Four Lessons Learned In Entrepreneurship Inside The Startup Ecosystem

Becoming an entrepreneur is a brave path to take. Why? Simply because it is a journey that involves a high level of self-commitment, risk-taking and a bit of madness. However, if you are someone who dreams of changing this world for good and becoming a problem solver, founding your own startup is a good place to get started.

Being an entrepreneur in Finland, especially on the tech field, is nowadays taken with a better regard: Finland has seen successful tech companies rise to clear levels of success, thus, building good trustworthy foundations that entrepreneurship should be promoted as a viable career path from a very young age.

After exploring different startup communities filled with ambitious tech entrepreneurs, and also being part of one (Maria 01), there are several lessons we have learned up close by all the founders we have crossed paths with:

1. Don’t mind the bumps and learn to love the smaller milestones.

It won’t be easy and probably never will. The entrepreneurial journey is filled with stiff ups and downs — it is often the smaller milestones and your determined vision throughout the path that catapult entrepreneurs to keep going.

2. Find your community and network your way to the top.

Being part of a bigger entity surrounded by people that think like you do, can do wonders and give a real sense of purpose to the crazy things you might be working on. Finding startup communities where you can ask for advice and network can be very helpful to get started and to build a network, which later on can really pay off.

3. Focus was never this important.

When building a company, the amount of advice and startup programs being offered to you will be plenty. Focus on those that will give real value to what you do, and those out of which you can concretely list the benefits. Stay focused in your vision and mission without losing track of the bigger picture.

4. If you fail, learn from it and start again.

Do not see failure as a permanent state — it can teach you plenty. Serial entrepreneurs have both failed and succeeded. It is very possible that they succeeded because they failed the first time they tried. Inside the startup ecosystem, failure is often seen as a step for building something greater.

Kimberly Oguilve
Chief Marketing Officer
Maria O1
@SpiceTheNorth

Maria 01 is a community campus for of technology start-ups in the center of Helsinki, in the premises of the old Maria hospital, bringing together the key elements of the startup ecosystem.

Maria 01 and Ilmarinen co-operate. The aim of the co-operation is to make well-being at work and Ilmarinen’s services known to start-up companies, thus helping to support start-up technology companies to grow and prosper.