Founders

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, the complex sale, marketing, 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 finalize my Master’s degree. I enjoy multicultural environments and 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 theater and movies. Investing and finance is also something I struggle to find more time to deepen my knowledge in.

No financial disclosures related to this blog.

E-mail:miikka(at)arcticstartup(dot)com
WWW: http://www.iki.fi/kukkosuo / LinkedIn

VILLE VESTERINEN, Editor and Co-Founder

Along the lines of a Slideshare slide I saw recently, 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 commit my time to everything I am passionate about, leaving the rest to others. I am equally passionate about creating first-in-the-industry solutions that will change the way customers make their selection as I am towards entrepreneurial enthusiasm towards life, the social web and snowboarding. Since the summer I worked on a sheep farm in Australia, aged 16, to finance my snowboarding trip to the Southern Hemisphere, I have dedicated my entire capacity to what I believe in. This led me years ago to co-found an 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 and subsequently ArcticEvenings. These events are part of an initiative to build an open, encouraging and passionate entrepreneurial culture first in Finland and then across the Nordic and Baltic countries not forgetting St.Petersburg or Moscow. This cause is very close to my heart and something I believe can make a difference for a lot of people in the Northern-Europe.

I am currently working as a User Experience Strategist at Nordkapp. 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: You can find me at Jaiku, Twitter, FriendFeed and LinkedIn. I’ll also update my blog occasionally about my travels and life beyond ArcticStartup.

Contributors

Contributors act as our eyes and ears in the different countries, helping us to spot and report on interesting startups and events.

MÄRT RIDALA, ESTONIA
Märt has worked at different expert and managerial position in the IT systems management field in Elion and MicroLink. From the end of 2007 Märt has been the development manager in MicroLink and the head of the MicroLink Incubator program.
Check out Märt’s blog and LinkedIn profile.

TOIVO TÄNAVSUU, ESTONIA
Toivo is working for Estonia’s biggest weekly Eesti Ekspress. He’s writer, editor and founder of two business and technology news weblogs, one in Estonian and TigerPrises.com in English. Blogging enthusiast, who thinks he has lot to learn :)

UGUR KANER, FINLAND
Ugur Kaner is the CEO & Creative Director of Finnish mobile innovation company Kuneri. He is an experienced Visual designer, UI Specialist, Software designer & developer and Flash Lite expert; as well as Forum Nokia Champion, a recognition and reward program for top mobile developers worldwide by Forum Nokia. Ugur has been the name behind many novel products such as KuneriLite, SWFPack, Easy Vote and KISS60. Check out Ugur’s LinkedIn profile and blog.

TOMI LUOSTARINEN, FINLAND
Tomi is a serial entrepreneur who has more than ten years of experience from wireless communications and Internet sectors. He holds a M.Sc in engineering from Helsinki University of Technology. Up until 2005 he worked for Teliasonera Finland in R&D. Tomi’s first startup, Innofile, was established in 2006. He is currently the CEO of Tori Innovations Ltd., a startup that provides enterprise software for user-driven innovation. Tomi’s e-mail.