The 11 types of people you meet at Finnish Startup events


    We’ve been thinking too much about events lately, and decided to buzzfeed together a post about the type of people you see at every Finnish startup event. Have any more suggestions? Let us know in the comments.

    1. Finnish Game Dev

    – Used to work at Rovio (previously at Digital Chocolate)
    – Wearing hoodie from current game company
    – Working on F2P character-driven iPad game
    – Carries stick to beat away investors

    2. PR/marketing warrior

    – First hire at startup
    – Will only talk about startup disruption in buzzwords
    – confides in secret that they don’t understand what company really does

    3. The Ex-Nokian

    – Easily spotted by sweater over button-up shirt, blue jeans, casual leather shoes
    – Basically continuing old project at Nokia on their own
    – carries both a grudge and a N9

    4. The introverted inventor

    – Stares at feet
    – Mumbles Finglish
    – Amazing product, probably the only talented person in the room
    – Will be the drunkest at the after-party

    5. The Bureaucrat

    – Helping run some government program
    – Has either a line of entrepreneurs waiting to kiss their ring, or totally avoided depending on how much funding they control.
    – Most content and well-rested person in the room

    6. Lapland Power CEO

    – From somewhere above Helsinki’s outermost ring road
    – has a 90’s style company name like Valosoft Oy
    – Introduces himself as CEO and Chairman of the Board

    7. The Press Bum

    – there to eat free food and work on other articles in the press room
    – will knock out interviews in 10 min, show up again at the after party

    8. The AaltoES kid

    – Walks around like a 20-year-old with a €1 million+ yearly budget (half of which will be spent on Estonian beer)
    – Slush sweatshirt
    – Thinks “startup life” means a free trip to Silicon Valley

    9. The “Sweat Equity” Investor

    – Ex-Nokian
    – No actual cash for investment, but likes idea of investing “time and connections” instead of applying for a job like a normal person.

    10. Demo Booth Zombie

    – Has repeated same pitch 300 times that day
    – Dead, blank eyes.
    – Diet consists mostly of coffee and demo booth candy

    11. Startup Groupie

    – Intern
    – Bubbly passion for the startup scene
    – Hangs onto anyone mentioned in TechCrunch
    – sign of the funding apocalypse

    Photo – Daniel Schildt