and obsessed with emulating Silicon Valley.
PS....
CustDev for Finland: Bootstrap for a healthier...
Jussi Räisänen belongs to the new breed of Finnish entrepreneurs who don’t just get excited about technology at the cost of marketing and commerce. Having successfully sold his first startup Smartner (now part of SEVEN networks), 35-year-old Räisänen’s second venture HeiaHeia.com is already on a firm footing, although it was set up as recently as 2009.
HeiaHeia fits neatly into a category of...
Steve meets Startup Sauna and Summer of Startups
On Tuesday, Steve Blank met the winners of different Aaltoes programs and batches. Rudi reports from behind the closed doors:
All the teams are slowly filling up the small room at Design Factory. The feeling is surprisingly cozy when you think that they’ll all be pitching to Steve Blank himself in a while.
The teams pitching today are: Campalyst, Ovelin, Futureful, Tribestudios, Tuubio,...
Tuesday: A Day in Tweets
Tuesday schedule included power breakfast session with Finnish Business Angels (A term that many thought oxymoronous a while back, but as the full house at Garage proves, is a breed well alive and kicking.) Read the blogposts from here and here. The day continued with a workshop with Summer of Startups and Startup Sauna winners, and continues with meeting Aalto faculty and stakeholders in the...
Cheat sheet: Words that mean money!
Here’s our short vocabulary of for all you newcomers to the world of pouring your extra money in startups in hope of what Steve Blank calls ”obscene returns”: Angel investor. Typically a wealthy individual. Invests, say, 20 000 euros into a startup. Ideally, gives not only money, but his time, knowledge and networks to the company. Angel fund. A syndicated fund of several angels who manage...
Before shooting innocent animals, talk about...
Risto Siilasmaa of F-Secure hopes the old money elite will get into angel investing
”If a bomb exploded in this room probably half of the Finnish angel investors were dead.”
While the joke of panel moderator Petteri Koponen may be true, the body count would still be significantly higher than it would have been a few years ago. Which is a great thing. There is a buzz in the Finnish startup...
Best tweets from Steve Monday
With so much Twitter activity going on during Steve’s visit, we want to profile some of the best quotes and comments every day. With 2 live streamed events and Steve speaking during 4 different sessions to nearly 1000 people, there were many to chose from.
1) The Classic
2) The shoutout from Alex
3) Best #Finland Tweet
4) Startup truisms
5) Most retweeted
Are we missing...
CustDev for Finland: Let’s talk!
Otto from Flowdock on how Steve Blank has influenced him
Now the CEO of Flowdock, Otto Hilska and his partners were running a software consultancy, specialized in the Ruby on Rails platform, for seven years. As a team, they had used various communication tools over the years, and in general weren’t happy with any of them. And that’s how it all started with Flowdock, by building an app for their...
Steve's First Day in Finland
Day 1 of Steve Week got off to a great, but busy start. During Monday Steve visited TUAS House in Otaniemi to address Aalto faculty, rushed back to Garage to hold a press conference, worked with the Aalto Entrepreneurial Taskforce Workshop on ways to revamp e-education of Finland and finally held a public keynote to some 800 students and alumni at Aalto School of Economics.
Tuula Teeri, president...
What Finland needs: ”Entrepreneurship for...
Institutions of higher education should open their doors for pre-school children to learn entrepreneurial attitudes, said Tuula Teeri, President of Aalto University on Monday.
Mrs Teeri made the opening remarks on Stanford University Professor Steve Blank’s visit on Monday morning Faculty Talk. After the lecture, where Mr Blank encouraged Finland to push for a radical renewal of university level...
What Finland needs: Forget the MBA’s and get out...
Think of this: you own a large corporation and something disrupts your business. It can be a change of the tastes of customers. It can be legislation or technologies, but it is out of your hands. New needs and new markets emerge. But your corporation is slow to turn. You have hired people who can execute a business plan. But they can’t innovate.
“Accountants usually don’t run...
Startup sounds for Steve
Harder Better Faster Stronger? Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’? Don’t Stop Believin?
Entrepreneurs are rockstars, even though certain journalists wouldn’t agree. What better way to tune in on the upcoming week of startups & explosive growth than to contribute to this shared Spotify list celebrating all entrepreneurial souls.
Give us your suggestions - there are many...
August 2011
5 posts
Announcing: Alex Stubb, Pekka Lundmark & Risto...
“Build a bold vision. Then make it bigger.” - Kristian Segerstråle.
Steve Blanks visit to Finland is shaking up the ecosystem grounds up. The rascal of entrepreneurship education announced his visit in July - here’s a small update on what has happened since.
First, some numbers. We have already over 2500 individuals signed up for the events. The biggest lectures (Monday and...
Who is Steve Blank? Kuka on Steve Blank?
Blank arrived in Silicon Valley just as the tech boom was beginning in 1978 and the concept of startups was beginning to evolve. It was a time when new entrepreneurs were continuing the research driven by scientists and engineers, and learning how to build businesses around the technology by trial and error.
“It wasn’t pure research, but rather a culture of taking sufficient risks to get products...
Introducing Henrietta & JP, our awesome interns
We wouldn’t be here without our amazing team, Henrietta & JP, so it’s only time to give them some kudos. Meet Henrietta & JP!
Hi! I’m a student at Vienna Uni of Business and Economics, a freelancer of all areas and really psyced about this visit we’re workingon. Having lived and worked a lot in arranging events on a scale from Indian weddings and real estate deals...
Coming Soon: the bloom of Finnish startup...
Hello!
As the wheels keep on turning on preparation for Mr. Blank’s visit to Finland, we would like to share a few links from different media outlets featuring the Finnish start-up scene, which is running full-bore ahead! So just click and enjoy!
“Nokia’s Losses Become Finland’s Gains” Wall Street Journal – 04.08.2011...
July 2011
2 posts
Jyri Engeströms notes on Steve's talk
Jyri Engeström shares his notes on Steve Blanks methodology from the True University event. On one A4 you’ll find a cheat sheet on startups: what is a pivot, what are startup metrics compared to corporate accounting, how engineering and agile development differ and a lot more!
The next bubble - Steve Blank & Ben Horowitz... →
June 2011
5 posts
Customer Development stories from Baltics &...
We’re looking for Baltic & Nordic startups that have a story to share on using customer development while building your product. How has Steve’s model influenced you? Have you pivoted? Went out of the building? Scaled it up or failed gloriously? We’re looking for all sorts of companies in different stages, who have a good story to share.
Teaming up with Sitra, we want to...
A roundup of Steve's three themes on startups
Steve Blank has numerous themes & talks. Here’s a small round of resources on three of his most visited ideas:
Customer development model “Any assumption that an entrepreneur makes about their customers and markets is nothing but a guess.”
Read: Customer development: past, present, future 23.11.2009 Watch: Customer Development Process (3:33) Browse: Startup Success...
Looking for an intern for Steve's visit!
Our team of two is looking for an awesome intern for Steve Blanks visit to Finland.
You’ll have the unique chance to contribute to a real roadshow through the Finnish startup ecosystem & industry leaders.
Ideally you’d be able to join us in the beginning of August and stay through mid-October. The more time the better, but we’re flexible about accommodating e.g your...
Why is Steve Blank visiting Finland?
Picture by Miika Korppi
Steve Blanks visit is a part of Aalto - Stanford partnership. During one week in September, Steve will tour the Finnish startup ecosystem and help us create the next global hotspot for startups.
We’re excited to welcome Steve to Finland and look forward to engaging the whole Nordic & Baltic startup community during his stay.
The main objectives for his...
“Everything you learn in the business school about large company management is...”
– Steve Blank