Kasper Suomalainen, COO at Startup Sauna – Failure is a learning experience

(Kasper Suomalainen) The Finnish Startup Sauna is the most successful early acceleration program in Northern Europe, whose startups have drawn more than USD 100 million in investments in the past 6 years. The unique five-week program carried out by the accelerator focuses on the go-to-market strategy and product-market fits, and participating in it has become a matter of prestige for young European entrepreneurs, as confirmed by 13 rounds for taking part in the program organized so far (two series of local events a year), more than 4,500 applications and 194 startups given the chance to participate.

One participant said that Startup Sauna is like Fight Club - “they separate you and bring you back together in an improved way”. The accelerator, which has changed the public image of technological entrepreneurship in Finland, is also organizing the Slush conference, which has gone from being a gathering of 300 initiated by students from Helsinki to being a renowned startup event, which, in 2015, gathered 15,000 visitors and 1,700 startups in Helsinki, 4,000 visitors and 360 startups in Tokyo, 1,300 visitors and 340 startups in Beijing and 1,150 investors in all three cities.

Kasper Suomalainen, COO at Startup Sauna, took part in the recently held conference Serbia Startup Ecosystem in Belgrade, where representatives of countries which have supported and profited from ideas of young entrepreneurs for a long time, shared their experiences. In his interview for eKapija, Suomalainen says that Startup Sauna received over 750 applications for the 5-week accelerator program this autumn and that the largest number of projects are B2B software companies, marketplaces and social consumer apps.

– We saw an increase in 3D software and AR/VR startups, which does confirm that there's a clear trend in where technology is going right now. The founders are determined, exceptionally proactive with the coaches and very humble, but hungry at the same time – our interviewee points out and announces that they are doing their local events tour again during spring 2017, going to 15-20 cities.

– We've been to Serbia twice before, last time in 2015 spring, and we'll definitely keep that open as an option for an event in 2017.

eKapija: How would you explain the fact that the quality of applications each year gets better and better?

– Our core region is the Nordics, Baltics, Eastern Europe and Russia even though we get applications from all over the world. I'd say the reason for the increase in quality is simply the fact that the local startup ecosystems we visit are maturing year after year. Startups are more internationally focused and are more confident in what to do next. They're thinking about the right go-to-market strategies and product-market fits and everything doesn't need to be explained from scratch.

eKapija: Startup Sauna program is a real stress test but almost all participants said it was a unique experience for them. What is so special about your 5-week accelerator program?

– Our coaching style and the intensity of the program. It's only a 5-week program and shorter than most accelerators, but it's truly 24/7. You have bizdev sessions throughout the program and the participants rarely have time to do product development. You've never worked as hard during your life as you will at Startup Sauna. When it comes to our coaches, they give honest, actionable, brutal feedback to the teams. We don't call them mentors, as a mentor is someone who pats you on the back and says 'good job but you might want to improve this'. A coach is more like a sports coach, who tells you if your pitch is crap and gives you the honest feedback you need to hear. The Finnish style of little small talk, lots of action is the fastest way to move forward.

eKapija: What do you think about the startup scene in Serbia? Have you noticed some good projects?

– Last time I was in Serbia was 2015, and it's nice to see that the startup ecosystem has moved forward and people are, little by little, starting to think about entrepreneurship as a viable option to earn a living, create jobs and improve the economic situation. I don't want to name any specific projects but highlight the beginning of the growth of the ecosystem there.

eKapija: All initiatives launched and managed as part of Startup Sauna are run by people aged 20 to 30? What is the turning point that makes young people in Finland focus more on entrepreneurship?

– Yes. We're all students or recent graduates, and with a team of 4 people we organize 40 local events a year, 2 programs, and a few investor trips to Berlin, London and Silicon Valley. We have 70+ serial entrepreneurs, angel investors and VCs in our coach network, who come help startup pro bono during our program, but the organization of everything is done by people in their mid-20s.

In the late 2000s, Nokia's mobile phone division got sold to Microsoft. Lots of young people wanted to work for Nokia at the time, but we realized that we can't rely on one company when it comes to our future. At the same time, the attitude towards failure in Finland started changing. Instead of being a negative thing, people started treating it as a learning experience.

eKapija: What are your assumptions in terms of the ways how to increase the popularity of entrepreneurship in Serbia?

– It all starts with passionate people and doers. In addition, what helps is to get a few big names to back the cause and say it's a good thing. This way they will lead with example and it's easier to get others involved as well. People rarely jump to something totally new but will follow when others lead the way.

eKapija: What should the role of the state in this process be?

– In Finland, the state helped a lot with funding but let the younger generation organize the activities on their own. There isn't a formula for this. I've noticed a bottom-up approach to be more effective in the long run than a top-down approach. I think the most important thing for the state is to support but not tell what to do. This means letting the key people organize activities but when asked for help from the state, the state is there to support in any way they can.

eKapija: Helsinki will once again become the epicenter of technology and startups this November. Why is the Slush 2016 (November 30 – December 1) the event that should not be missed out?

– Slush is not a typical tech conference. It's organized in the cold, dark Finnish winter with 15000 attendees, 1700 startups, 700+ investors, 600 media from all over the world. It gathers the most relevant people to the same event. It's not a crowded, 40k+ visitor conference, so you actually meet the right people there. For startups and investors, we've developed our own proprietary matchmaking tool that enables them to exchange decks, set up meeting and get to know each other months before the conference. This way, time is used as efficiently during the two days as possible.

eKapija: One of this year’s key themes at Slush is the mind of an entrepreneur. What would be the key messages that would encourage every entrepreneur to not give up on their ideas?

– Do something that you're passionate about and that you want to work on daily. I'm not talking about something that makes you money, I'm talking about something that makes you happy. The money will eventually follow if there is a need for you product. And giving up is ok as well, don't fear failure! It's very important for an entrepreneur to also realize when the company is not going anywhere and it's time to move on to other adventures.

Ivana Bezarevic