My presentation I gave in Poznan, Poland about attributes successful startups in the Nordics and Baltics have.

1. 9 Lessons from the Arctic
My philosophy of creating great startups
Antti Vilpponen

2. 2007 - present
CEO, Co-Founder at ArcticStartup
2009 - present
Advisor, Co-Founder at Kisko Ventures
2007 - 2009
Producer, Co-Founder at Gyllene Skor
2006 - 2007
Sales Director at Apaja Online Entertainment

4. Entrepreneur

5. Startup Entrepreneur

6. "A startup is a human institution designed
to deliver a new product or service under
conditions of extreme uncertainty"
-Eric Ries-

7. 9 attributes of successful startups
(influenced by A.Martinson & M.Mickos)

8. #1 - Team

9. #1 - Team
Co-founders
Advisors
(Investors)
Mårten Mickos: Culture eats strategy for breakfast

10. #2 - Bootstrap

11. #2 - Bootstrap
Keep your costs down as long as you can,
ultimately until PMF has been achieved.
Take money to scale.

12. #3 - Commercialize early

13. #3 - Commercialize early
Shows commercial potential. Free is easy.
Your best investors are your customers.
Orders before development?

14. #4 - Embrace the pitch

15. #4 - Embrace the pitch
In 30 to 60 seconds, you should be able to tell the
key points about your business, what you do, why,
who are the customers, how you make money as
well as why you are better than others.

16. #5 - Be ready to pivot

17. #5 - Be ready to pivot
Truth: no company ever accomplished what it set
out to do.
Case Applifier, from a facebook game to a cross-
promotion ad network on FB with 55M MAUs.
Flickr.

18. #6 - Customer Development

19. #6 - Customer Development
Google Steve Blank & Eric Ries.
The more communication you have with potential
clients, the better in sync you are with the market.
You’re solving customers’ problems,
not your own.

20. #7 - Go-To-Market

21. #7 - Go-To-Market
Boy meets girl example - first impressions count.
Part of success, but also part of your brand.
Research, analyze, plan, execute.

22. #7 - Data is everything

23. #7 - Data is everything
Feelings guide you wrong, trust data.
Analyze customer acquisition,
usage, new features, etc.

24. #8 - Learn & network, online & offline

25. #8 - Learn & network, online & offline
There’s always the first time.
Best way to learn is to write about it.
Internet is full of information regarding startups,
use it!
We’re not in The Valley, EU is more fragmented.

26. #9 - Keep pushing, have fun

27. #9 - Keep pushing, have fun
Best way not to give up is by having fun.
Success takes years.

28. "Success is the ability to go from one
failure to another with no loss of
enthusiasm."
-Winston Churchill-

29. Thank you.
Antti Vilpponen
http://antti.vilpponen.net
antti@arcticstartup.com
@vilpponen