The Burning Platform Tour — Saving Nokians
 

Hi, with all the bad news going around Nokia, me and Mike Bradshaw (also been around the Maemo scene) decided to do something positive. We both come from a startup entrepreneur background and if you think about it, this is truly an opportunity for Nokians to become entrepreneurs (much as Jolla already has done).

So to facilitate that, we are doing a 'Burning Platform Expedition'. Ie. visiting every town and city in Finland that has or used to have a Nokia office, and towing an authentic 1.7 tonne sauna behind us (the burning paltform ;) ), behind a Land Rover Defender.

At each location we will be collecting ideas from people thinking about setting up companies, and offering advice and sharing experience in the ups and downs of being a startup entrepreneur. Plus, of course, offering the use of the sauna. As any Finns knows, that is the best place, by far, to form new teams, ideas and contacts.

The best ideas will be fastforwarded into the famous StartupSauna incubator. We're also collaborating with local entrepreneurship societies around Finland.

We're desperately under budget at the moment, so are eagerly looking for companies who'd like to get a bit of visibility (either for recruitment or other purposes), and we have packages for all sizes of companies. Please do get in touch. We have yet to sign the main tour sponsor!

You can also support us through our online support shop: https://holvi.com/shop/BurningPlatform/

Every bit counts. Yes, even the €5 donuts!

The tour starts on the 20th of August from Ruoholahti, Helsinki. You can follow the tour and find full dates from our blog (where we have also documented previous entrepreneurial expeditions): The Travelling Salesman Blog.

We're also on Twitter (@TrvlingSalesman) and Facebook.

Re: The Burning Platform Tour — Saving Nokians
 

I'm burning up with Jelly right now!

Re: The Burning Platform Tour — Saving Nokians
 

Ehm, OK? :)

Mind explaining?

Re: The Burning Platform Tour — Saving Nokians
 

Jelly=Jealous or jealousy
You jelly I understood it first?

Re: The Burning Platform Tour — Saving Nokians
 

Jealous of you, that you are having a neat vacation.... with a friggin mobile sauna!

Re: The Burning Platform Tour — Saving Nokians
 

Ah, indeed :) Unfortunately, having done a few of these expeditions before, they are far from time off! You're running events every day, contacting people, trying to get sponsors so you can actually reach the next location before fuel runs out... Oh, and just when you finally arrive at wherever you plan to sleep (hopefully you have the funds for a hotel), and you fall into bed, you remember that you need to write a blog post!

It's great stuff, but it is exhausting and you pretty much need a break afterwards :)

But hey, support us with a donut or some firewood, and it's almost as good as being on board!

Re: The Burning Platform Tour — Saving Nokians
 

Sounds awesome.

Can I come?

:D

Re: The Burning Platform Tour — Saving Nokians
 

dumpystig, sure, there is still space in the Landy :D

Re: The Burning Platform Tour — Saving Nokians
 

So you want me to pay you money to cruise around Finland in a luxury vehicle, only stopping to hang out in a sauna.

I think I shall pass.

Re: The Burning Platform Tour — Saving Nokians
 

This must be the first time a Defender has been described as a "luxury vehicle". :D

But thanks for taking the time to think about it.
The idea/purpose behind the support is to cover the costs (fuel, servicing etc). If there is some extra after that, we will be spending it on luxuries such as indoor sleep places, food etc.
With the money raised so far, we can just about cover the cost of fuel, but will be sleeping by the side of the road (the sauna benches are just a bit too narrow to make suitable beds).

Do not under-estimate how much work it is to do this. The amount of driving, interacting with folks, remembering stories, capturing photos and videos, uploading, writing blog posts, etc.
I am not saying that it is not fun at the same time, it is ;)

As Kristoffer mentioned, the inspiration is to help those folks who have recently received some devastating news about their jobs/future.
Also, we believe that wee can give them something positive to think about, and for those that have not received similar levels of publicity as Jolla, then this makes a good story for the media (and so gives the other companies more media exposure).

/mike

Re: The Burning Platform Tour — Saving Nokians
 

Sounds like a good way to get in "contact" with lots of chicks :D

Re: The Burning Platform Tour — Saving Nokians
 

From that comment, i can guess you have not been to many entrepreneurial focused events :D :rolleyes:

At least here in Finland, they are still pretty guy heavy.
Not sure why, as women *ALWAYS* deliver better pitches.
Oh and here in Finland, sauna is normally taken seperatly ;)

Re: The Burning Platform Tour — Saving Nokians
 

Miserable git :p

Re: The Burning Platform Tour — Saving Nokians
 

LOL yes I guess they are :D wonder why? Maybe it has something to do with crawling into a sweaty sauna with a couple of geeks ? ;)

Re: The Burning Platform Tour — Saving Nokians
 

Also, we are talking about Nokia here. As much as things are improving, the tech teams (who got the boot) are still rather male-dominated. So as a strategy to pull girls, this is probably the weakest ever!

But, as Mike pointed out, we want to help those folk within Nokia. We're both passionate about entrepreneurship. We have both had links to Maemo/Meego and friends who suffered the consequences. Mike has been coaching people within the StartupSauna and AaltoES groups for quite some time, and I'm a poor sod of a startup entrepreneur myself.

If there's something useful I can do with that background, it is to pass on even some of the lessons and experiences, and to hopefully inspire new entrepreneurs to start pushing the field. Finland has absolutely outrageous technical talent, and some big things have come from here, but often after long struggles (as an example: Rovio had been running for years, and was all but bankrupt before Angry Birds). Are there ways we can get the world to realise the strengths here, and to get more people to take that plunge?

I just feel a lot of those small stories of struggles and brilliant inspirations of ideas do not get covered by the media. Only the big successes do. But many fight their way every day to get that break, and to talk about their battles. As a general thing, our whole project is about collecting and sharing those stories.

So honestly, if someone has a grudge against this and sees it as a couple of guys taking a holiday, then please do step in and be an organiser for the project instead. Or to join the team. I'm happy to stay at home or to offload some of the work (new organisers would be very welcome!!) —*as long as we get those entrepreneurial stories told, and as long as we can do something good for the people who worked their arses off inside Nokia.

Re: The Burning Platform Tour — Saving Nokians
 

And yes, this must be the first time a Defender has been described as a luxury vehicle!

Here are some key quotes from Auto Express:

"It's unbeatable off-road, but incredibly uncomfortable on tarmac and very noisy."

"Cramped driving position, vague on-road handling"

"The car bounces all over rough tarmac. The steering isn't very responsive and has lots of turns lock-to-lock too, while cornering is best done slowly."

I still love it, though :)

Edited to say (for the Americans who might not know the Defender as it's not available there): this is a totally different vehicle from Discoveries and Range Rovers and the like. This is the authentic, original Land Rover, evolved over 60 years and used by the military and farmers. It's a totally utilitarian vehicle, built for a purpose, and that purpose was not to pose at shopping malls. Does a good job hauling a massive trailer sauna, though!