I wrote this piece, describing my background, already a couple of months ago…when I first tried to start blogging. However, I was then too busy to do it. But finally, the blog is now out – and here are the few lines I wrote about my entrepreneur background.

I like the word entrepreneur. Many associations come to my mind. What is an entrepreneur? Wikipedia defines it as: ”…the type of personality who is willing to take upon himself a new venture or enterprise and accepts full responsibility for the outcome” and ”a person who has possession of a new enterprise, venture or idea and assumes significant accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome”.

I wasn’t born in a family of entrepreneurs, but I suppose that some of my basic characteristics fit in with the requirements. I love to research and build, I am strongly for genuine team work, and I love to see a clear connection between the sweaty moments and the results, very rewarding. The continuous idea creation & iteration is fun. On top of that, the struggle on how to succeed in the execution is a challenge I’m willing to take – definitely the hardest part.

Entrepreneur x 4

This is the fourth time I am an entrepreneur. My first time in the 80’s was related to after-marketing of the IBM hardware (!), kind of recycling business for those huge equipments, mainframes & storage units – very international environment and me being very young at the time I learned a lot from my colleagues around the globe.

The second time for an entrepreneurial move was when I lived in Sweden. Year was 1997, me, my ex-husband and our two children moved to Stockholm. At that time I worked for an international software company IBS, but very soon I decided to study instead. So I combined both, started my M.Sc. studies at Stockholm University & Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan – and ran my own company aside.

The third time was in 2003. I had moved back to Finland from Sweden and started to work for a Finnish software company Efecte. I was fully acting like an entrepreneur even if I was just a minor shareholder. The team spirit was exceptional and I fell in love with IT Service Management (ITSM). How normal is that can be discussed! Almost six years of hard work and great moments. The company grew a lot and very fast, and as very often it was time for major changes which led further to the fact that it was time to start something new.

The end of the year 2008 was a major decision point for me. I traveled to Thailand all by myself, in order to do some thinking. Wonderful country & trip. The very day I came back I got a call from the founder of Efecte, Jaan Apajalahti , and very soon all was set. This time I would build something new together with Jaan and the loveliest of all business angels, Jukka Kosonen. In April we had the entire founding team setup ready, and the work really could start.

My new baby

Our new start up, Sopima, was founded in early 2009. A lot of excitement and a wonderful feeling of being along from the very beginning! And I made this decision in a minute – no, 30 seconds – with no hesitation. We are building something very special, with the latest technology, with the greatest of partners.

So this is what I’m doing at the moment. In this blog I will write about the road trip I have just started. Among other stories of my daily life and interests.