Peter Vesterbacka is a founder of Slush (Europe’s leading startup event) and was Mighty Eagly (CMO) at Rovio (company behind Angry Birds). He was ranked 7th on Time 100 list of most influential people in the world. 

In this episode, we discuss:

(0:00) - About me and introduction

(1:57) - Peter’s journey with entrepreneurship

(3:39) - Mighty Eagle at Rovio

(7:29) - The founding story of Slush, its impact on students, and its brand

(13:26) - Putting young people in charge in Finland

(15:40) - Education and equality in Finland

(17:08) - The importance of the question “why?” and hierarchy in Finland

(25:20) - The importance of universities, talent density, and the Finnish gaming ecosystem

(28:11) - The strength of the FinEst Bay Area (Finland, Estonia, and Sweden)

(29:09) - Addressing Finland’s talent shortage

(31:13) - Bringing international students to Finland with FinEst Future and why they’re happy

(35:31) - Finland’s need for international talent

(39:43) - Immigration and integration

(43:36) - The role of the Finnish language

(49:08) - Startups and lack of employee ownership

(52:13) - Low salaries and high quality of life

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