This is a presentation I did on 12.11.2012 at Murdoch University Dubai's Master Class event on Entrepreneurship, highlighting the similaries in successfully scaling mountains and starting businesses.

1. Aim High!
Atte Miettinen
12 November 2012

3. Me
• Mountaineer - summited Mt Everest on 19.05.2012
• Completed the Seven Summits a month later as
first person from Finland
• MBA & previously four start-up’s in IT/telecoms
• US$450m in funding & business in +50 countries

5. Entrepreneurs are
modern day explorers!

6. What’s required to reach
the top of the world / to
become a successful
entrepreneur?

7. Right Attitude Starts with Passion

8. Think Big and Aim High

9. Be ready to work hard and make
sacrifices – there’s not shortcut to
success!

10. You need confidence and
determination – starting a
business, like mountaineering, is
about long-term focus

11. First step is often the most difficult!

12. Everything Starts with an Idea
• An opportunity for a product or service or maybe
a new business model
• Key to be open minded and to expose yourself to
new things
• The environment and creativity
• What’s the vision?
• Keep it simple

13. Do you have any other ideas?
• Founded by Sabeer Bhatia and Jack Smith
• Met Steve Jurvetson @ Draper Fisher
• Launched Hotmail on 4th of July, 1996
• Sold to Microsoft 18 months later for US$400m
• Today Hotmail has 324m users and it’s world’s
largest web-based email service

14. Is this the Right Timing?
• For you to become an entrepreneur?
• For the idea to become successful?
• Leading edge vs. bleeding edge

15. Business Plan

17. Business Plan
• What is the company going to do?
• What is the business model?
• What skills, resources, tools and partners are
needed?
• You need good general management skills to
create the plan
• Find someone that’s done it before!
• Don’t assume – challenge and qualify the
assumptions
• Be flexible

18. Right People / Team
• Recognise that a successful business is a team
effort
• Are you the right person to be CEO?
• Identify the expertise and experience required
and surround yourself with people that
complement you
• Hire the best & trust them
• Be ready to share the benefits

19. Teamwork Makes it Easier

20. Funding
• Do I need additional investment, how much, how
much value am I going to create, how much
ownership am I willing to give up?
• Own savings, friends and family, bank, venture
capital?
• Raising external funding is often a much longer
process than you think
• Don’t be discouraged with the first no – use this
opportunity to get feedback, learn and refine
your plan

22. Believe you can change the world.
Work quickly, keep the tools unlocked, work whenever.
Know when to work alone and when to work together.
Share – tools, ideas. Trust your colleagues.
No politics. No bureaucracy. (these are ridiculous in a garage.)
The customer defines a job well done.
Radical ideas are not bad ideas.
Invent different ways of working.
Make a contribution every day. If it doesn’t contribute, it doesn’t
leave the garage.
Believe that together we can do anything.
Invent.

23. Execution

24. Execution
• Use your time effectively - Focus on the right
things
• Trust the team – no micromanagement
• Listen to customers, partners, colleagues
• Recognise that you have to take risks to succeed
• Surprises are part of life - Persevere and have
faith
• Maintain objectivity - Don’t get bogged down !
• Manage your costs
• Manage Stress by maintaining a balance

25. Manage Stress

26. Meet Red

27. Angry Birds
• Developed by rovio, founded in 2003
• The company developed +50 games without much
success
• Apple iphone and appstore in 2007/2008
• Angry Birds was game try #52 and launched on
11.12.2009
• 50m downloads in first 12 months
• One billion downloads by May 2012
• Today, the company is worth ~US$6 billion

28. Summary
• Success in business, like on mountains, is not
guaranteed
• Right attitude: think big & aim high!
• Right timing: know your summit window
• Right idea: Keep it simple
• Right people: hire the best people and trust them
• If you don’t enjoy it, don’t do it!

29. Thank You!

30. www.sevensummits.ae
www.facebook.com/AtteSevenSummits
www.twitter.com/AtteMiettinen