When a new year begins, things change – so does Startup Sauna. We hired new team members, said our farewells to one, added a second head coach and we updated our accelerator. Actually, there’s a lot more, but it’s for another day. Keep on going to find out what our next batch has in store for you.
7 weeks of hard work (and fun)
We pride ourselves in the intensive nature of our accelerator. With every batch we finetune the program content to be more tailored and immersive. We have noticed that there is a need for more time in order for our startups to implement the learnings and changes into their business. Therefore, we have added TWO additional weeks, into the middle of our program, solely dedicated to testing out learning outcomes and implementing relevant changes.
New killer team
Our (ex-)CEO, Panu Paljakka, decided to jump into the nether and join a startup, adieu and godspeed. Whereas the Captain & COO, Kasper Suomalainen, decided that it’s time to let younger and healthier people run the accelerator. For the most devoted Kasper fans out there, worry not. You can still find Kasper lingering around, as he nowadays manages the space as the Director of Community aka Royal Hostess.
These roster changes meant that a new CEO and COO had to be found. Fortunately enough, Karolina Miller, Sauna’s First Lady, accepted the offer to guide the team and the accelerator onto uncharted waters of change becoming our CEO.
As for the position of COO, we decided to recruit our very own Jesse Miettinen. His work ethic is contagious, and his experience as Aalto Entrepreneurship Society’s Vice-President and Captain of last year’s Summer of Startups pre-accelerator made him an ideal choice for the job.
Finding the perfect CMO is hard. We were lucky enough to hire Jan Bubienczyk as our new Marketing Wizard, who is also an active member of our ecosystem. His background in entrepreneurship and performance marketing made him an unparalleled choice for the job.
Last but not least, we finally found a person that matches up to the challenges of a Network Master. Ladies and gents, Anni Rahiala, Startup Sauna’s first CNO, is our very own Mechanical Engineer that in the past has built relationships in the Far East as a part of Slush Shanghai team.
Welcome head coach no: 2
The spring batch of 2017 will start with Startup Sauna having two head coaches. We are glad to announce that Mike Bradshaw has accepted the position of head coach in addition to Moaffak Ahmed. The differing backgrounds of both head coaches will allow for us to build the program with more precision for the upcoming batch starting this May.
Start applying NOW
Lastly, our open application for our next batch in Spring 2017 is now live. You can meet us next on the 9th of February in Riga at the Pitch Battle in Techchill.
