esi: Who are you, what do you do and what makes you an expert on your start-upcountry?
Erika: My name is Erika Halonen and I am not an expert. I’ve been involved with the start-up scene here for a year and a half and am currently working as community manager at Boost Turku Entrepreneurship Society.
esi: What is cool about your start-upcountry, what inspires you and keeps you thriving?
Erika: I appreciate the creative environment, the drive, the supportive networks of people who wish to bring forth the best start-ups.
esi: What makes you shake your head about your start-upcountry, what needs to be improved?
Erika: In my city, Turku, the bureaucracy is a problem. Also, the way public funding is handled is annoying and not very supportive of risk-taking, agility or anything new that hasn’t been tried before. On the public side there is definitely a lack of entrepreneurial mindset on a structural level, luckily there are individuals who do possess the right mindset. In Finland in general failing and making mistakes is still too stigmatized, I believe we need an adjustment in attitudes towards failure towards regarding it as an opportunity to learn instead of a reason to give up.
esi: What’s some cool fact we are likely not to know about your start-upcountry?
Erika: Finland has great potential when it comes to tech and bio, what is lacking is the skill to monetize the knowledge we have in these areas. Finland also has a long and strong tradition in good functional design, which is a resource that could be better used in the start-up scene as well.
esi: Thank you for the interview.
About the interviewpartner:
Boosting Turku’s student-run entrepreneurship society is a full-time job for Erika Halonen, Community Manager at BoostTurku.
