About
Image by Timo_w2s.
Arctic Startup in itself is an oxymoron - nothing grandiose can be created in the arctic, it’s too cold to sustain anything. This is pretty much the atmosphere about entrepreneurship and startups in Finland in general. This blog has been created to fill the gap in blogging about Finnish startups and growth entrepreneurship in and from Finland.
It could be stated that this blog’s goals are (1) to improve information flow from this sector to Finns and people abroad and (2) encourage entrepreneurship by writing about the issue and stories behind it.
Want to have your news published, or want to help with writing?
Drop a line at info (at) arcticstartup.com.
The People
ANTTI VILPPONEN, founder
I’ve enjoyed travelling and learning new things since I can remember. We moved to Singapore in 1990, where I learned a lot about different cultures and ways of doing things. Travelling is one of the big passions in my life and another one is entrepreneurship.
My interest for entrepreneurship ignited when I started my first company at the age of 24. I designed websites as a freelancer to support my studies. After that, there was no looking back - going the somewhat riskier way has definitely been my road. Working in a small company is so much more rewarding than working as a statistic in a large multinational. After getting my degree in International Marketing, I worked a few years in Apaja Online Entertainment directing consumer sales. During the early autumn of 2007 I resigned from my position in Apaja and went on to found Gyllene Skor with 9 other digital marketing professionals. Gyllene Skor has taken a very business focused approach to clients’ digital business and potential, therefore we work on a relatively strategic level.
My interests are in online business, online strategies and commercialisation of online innovations. During my free time, which I have far too little of, I socialise with friends, read, travel or ride my motorcycle.
Financial disclosures - I am a share holder in Gyllene Skor.
E-mail: antti(at)arcticstartup(dot)com
WWW: http://Antti.Vilpponen.net
MIIKKA KUKKOSUO, co-founder
Coming from an entrepreneurial family (though very much brick and mortar business), I’ve been always interested in entrepreneurship, but I guess it was professor Peter Kelly some years back at Helsinki University of Technology who really got me enthusiastic about the subject. The last few years I’ve been working in the mobile gaming industry at Digital Chocolate, contributing to the growth from a startup to a world-class business. My areas of interest include social media and gaming, sales, and branding in the converging web and mobile worlds. My academic focus has been on strategy and software business, and I’m currently striving to finish my Master’s degree. I enjoy multicultural environments and like traveling, attending seminars and other socializing events to exchange thoughts with people from various backgrounds.
Though I don’t find myself with too much leisure time, you can regularly find me at the gym, as well as going to theatre and movies. Investing and finance is also something I struggle to find more time to deepen my knowledge about.
No financial disclosures related to this blog.
E-mail:miikka(at)arcticstartup(dot)com
WWW: http://www.iki.fi/kukkosuo
TOMI LUOSTARINEN, writer
I have been interested in entrepreneurship for several years and that interest has lead me to join the guys as a writer. I hold an M.Sc degree in engineering from Helsinki University of Technology. Furthermore, I have approximately ten years of experience from wireless communications and Internet sectors. Up until 2005 I worked for Teliasonera Finland in several R&D projects regarding wireless and mobile networks. After five years there I felt the need to really do something different.
My first startup, Innofile (www.innofile.com), was established in May 2006. Ever since it’s been a great experience, not without problems of course, but great anyhow. I have really enjoyed working with all the smart people I have met during these two years. Trying to create something new and sometimes even useful (!) keeps me going.
Besides my work I am most likely to be found at home spending time with my family (incl. wife and two children). My other hobbies include reading, board games and badminton.
Financial disclosures - I am a share holder in Innofile.
E-mail: tomi(at)arcticstartup(dot)com
VILLE VESTERINEN, writer and event organiser
Along the lines of a Slideshare slide I recently used in a presentation I believe ’Life is about taking calculated risk, listening to your heart, and realizing your aspirations …so is entrepreneurship’. I believe and live by this ethos and try to commit my time to everything I am passionate about and leave the rest to others. I am equally passionate in creating first-in-the-industry solutions that will change the way customers make their selection as I am in entrepreneurial enthusiasm towards life, snowboarding and surfing: Since the summer I worked on a sheep farm in Australia aged 16 to finance my snowboarding trip to Southern Hemisphere I have tried to dedicate all my capacity to what I believe in. This led me years ago to co-found extreme-sports equipment retailing company with two friends here in Finland, which was my first personal touch point to entrepreneurship.
Later on when I came back to Finland after spending a few years abroad, I started organizing OpenCoffee MeetUps in Helsinki. These meetings are part of an initiative to build an open, encouraging and passionate entrepreneurial culture here in Finland and have now developed into Arctic Startup Events. This cause is very close to my heart and something I believe can make a difference for a lot of people in Finland and beyond.
I am currently working as a Digital Planner and a Concept Designer at TBWA\North. I hold a BSc from the Helsinki School of Economics and an MSc from the London School of Economics. I have worked in various fields and disciplines -from a non-profit to a faceless multinational and everything in between, and am always looking for new adventures and great people to share them with.
No financial disclosures related to this blog.
E-mail: ville(at)arcticstartup(dot)com
WWW: http://friendfeed.com/vesterinen
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