When I'm gone



It’s almost seven years since we started Advance B2B with Paavo. Creating a company from the scratch, was a dream for both of us and we felt extremely energized to take up the challenge.

Back then, we barely knew where this path would take us (and I’d argue that nobody does when they set up their first company). Now, I feel extremely proud and happy about the journey we’ve taken.



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I want to share a little story with you. Something that I believe was the most important thing in our success.



Before we even knew what the company would do, we scribbled one phrase on a pre-owned whiteboard that would change the way we think about business. The phrase was: 

”We are creating a work(place) of our dreams”

That meant a place where you’d always be happy to go to, something you’d be proud of, and something that would improve over time. This was it. Nothing fancy really. Nothing special in it. Except that turned out to be the most important thing we did in creating our company.

It meant that we needed to nail down things we valued most and how we wanted the company to work.

After scribbling those down we came up with an initial version of what would then become our ”Kulttuurikoodi” (Culture code). Internal deck, that outlines what kind of company we’re building.

A bit later, after hiring our first set of employees, one of our earliest employees, Hanna, asked us why we are not putting this document out there for everybody to see. I had thought it should be only for internal use, but her idea of making it public and thus giving potential employees a glimpse of what we’re building would turn out to be a great move. She also noted that since radical transparency is one of our key principles, it would be the only right thing to do. So, we put that on Slideshare (and now it has been viewed more than 45 000 times. Quite an achievement for an internal document).

Chase your dreams.

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It’s not always easy to live up to your values. Not at all. Especially when you’re trying to grow fast and make a change in the market. Or when you are being hit with a global pandemic. The true test of values and what you stand for is not when things are great, but when things turn ugly.

Let me give you few examples: 

We’ve had team members whose family members have gotten very sick and faced close-to-death experiences. Are you expecting your team member to fully be able to work or do you support her with team members and financially?
 
Or the pandemic. Do you throw your employees under the bus to make sure you do profit, or do you a) make sure you manage your company expenses carefully and b) if you need to adjust, you don’t lay off people, but rather give up your own salary for a month or so to make sure nobody would need to take a financial hit. 

When you know, that there are many super interesting new things coming up, are you taking all of those by yourself, or are you giving those opportunities to your dear colleagues, who might not be 100% ready for them, but who have the burning desire to go after them. And you know they’ll succeed.

Small things, big difference.

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Last year was the greatest test of my life and at the same time given me (and Paavo) the most joy we’ve felt in running this business. We’ve handed out more and more of our responsibilities to new leaders in our team.

Leaders that are homebred and well-respected in the company.

Leaders that are already better than us at many things. I’m confident that our baby is in good hands.


I’m writing this to let you know that my journey at Advance B2B will end in Summer. I’m moving on to create the next chapter in my life and leaving a company behind that we have built with love.



I’d like to thank Paavo for this journey we’ve taken together. I also like to thank all of my colleagues, past & present. You have made the company what it is.

”And when I'm gone just carry on don't mourn
Rejoice every time you hear the sound of my voice, just know that
I'm lookin' down on you smilin'
And I didn't feel a thing so baby, don't feel no pain, just smile back”




Ps. If you want to keep up with what’s going on and how my next journey is shaping up, just fill the form and I’ll post (somewhat) irregularly what’s up.

I'll send updates approximately twice a month, so getting your first mail can take time 

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