From entrepreneur to a startup advisor and board of over 6 companies.
“Old entrepreneurs that turn into angel investors are sharing their knowledge and experience with the network.”
An entrepreneur turned into an angel investor and advisor, Ilkka Kaikuvuo has not only been mentoring our startup founders but also Nordic Startup School ourselves.
In this interview, I investigate Ilkka’s journey in becoming a serial board member, his work life, his next career goal, and his thoughts on the Finnish startup scene.
You are the moment a board member of six companies. How did it start?
I’m actually on nine different boards but I don’t add all of them to my Linkedin
My first experience being a board member is with SurveyPal, a company I founded in 2007.
I have made mistakes running my own businesses, so now I’m actively trying to help others to avoid those same mistakes. Perhaps that’s the reason I became a board member.
In most of the cases, I got invited by the founders or sometimes the investors want to have someone who’s an entrepreneur himself and has experience in growing a company on the board.
When you choose a company to invest in, what are the criteria?
I came up with a portfolio strategy to determine my investment.
I invest in companies that are doing something as a service.
I know their metrics and how to scale the company to a certain point. I also have experience with some typical pitfalls that you might stumble upon.
Secondly, I want a company that’s somehow connected to office solutions and especially phone booths. For example, I invested in Innovation Home, a co-working space, and also Taitori Oy which provides smart office solutions.
Another important element is the team. They don’t need to know everything but it’s very important that they are willing to learn and take feedback. If not, I or anybody else wouldn’t be able to work with them.
I also need the business to be ambitious enough to carry the investors as well as the owners.
In Finnish, there is this word, “Elinkeino”, which translates to “source of livelihood”. I don't want to invest in someone’s Elinkeino because then you always kind of take the bread out of someone’s mouth.
The last one is that it’d be better if I get the idea. When a product is so tech-deep to the point that it’s hard for me to get the technology, it’s more difficult to help them.
What are your tips for a Beginner Angel Investor to have successful investments?
I think everyone has tips and these are just from my own experience.
You should have a portfolio strategy.
A friend of mine who is also an angel investor said:
“Investing in startups is almost like falling in love. During the “honeymoon” all companies look good because everything is still new and wonderful. Then when you settle down with them, it becomes common and mundane.”
Therefore you should actually do due diligence for them since the “falling-in-love phase” blinds you from everything else.
Angel investment is like a passion, we don’t do this just for the money. Thus, it’s important that you like the company, their product, and the entrepreneurs or at least get along with them.
I wouldn’t invest in a company if I don’t like them. We’ll have to work together for the next 5 to 10 years so why the hell would I invest in them if I don’t like them.
How can you manage to work with a lot of companies at once? Can you describe your typical week?
In January 2019, I retired from my daily office job at Framery.
After that, I became a full-time advisor for startups throughout the spring of 2019.
Then I took the CEO position at Varaani Works which became my daily job, plus the advisory role and being a board member.
So I worked them out 50/50.
I mostly do half-week at Varaani and then the other half I do my tasks as a startup advisor and board member.
I have on average 2–3 board meetings per week and then the day when I work as a startup advisor I deal with about 5 or 6 companies a day.
It sounds like a lot of work but very flexible. You are having your dream job, aren’t you?
I think so. On my fortieth birthday, I overheard my wife talking with a friend of ours. He asked her how I have time for all of this and she said:
“This is Ilkka’s hobby too, he lives and breaths with these companies.”
It’s true, I have other hobbies as well, like running and diving but working with startups is also my hobby.
I like learning new things and I do learn new things daily when dealing with startups. It’s just really enjoyable.
I usually have at least one conversation a year with the CEO or the chairperson of the board to see if I provide enough value as an advisor or a member of the board. If there is some sort of doubt or if I don’t provide enough value I’d just leave because I have other things to do.
I don’t want to be just a name on papers, I want to be valuable.
What is your next goal in your career?
I already experienced the exit as a startup founder, my next goal was to experience an exit as an angel investor.
For the next 5 years, my goal is to be part of an M&A exit as a member of the board.
It’s like a stepladder that keeps going up.
Being a part of the board of directors you learn new and different stuff than when you were a founder. And being a chairperson of the board, once again you gain different experience.
What I actually want to do is to learn new things and to do something great,
at least for this state of my life between 40 and 50.
That’s the ultimate goal, let’s see where it will lead me.
What do you think about the startup environment in Finland?
I think the startup scene is better nowadays than it used to be.
Nowadays, there are more good companies, not just around Helsinki but we also have our own scene here in Tampere, in Oulu and also other cities. Especially there has been good exits in the past 5 or 6 years.
Business Finland has good grands and support from the government. There is also good peer support as “everyone knows everyone”.
We have old entrepreneurs that turn angel investors and are sharing their knowledge and experience with the network. That’s something that only happened during recent years.
On the other hand, Finland is a very small market. If you’re from the States, UK or Germany you can just sell to the domestic market and it could be enough. You can do the same in Finland but with 5,5 million people, you can’t scale your company if you just stay here.
So Finland is a good place to be an entrepreneur but if you want to get big you need to get out of here eventually.
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