
I did an interview with Viktoria Trosien for Tiburon TV at the Slush Helsinki event. It just got posted online as a video that you can find from here:
http://www.tiburon-tv.com/2008/12/01/i-started-with-failing-serial-entre...
It's about how I "started with eventually failing" when Taika Technologies had to discontinue after a promising start (that's another war story then). And moves on to stuff that I have been involved in, my views and opinions about how Finland is as a place for startups and what's the local scene like etc.
I make a claim that Finland would be a forward-looking place where people are willing to abandon the old ways if they don't work. Is this really true or not, what do you think?
Hi. My name is Taneli Tikka. This is where I preach what I practice. I'm a
serial entrepreneur and a startup activist of sorts. People usually know me
from my past and present consumer Internet service projects: IRC-Galleria,
Dopplr, Muxlim, StarDoll, RunToShop, Vakuutuskone.com, and a bunch of other stuff. My
"proper" bio is behind this link. Glad to see you here, thanks for browsing
around.
Comments
"click to play"
Mon, 2008-12-01 17:35 – taneliIt says "click to play" on the image, but it's actually just an image. Click on the link to get there, please. Sorry for teasing you with that ;-)
Pragmatists
Mon, 2008-12-01 22:08 — Jon Martin (not verified)I'd say that Finns are among the least ideological people I've ever met. Ask a Brit or an American why they do or believe or endorse something and they'll often use a word like "freedom" or invoke some moral claim like "it's just wrong". Finns tend to give very practical answers. I think that's why most of the decisions made in the political sphere here are quite sensible. It's hard to imagine something plainly idiotic like the poll tax (Thatcher 1990ish) or a 90% top rate of tax (UK 1979ish) happening here.
The Finns seem to put "Does it work?" as the first question on the list. In the UK the first question is "Is it right?". In the US it's "Will it make us freer" or "What does God think?". Okay that's a bit tongue in cheek but I believe there is truth to it.
If it's not true right now, then it will be in the near future
Mon, 2008-12-01 22:39 — Odin (not verified)I've met the folks at Zipipop, Floobs and Screds. One mutual thing I really like is that they decided to stick around whatever the situation was.
There's a famous quote about war: "In times of war, heroes are born." It's natural that in this economy crisis, the heroes (innovative entrepreneurs, investors, governors...who are willing to throw away the old ways of doing things) will thrive and bring the whole society up with them.
One question we really need to ask ourselves is: "Are we open enough to collaborate with each other, so that together we would be strong enough to grow out of this cocoon and challenge the world?"
Based on my own observation
Fri, 2008-12-05 21:01 — Whatever (not verified)I guess it's because many of Finns chose Engineering-related majors and jobs, which trained them to think rationally most of the time.
Talking about being practical, Finns are different from Germans, especially when they purchase something. If they like it, they will pay for it regardless of price; while Germans would compare the prices from different places and not mind doing such research even if it's just a small item.
The only "emotional" moment for a typical Finn would be after two beers and before them passing out. :D
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