Talks with Petri

Ahti Heinla talks about building companies that impact a massive amount of people, how even successful founders struggle and fail at times but also what’s the right approach to build a business case. He also reveals how his company managed to pull off something that a tier-one VC told to be impossible. See the episode notes: https://www.talkswithpetri.com/ahti. Guest bio Ahti Heinla is the co-founder and CTO of Starship Technologies which is the world’s leading company creating local delivery robots. In 2002, he was part of the founding team of Skype and was the company’s Chief Technical Architect for the first five years. In 2008, Ahti helped to mobilise 3% of the population to clean Estonia's forests in a day. -------------- Podcast website: http://www.talkswithpetri.com/. Subscribe on Apple, Google, Spotify or Youtube. Follow on Twitter for updates. You can also send suggestions. Please consider leaving a short review or share the episode so that others can find the show.

Hannu Ryopponen talks about working with Ingvar Kamprad, how he was as an entrepreneur and what made IKEA successful. He also reveals what happened when he travelled with Kamprad and met dignitaries. See the episode notes: https://www.talkswithpetri.com/kamprad. Guest bio Hannu Ryöppönen is a private investor and board professional who, since the 1970s, has served as CFO of many international companies in London, New York, Copenhagen, Luxembourg and Stockholm. He worked for over 10 years in Ingvar Kamprad’s inner circle as a group CFO for IKEA. Ryöppönen has held top executive positions in companies like Royal Ahold, Industri Kapital, Stora Enso, and he has been in non-executive positions on boards of Amer Sports, Samworth Brothers, ICA, Novo Nordisk, Billerud Korsnas and Neste, among others. Apart from his extensive experience in finance and strategy, he has spent well over half of his career in different sectors of the retail industry. -------------- Podcast website: http://www.talkswithpetri.com/. Subscribe on Apple, Google, Spotify or Youtube. Follow on Twitter for updates. You can also send suggestions. Please consider leaving a short review or share the episode so that others can find the show.

Micke Paqvalén talks about building award winning companies, rough times, and almost dying while working too hard. He also reveals his first startup at early age, and founding of a flying boat company. See the episode notes: https://www.talkswithpetri.com/micke. Guest bio Lars-Michaël (Micke) Paqvalén, M.Sc. (Econ.), is a company builder who has lived and worked internationally for over 25 years and exited four major software companies. He is the founder & chairman of TRÄ Group and Buildbite, co-founder of Brandbassador, Learning Intelligence Group (Claned & GraphoGame), Kiosked, Telepo, HansaWorld and an active early-stage investor in many disruptive companies, such as Proof Analytics among others. He is also on the Advisory Board of Nordic Innovation and Nordic Scalers, a pan-Nordic initiative to find and accelerate next-generation unicorns in the Nordics. During his tenure as an entrepreneur, he has been awarded the European ICT Grand Prize, the award for Best Enterprise Software solution at the Mobile World Congress, the growth entrepreneur of the year in both Finland and Sweden, the American and European Business Awards etc. Micke is a proud father of four children. -------------- Podcast website: http://www.talkswithpetri.com/. Subscribe on Apple, Google, Spotify or Youtube. Follow on Twitter for updates. You can also send suggestions. Please consider leaving a short review or share the episode so that others can find the show.

Ukrainian investor and entrepreneur Andrew Zinchuk talks about what’s happening in the Ukrainian startup ecosystem, how things have evolved over the years and what’s expected to happen next. He also shares his insights into living and working in Ukraine during the war and where to find the best cocktails in town. See the episode notes: www.talkswithpetri.com/ukrainian-startups. Guest bio Andrew Zinchuk is a VC & an entrepreneur with extensive experience in all stages of a startup ecosystem. He's the founder and general partner at ZAS Ventures. Previously, he was the managing director at a pre-team pre-idea startup incubator, and he has advised 100+ startups by acting as an advisor & mentor at Antler, Seedstars & Ukrainian Startup Fund. -------------- Podcast website: http://www.talkswithpetri.com/. Subscribe on Apple, Google, Spotify or Youtube. Follow on Twitter for updates. You can also send suggestions. Please consider leaving a short review or share the episode so that others can find the show.

Mikko Revonniemi talks about the founding and the early years of Four Sigmatic, his burnout and the measures it took to overcome it. He also shares his insights from e-commerce marketing and how to get leads to your DTC startup. See the episode notes: https://www.talkswithpetri.com/mikko. Guest bio Mikko Revonniemi is a purpose-driven entrepreneur passionate about creating solutions for people to optimize their health and well-being on physical, mental, and spiritual levels. He is a co-founder at Four Sigmatic, a company focusing on medicinal mushrooms, and Taimi, which aims to solve nutrition-related diseases with personalized nutrition and data. He is an ex-trail runner and over-achiever whose new interest, after a long burnout, is in meaning and balance in all aspects of life. -------------- Podcast website: http://www.talkswithpetri.com/ Subscribe on Apple, Google, Spotify or Youtube. Follow on Twitter for updates. You can also send suggestions. Please consider leaving a short review or share it so that others can find the show.

Per Bylund talks about the root cause of inflation, how to deal with it and why founders have some inherent advantages. He also explains the fiat currency scam and explores the wonders of MMT. See the episode notes: https://www.talkswithpetri.com/bylund and the previous episode: https://www.talkswithpetri.com/consumer-is-sovereign. Guest bio Per Bylund is a Swede in Oklahoma, USA, where he works as associate professor of entrepreneurship and Johnny D. Pope Chair in the Spears School of Business at Oklahoma State University. He had careers in politics and as business consultant and systems developer before moving to the USA and starting a career in academia. He has also successfully failed as an entrepreneur no less than four times, experiences that he draws from when teaching students and writing columns for Entrepreneur  magazine. He is an author of two books, The Problem of Production: A Theory of the Firm (Routledge, 2016) and The Seen, the Unseen, and the Unrealized: How Regulations Affect Our Everyday Lives (Lexington, 2016), and has a third on the way (expected later in 2022). He is also actively discussing matters of the economy, entrepreneurship, and freedom on Twitter; follow him at @PerBylund. -------------- Podcast website: http://www.talkswithpetri.com/ Subscribe: Apple, Google, Spotify. Follow on Twitter for updates. Please consider leaving a short review on Apple or send this episode to your friends. You can also comment and send suggestions.

Henry Nilert talks about building startups during market crises and how you survive the volatile times. He also shares his founder stories of building and exiting to large corporates as well as his take on the venture studio business model. See the episode notes: https://www.talkswithpetri.com/nilert. Guest bio Henry Nilert is a Swedish entrepreneur with a background living and working in France, the US, the United Kingdom and Finland. He has extensive experience building successful startups, as co-founder of iobox, one of the largest early mobile entertainment portals in Europe, and co-founder of Credit24, a leading online lending platform in Finland, the Baltics, and beyond. As advisor and angel investor he has supported a large number of startups, with a focus on B2B SaaS and Fintech. -------------- Podcast website: http://www.talkswithpetri.com/ Subscribe: Apple, Google, Spotify. Follow on Twitter for updates. Please consider leaving a short review on Apple or send this episode to your friends. You can also comment and send suggestions.

Ukrainian startup founder Alyona Mysko talks about how to prepare and manage during the crisis, the role of individuals in society, and the reality of solopreneurship. She also reveals recruitment tips, and what to do in Moscow. See the episode notes: https://www.talkswithpetri.com/alyona. Guest bio Alyona Mysko is the founder and CEO of Fuelfinance. She has worked in finance for more than 10 years, being an expert in financial planning and risk management. During this period, she was a lecturer for more than 1500 students and participated as a mentor in CEE SeedStars, EO business Incubator, Tech2 Impact programs. Two years ago, she launched her personal startup Fuelfinance, and set the Fuelfinance mission as “our goal is to save hundreds of thousands of SMBs from bankruptcies and unlock trillions of dollars in GDP growth”. She’s passionate about wakesurfing, Petrykivka painting and Ukrainian Art. -------------- Podcast website: http://www.talkswithpetri.com/ Subscribe: Apple, Google, Spotify. Follow on Twitter for updates. Please consider leaving a short review on Apple or send this episode to your friends. You can also comment and send suggestions.

Niels Bosma talks about doing marketing with a technical background, automating your workflows and what happens when friends become co-founders in the same company. See the episode notes: https://www.talkswithpetri.com/niels. Guest bio Niels Bosma is a passionate growth hacker, product developer and angel investor. He builds growth engines. His latest venture is Filestar that is revolutionising how people work with their files. He is also a co-founder of Offerta and Tessin, which is Scandinavia's first and largest platform for real estate financing. Niels loves to do side projects such as SeoTools for Excel. He is also an avid mountain biker. -------------- Podcast website: http://www.talkswithpetri.com/ Subscribe: Apple, Google, Spotify. Follow on Twitter for updates. Please consider leaving a short review on Apple or send this episode to your friends. You can also comment and send suggestions.

Multitalented artist Younee talks about her journey of self-discovery and rebellion in building a successful international career with many levels of accomplishments and renewal after prodigious domestic stardom in Korea. She also reveals how to push your limits and be  vulnerable in front of a live audience. See the episode notes: https://www.talkswithpetri.com/younee. Guest bio YOUNEE from South Korea is a virtuoso, prize-winning pianist and an impressively talented and awarded singer/songwriter who, from an early age, has a desire to break the boundaries. Her tuition begins at the age of three, then involves studying classical piano for the next twenty years. She is one of a small group of highly trained classical musicians who are equally at home on Jazz, Pop and Rock stages. In 2006, she releases her first and highly successful debut album ‚Love’ (EMI) as "Key's Piano" in Korea, becomes a star in her native country and a permanent guest in TV-shows, festivals and contests. She is also highly active as a songwriter writing a string of pop songs for other Korean artists, such as the title song and No.1 hit of “Dan Hansaram” for the Korean TV drama “Famous Princesses” on KBS TV. YOUNEE decides to move to England with the aim of writing and producing in collaboration with several icons of the British jazz scene and to release her English language crossover- album "True To You" in the UK. The album track ‘Home To You’ hits several radio charts in the US culminating in the No. 1 spot of the important AC-Chartbound listings, and YOUNEE, together with her co-writer, wins the category of ‘Best Songwriter’ at the Music Aid Awards. Then she signed to a German record label, management and concert agency “Karsten Jahnke” in Hamburg and moved to Germany in 2013 where she has released two albums so far. She has performed at Jazzopen Stuttgart, Leverkusener Jazztage, Dresdener Jazztage, Woman in Jazz, Ingolstädter Jazztage, Beethoven Festival, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, and many more in both classic and jazz stages. --- Correction: 1:34 "see the sounds as colours" There were some serious technical challenges while recording this video, and it has been improvised from lower quality audio and video backup sources. -------------- Podcast website: http://www.talkswithpetri.com/ Subscribe: Apple, Google, Spotify. Follow on Twitter for updates. Please consider leaving a short review on Apple or send this episode to your friends. You can also comment and send suggestions.

Pierre Stanislas talks about finding opportunities in unexpected places, how to become insurtech leader and make waves with side projects. He also shares insights into the future of Clubdeck and web3 audio platforms. See the episode notes: https://www.talkswithpetri.com/pierre.  Guest bio Pierre Stanislas is the CEO & co-founder of Wilow, and a co-founder of Clubdeck. He has worked in finance for 15 years (London & Paris), advising institutional clients on their strategy. In parallel, and just for fun, Pierre has developed and launched mobile apps in various fields such as gaming, social media, culture or sport, some of which have been downloaded by several thousand users. Passionate about sailing, music and martial arts, he has also written two novels in his spare time. Pierre holds an MSc from Ecole Centrale Paris. -------------- Podcast website: http://www.talkswithpetri.com/ Subscribe: Apple, Google, Spotify. Follow on Twitter for updates. Please consider leaving a short review on Apple or send this episode to your friends. You can also comment and send suggestions.

Amir Nashat talks about working with stellar people, how curiosity leads you to amazing results, and what is exciting in the biotech field. He also reveals how he met his childhood hero. See the episode notes: https://www.talkswithpetri.com/amir/. Guest bio Amir Nashat is a managing partner in Polaris’ Boston office. He joined Polaris in 2002 and focuses on investments in healthcare. Additionally, Amir has served as a director of Adnexus Therapeutics (Bristol Myers Squibb), Athenix Corporation (Bayer), Avila Therapeutics (Celgene), Fate Therapeutics (NASDAQ: FATE), Freenome, Living Proof (Unilever), Promedior Pharmaceuticals (Roche), Receptos (Celgene), Selecta Biosciences (NASDAQ: SELB), Sun Catalytix (Lockheed Martin), and TARIS Biomedical (J&J). In addition to his investment role, Amir has served as the CEO of Dewpoint, Jnana, Living Proof, Olivo Labs, and Sun Catalytix. Amir also serves on the Partners Innovation Fund and the Investment Advisory Committee for The Engine at MIT, and helped launch the MIT Sandbox Innovation Fund as its active president. He has been named to the Forbes Midas List of “Top 100 Venture Capitalists.” Prior to joining Polaris, Amir completed his ScD as a Hertz Fellow in Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a minor in Biology under the guidance of Dr. Robert Langer. Amir also earned both his MS and BS in Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. -------------- Podcast website: http://www.talkswithpetri.com/ Subscribe: Apple iTunes (Podcasts), Google Podcasts, Spotify. Follow on Twitter for updates. Please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts or send this episode to your friends. You can also send suggestions.

Hans-Peter “Hape” Siefen talks about building an international brand with a loyal customer base, the role of marketing and sales in organic growth and how Jim Collins has shaped their company. He also reveals some amazing moments with Jack Welch and Arnold Schwarzenegger. See the episode notes: https://www.talkswithpetri.com/hape/. Guest bio Hape is a sales boy who turned into an entrepreneur. He is a family guy who enjoys spending time in nature and on the lakes of Finland. Hape founded Nordic Business Group 11 years ago with his business partner, Jyri LIndén, whom he met at a university lecture. His professional passion is in inspiring and educating people about business and leadership - and also in building a thrilling business himself. -------------- Podcast website: http://www.talkswithpetri.com/ Subscribe: Apple iTunes (Podcasts), Google Podcasts, Spotify. Follow on Twitter for updates. Please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts or send this episode to your friends. You can also send suggestions.

Sami Benchekroun talks about the three phases of startup growth from bootstrapping to scaling and raising over €20m in funding. We discuss the role of mentorship and finding the right type of investors but also some French puns are involved. See the episode notes: https://www.talkswithpetri.com/sami/. Guest bio Sami Benchekroun is the Co-Founder and CEO of Morressier, the virtual conference provider and platform for the scientific community. Sami has over ten years of experience in academic conferences, scholarly publishing, and entrepreneurship. He drives Morressier's vision forward and is dedicated to increasing the impact and reach of professional and scientific conferences. A frequent industry contributor, Sami serves as a scientific communications lecturer at the Technical University of Berlin. He has a background studying management at ESCP Europe. -------------- Podcast website: http://www.talkswithpetri.com/ Subscribe: Apple iTunes (Podcasts), Google Podcasts, Spotify. Follow on Twitter for updates. Please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts or send this episode to your friends. You can also send suggestions.

Ville Virtanen talks about what happens when you are hit by Sandstorm and how to cope with expectations, success and stay relevant over time. This episode is totally out of control so just feel the vibe and tune in. See the episode notes: https://www.talkswithpetri.com/darude/. Guest bio Famed for the global platinum-selling smash ‘Sandstorm’, Darude is recognised as one of the most influential artists to emerge from the dance scene. With a DJ style that is a mixture of progressive and uplifting trance, fused with elements of tech, breaks and house, Darude’s music delivers a dynamic energy that gets any dance floor moving. With over 15 years of heavily touring North and South America, as well as leading shows in Asia and Australasia his resume of accolades is a testament to the exponential growth of his profile as an international artist. Over the years he’s appeared on TV channels such as BBC, NBC, CNN and MTV, as well as having won several prestigious awards such as 2 x German Dance Awards, Dance Star Award, USA Golden Turntable DJ Award and he is a 3 x Finnish Grammy Award winner. His name has also appeared in numerous public-voted polls with previous entries in Top 100 DJs Poll and Americas Favourite DJ. -------------- Podcast website: http://www.talkswithpetri.com/ Subscribe: Apple iTunes (Podcasts), Google Podcasts, Spotify. Follow on Twitter. If you really like the podcast please leave a short review on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) or get Petri a coffee. You can also send suggestions.

Mikko Hypponen talks about how to protect your company against security threats, why ransomware is so common, the future of cyberwars and why you should trust the cloud. He also reveals how he crashed his customer's brand new car. See the episode notes and transcript: https://www.talkswithpetri.com/if-its-smart-its-vulnerable/. Guest bio Mikko Hypponen is a global security expert. He has worked at F-Secure since 1991. Mr. Hypponen has written on his research for the New York Times, Wired and Scientific American and he appears frequently on international TV. He has lectured at the universities of Stanford, Oxford and Cambridge. He was selected among the 50 most important people on the web by the PC World magazine and was included in the FP Global 100 Thinkers list. Mikko has a book out on the topics we discussed, see https://ifitssmartitsvulnerable.com for more information. -------------- All episode notes and transcripts: http://www.talkswithpetri.com/ Subscribe: Apple iTunes (Podcasts), Google Podcasts, Spotify. Follow on Twitter. If you like the podcast please leave a short review on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) or get Petri a coffee. You can also send suggestions.

Jaakko Villa talks about co-founding a successful growth company Idean and running it for many years but what happens when the co-founders part ways and his legacy is nowhere to be seen anymore. We also cover how to transform from direct sales to digital sales processes and what is an ethical design agency. See the episode notes and transcript: https://www.talkswithpetri.com/founder-non-grata/. Guest bio Jaakko Villa is a Finnish customer experience serial entrepreneur. He is currently managing Puheet customer community engagement SaaS business. In 2020, he co-founded Alpha Design Partners and already in 1999 the UX design firm Idean. At leisure time, he enjoys motorcycling and sports, especially basketball and badminton. He is easy to work with and enjoys helping fellow entrepreneurs where he can. -------------- All episode notes and transcripts: http://www.talkswithpetri.com/ Subscribe: Apple iTunes (Podcasts), Google Podcasts, Spotify. Follow on Twitter. If you like the podcast please leave a short review on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) or get Petri a coffee. You can also send suggestions.

Erik Byrenius talks about scaling his startup and the intriguing turns with strategic investments that led to an optimal exit situation. He also shares his lessons from +50 angel investments and where to find the best ice-cream in Manhattan. See the episode notes and transcript: https://www.talkswithpetri.com/erik-byrenius. Guest bio Erik Byrenius is a Swedish foodtech entrepreneur who turned investor. He has spent the last few years giving back to the startup ecosystem by doing investments, working with philanthropy and building StartupTools.org with free resources for startups. He is now running Trellis Road, focusing on high-impact foodtech and agritech startups globally, investing at seed stage. -------------- All episode notes and transcripts: http://www.talkswithpetri.com/ Subscribe: Apple iTunes (Podcasts), Google Podcasts, Spotify. Follow on Twitter. If you like the podcast please leave a short review on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) or get Petri a coffee. You can also send suggestions.

Heikki Väänänen, the co-founder of HappyOrNot, talks about his entrepreneurial journey from bootstrapping to raising over 40m EUR funding and scaling the company to +200 employees, and stepping down from the CEO role after 20 years. He also tells why it's a good idea to wear a company T-shirt. See the episode notes and transcript: https://www.talkswithpetri.com/bootstrapping-your-way-to-success/. Guest bio Heikki Väänänen, 40, has worked most of his life as an entrepreneur. The idea of HappyOrNot was born, when at the age of 15, he received bad customer service at a store he visited. He wondered whether there would be a better solution to give feedback and came up with the idea of the new service. However, he did not execute his idea right away and let it mature for a few more years. In those years, he graduated  as a Master of Science in Technology and founded, at the age of 20, his own gaming company Universomo. He has held board member roles in several technology and services companies, with a proven track record of increasing sales and profitability. With his combined experience and expertise, Heikki has directed the successful strategic development and sale of six Finnish companies, including the sale of Universomo to THQ – the second largest gaming company in the world. In 2009 HappyOrNot was born. The Smiley devices measuring customer satisfaction can be found at various locations, like grocery stores, pharmacies and airports, in more than 120 countries around the world. The HappyOrNot service has currently collected 2 billion feedbacks - a record in the customer feedback market space. While the idea of the Smiley devices is simple and the way of giving feedback is easy, the feedback data enables actionable insights and empowers companies to develop their business by improving their customer experience. -------------- All episode notes and transcripts: http://www.talkswithpetri.com/ Subscribe: Apple iTunes (Podcasts), Google Podcasts, Spotify. Follow on Twitter. If you like the podcast please leave a short review on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) or get Petri a coffee. You can also send suggestions.

Joshua Weiss talks about why you should not compromise or plan when negotiating, how to avoid common misconceptions, how to deal with bullies and power moves but also become a better negotiator and embrace the process. He also reveals why he did not become a lawyer. See the episode notes and transcript: https://www.talkswithpetri.com/embrace-negotiations/. Guest bio Dr. Joshua N. Weiss is the co-founder, with William Ury, of the Global Negotiation Initiative at Harvard University and a Senior Fellow at the Harvard Negotiation Project. He is also the Director and creator of the Master of Science degree in Leadership and Negotiation at Bay Path University. He received his Ph.D. from the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University in 2002. -------------- All episode notes and transcripts: http://www.talkswithpetri.com/ Subscribe: Apple iTunes (Podcasts), Google Podcasts, Spotify. Follow on Twitter. If you like the podcast please leave a short review on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) or get Petri a coffee. You can also send suggestions.