We are thrilled to officially introduce our community to Eerika Savolainen – the new chairwoman of The Shortcut Board! Eerika is stepping into the role previously held by Nelli Såger, who will continue to support us as a Board Member.
extensive experience from slush
Eerika is currently working as Entrepreneur in Residence at Lifeline Ventures, and just like our current CEO Riikka, she comes to The Shortcut bringing an extensive background from the startup world, having been at Slush for 4,5 years and serving as its CEO for 2 years. In her tenure, rather than going for rapid expansion, she opted to put the emphasis on making the Slush experience the best it could be for the core customer. Looking back, Eerika considers this strategic decision to be one of her proudest accomplishments.
“During my time at Slush, we doubled down on relevance over scale. That means that instead of building something for everyone, we set ourselves to build the best possible experience for our most important customer — an early-stage startup founder.”
As the leader of the not-for-profit organization, Eerika also had a personal mission: to, in her own words, “leave Slush in a state where it operates on standards and processes that rank on par with the best European startups of comparable size.” With last year’s Slush bringing together over 5000 founders and 3000 investors, and its reputation cementing firmly as the go-to annual pilgrimage for startups and tech talents, we think she’s done a pretty good job!
ENTREPRENEURSHIP IS THE WAY TO CREATE THE FUTURE
Eerika’s passion for entrepreneurship stems from her belief that entrepreneurship is the key to shape the future, not just of Finland, but Europe as a whole.
“I believe in entrepreneurship as a means to actively create our future — instead of just letting it unfold. Moreover, I believe entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial companies are crucial for the future of Finland and Europe at large. That’s why we need more people to start companies and work for entrepreneurial companies,” she says.
In her opinion, an essential part of supporting entrepreneurship is embracing the diversity of talents right here in Finland, particularly the ones coming from abroad to settle into the country.
“Prerequisite for that is of course welcoming everyone as part of the community here in Finland — especially the international talent.”
FINLAND SHOULD BE THE BEST PLACE FOR INTERNATIONAL TALENTS
As the new chairwoman of The Shortcut Board, Eerika is committed to helping international talents settle and integrate into Finnish life, acknowledging the difficult decision these talents made to immigrate to Finland from their home countries.
“I firmly believe Finland should aim to be the world’s best place to build life and career for international talents. Deciding to leave one’s home country to start a new adventure somewhere else requires bravery and grit. These people deserve nothing less than a warm welcome and support in settling in Finland, both professionally and personally.”
Eerika also stresses that Finland absolutely needs to help foreign talents build successful lives and career paths here, as their presence and contribution are paramount to the prosperity of the country’s economy as well as society. “Succeeding in this goal is not only vital for the Finnish economy, but will make our society more vibrant and attractive for all,” she remarks.
For all members of our Talent Community, Eerika wants to relay a supportive message on behalf of The Shortcut Board, and she pledges to do her best to help the company grow and further its mission to help job-seekers and entrepreneurs find meaningful career opportunities. “It’s fantastic to have you as part of our community. We at Shortcut promise to do our best to be of help.”
Author & Editor: Evan Bui
