Introducing the Honorary Consuls of Finland: Mårten Mickos, San Francisco

In this series, we highlight the important work done by our honorary consuls around the 13 states in the jurisdictional area of the Consulate General of Finland in Los Angeles. Mårten Mickos, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and the Honorary Consul of Finland in San Francisco, has been running startup companies most of his life and is passionate about helping businesses to grow and internationalize. He says that the San Francisco bay area is the NHL of tech business, and a company must truly stand out to succeed.

Education: 

M.Sc. (Engineering), Helsinki University of Technology

Dr.Tech. h.c., Aalto University

Profession: 

CEO of HackerOne

Honorary Consul of Finland in the San Francisco bay area

Favorite thing about Finland:

The spirit of doing things together. Also, rye bread and the archipelago.

You are the CEO of HackerOne, the world's leading vendor of hacker-powered security. Previously you led the open-source database company MySQL, and later worked for Sun Microsystems after they acquired the company. You have lived in the San Francisco bay area for nearly 20 years. What were your early years like, and how did they affect the rest of your life and career? 

I grew up in what I would consider an ordinary and solid family as part of the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland. I learned to be confident in myself even in situations where I did not fully fit in. I was given the opportunity to learn a lot and try out a lot. As a teenager, I learned leadership in the boy scouts. Later I would learn business with my friends at university. 

I had big dreams and fantasies, but I did not realize until much later that my career would be about startup companies in a global market. Now when I look back, it looks like a determined and successful career track. But as I was doing all these things, I often felt unsure about my direction or unclear about my own ambitions. Somehow, the pieces fell in place, and I found my passion which is to build teams that build businesses.

The San Francisco bay area is home to a number of Finnish citizens and companies. What kind of presence and reputation does Finland have in your state?

Finland and the Finns have a great reputation all over the US. There is a perception of honest, hard-working, modern people who know how to do things together. In the San Francisco bay area, Finns are very well represented if you consider the small population of the country. When you mention you are from Finland, most people have an immediate positive tech reference, such as the Linux operating system and Linus Torvalds, games and gaming companies, especially Angry Birds and Supercell, the SLUSH conference, and Nokia.

People also know something about Finnish society. They know we have a young female prime minister, more heavy-metal bands per capita than anyone else, a great school system, great baby and parent care, and so on. Everyone knows about sauna, and many want to hear about dipping in ice-cold water or watching the aurora borealis.

What are the significant differences between starting a company in Finland and starting or expanding it in the US? What kind of advice would you like to give Finnish companies hoping to grow in the Bay area?

Starting a company in Finland means no bureaucracy but also no big markets. In USA or the San Francisco bay area, it is the opposite. There is much more bureaucracy but also much larger markets immediately available.

Finnish companies should close deals with US customers before setting up a shop in USA. If you can't close at least a few deals from a distance, you won't make it here. Once you have closed those first deals, they may be instructive for your choice of location. The San Francisco bay area is fantastic, but if most of your early customers are somewhere else in USA, you should probably open your office there.

It is important to realize that the San Francisco bay area is the NHL or the Olympics of tech business. All the best companies are here. If you intend to establish your business here, you truly must be among the very best in the entire world. If you aren't, you stand no chance of success here.

Where do you see the biggest opportunities for Finnish businesses in the Bay area?

I believe there is a unique opportunity in these times for modern Finnish businesses all over USA. The US economy is likely to recover well from the current financial volatility. Finland has outstanding products and services across a number of industry verticals. And with Finland on its way into NATO, doors will be open in a way they were not before. The San Francisco bay area stands out as probably the most progressive buyer of products and services that represent the latest in some area of business or science. Finnish companies with revolutionary offerings can find a first customer base in the bay area and also use it as the starting place for a North American go-to-market strategy. 

Anyone coming to the Bay area should also know that it is not just a dynamic market but also a highly competitive one. It is a high-stakes game. Those entering need to have truly revolutionary products and ample financial muscle to stand a chance of great success.

You have acted as an advisor to many organizations throughout your career. You are also passionate about helping ambitious entrepreneurs. If an aspiring entrepreneur comes to you and says, ‘I want to start a company’, what advice would you give her/him? What are the do’s and don’ts, or maybe some mistakes you made?

My first piece of advice is about advice. Don't take all the advice you are given. Advice is always colored by its giver, so it may not be relevant for your situation. And even when it is relevant, advice always has at least two separate interpretations. For instance, there is advice that says "Never give up!" but there is also advice that says, "Pivot fast if it doesn't work!". Only the recipient of the advice can make the determination of which advice to follow in any given situation. Let us also remember that many of those who end up exceptionally successful never received good advice themselves. So it is absolutely possible to succeed without receiving good advice.

My second piece of advice is about your mind. The best predictor of future success is coachability. When you are curious, you will learn. Without learning, you cannot succeed. Keep your mind open. The world around you is trying to tell you where you should go. There is a conspiracy for your success. You have to listen to the signals.

Some say you should "follow your passion" as an entrepreneur. I don't think so. I think you should follow the essential learnings you are making on the way. Thereafter you can build your passion based on actual market realities. Too many startup founders try to follow their passion without realizing that what they thought was passion was just naïve dreams.

What made you interested in becoming an Honorary Consul, and how has it been so far?

I actually think that every Finn outside of Finland is an honorary consul of their country. We all represent the country we were born in, and we are ready to help a fellow Finn. Of this group, at each point in time, someone will hold the official role of honorary consul. 

I am proud and eager to hold that title now. I see it as a relay where the baton was passed to me from my predecessor Michel Wendell, who received it from his predecessor. One day in the future, I will pass it on to the next honorary consul. Every honorary consul will fulfill their duty in their own specific way, adding to the common good both in ways it has always been done and in some new ways.

What could America learn from Finland and vice versa?

It is great when people learn from each other. But it is dangerous to make recommendations in that regard. Learning happens when the student is ready, not when the teacher is ready. It would be easy to point out weaknesses in the US or Finnish society, respectively, and point to corresponding solutions in the other country. But each nation follows its own path, and we actually appreciate them for their originality.

Finland could certainly be more entrepreneurial - like USA! And USA could be more orderly in societal matters - like Finland! But saying so does not make it happen. The best thing we can do is to help people become more curious about each other. All learning and improvement has its root in curiosity. We make Americans more curious about Finland and Finns more curious about USA not by touting the splendor of either country but by inviting to open-ended conversations about essential topics. "How are you thinking about this problem?" is a great discussion starter in cross-cultural conversations.

How do you manage your time with all of the things you have going on? What do you like to do when you are not working?

I don't really divide my life into work and non-work. I love my work and will do as much of it as needed. But I also love spending time that's unrelated to performance. Being lazy is a form of art. I think that humans are immensely resourceful. We benefit from being put to the test. Often the test is a business goal. But the test can also be whether we can disconnect from the digital world or from our professional profile and spend time doing something else. 

I dabble in many hobbies but am not fully devoted to any. I hike, ski, ride my bike, travel, read, and use my camera. I enjoy food and wine. I write columns and blog postings, and I spend time advising and inspiring young entrepreneurs. Most recently, I spent a weekend doing metal work, learning to weld and grind.

Mårten sailing in Finland.