1. Entrepreneuship and
startups in Estonia
Rain Rannu
Stanford University
February 28, 2011
Monday, February 28, 2011

2. Rain Rannu
• 30 years old
• BA & MBA from Tartu University, Estonia
• Entrepreneur for the past 11 years
Monday, February 28, 2011

3. Mobile penetration exceeds Internet
penetration
More people can use m-services than e-services
More people can use m-services than e-services
Rain Rannu, Mobi Solutions
Monday, February 28, 2011

4. Computers are tied to a place, mobile devices
are always with the user
M-services can be used from more places than e-services
Monday, February 28, 2011

5. Monday, February 28, 2011

6. Adding mobile payments to your app or game should be as
easy (and cheap) as creating a blog or a homepage
Monday, February 28, 2011

7. Fortumo.com
• Founded in 2007
• Spun out of parent company Mobi
Solutions (which we founded in 2001)
• Works in 50 countries worldwide
• 20+ people in 6 countries
• Profitable
Monday, February 28, 2011

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11. Garage48.org
From idea to service in 48 hours!
Monday, February 28, 2011

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14. Why I’m in Silicon Valley?
Monday, February 28, 2011

15. 2001
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17. Casual Connect Europe sponsors list from http://europe.casualconnect,org
Monday, February 28, 2011

18. Hiring
Monday, February 28, 2011

19. What we’ve learned?
Monday, February 28, 2011

20. You can’t outsource or delegate business development of a
startup
Monday, February 28, 2011

21. Presence is not office space or local company... it’s being
here
Monday, February 28, 2011

22. Everything takes more time than expected
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23. Monday, February 28, 2011

24. Northern Europe
Monday, February 28, 2011

25. Startups in Estonia
• Phase 1: copy globally successful services
for domestic market
• Phase II (Skype, etc.): founders and funding
from abroad, engineering from Estonia
• Phase III (now): Estonian-founded and
owned startups trying to break to
international markets.
Monday, February 28, 2011

26. Monday, February 28, 2011

27. Lack of (VC) funding makes Estonian startups focus on
profitability from early on
Monday, February 28, 2011

28. Why is Silicon Valley better than Estonia?
Monday, February 28, 2011

29. Customers
Investors
Monday, February 28, 2011

30. Events
Monday, February 28, 2011

31. No -10F weather in February!
Monday, February 28, 2011

32. Why is Estonia better than Silicon Valley?
Monday, February 28, 2011

33. Tiny domestic market, makes you look to international
markets right from the start
Monday, February 28, 2011

34. Less competition for talent, more loyal employees
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35. Cost of living
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36. No traffic jams!
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37. Challenges for Estonian statups:
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39. Image: http://www.theexitstore.com
Monday, February 28, 2011

40. Image: http://www.gettyimages.com
Monday, February 28, 2011

41. Thank you!
rain.rannu@gmail.com
http://twitter.com/rainrannu
http://fortumo.com
http://garage48.org
Monday, February 28, 2011