Principal
Nearly a decade in VC, helping founders think deeper and scale smarter
What Timo brings to the table
Timo’s been in venture for almost a decade. His path started by consulting foreign companies on entering Finland, then launching an accelerator to help top technical teams from the CIS break into Europe. From there, he grew and ran a network of tier 1 investors, scouting Finnish dealflow, which ultimately pulled him into VC full time.
In 2017 he joined Vendep as an associate, and since then he’s worked closely with dozens of companies — even stepping into an operational role at a portfolio startup for eight months to help it scale. Today as Principal, he looks for vertical-focused companies targeting software-savvy markets like retail and e-commerce.
Working with Timo
Timo describes himself as a bit of a worryer. He’s always thinking: does the company have what it needs, or is there something lurking that might slow growth? He leans on relentless questions to uncover root issues, prompting founders to look at their business from new angles.
For him, it all starts with getting reliable data in place. Modern SaaS can’t scale on gut feeling – the sooner there’s solid data, the faster founders can make confident calls and tackle what truly matters.
Quickfire Q&A
What’s a book or podcast that changed how you think?
Not a podcast, but perhaps an infuencer – I admire Jason Lemkin for the sanity check he often brings with his views on several topics in building SaaS businesses.
What’s your favorite way to disconnect or recharge?
I enjoy building and renovating houses and apartments - it nicely combines creativity, technology and physical labor.
What’s something you’ve changed your mind about recently?
I now know that aqua jogging is not only for pensioners and cats are not intelligent creatures. Change my mind.
From this author
Leadership team evolution from seed to scale with Kasper Hulthin
The co-founder of Podio and Peakon shares raw and practical insights from growing two startups to major acquisitions and the learnings that shaped each phase.
Pitfalls of early product-led growth motion
Gaining early success with PLG will bring a host of issues that founders need to be aware of and mitigate.
.webp)
Building blocks for early product-led growth motion
After watching how Trustmary built their own PLG model, we discovered some solid building blocks for the process that other founders could use.
More team members
Former scaleup operator helping SaaS founders with a keen financial eye
Former scaleup operator helping SaaS founders with a keen financial eye
Founder turned investor that many founders rely on for advice
Founder turned investor that many founders rely on for advice
Startup operator turned investor obsessed with fast teams and solid metrics
Startup operator turned investor obsessed with fast teams and solid metrics
Silicon Valley-bred investor with deep experience and an unmatched network
Silicon Valley-bred investor with deep experience and an unmatched network
Ex-SaaS marketing lead, now growing the Vendep founder community
Ex-SaaS marketing lead, now growing the Vendep founder community
Seasoned CFO keeping our fund financials and compliance tight
Seasoned CFO keeping our fund financials and compliance tight
20 years in enterprise software before co-founding Vendep Capital
20 years in enterprise software before co-founding Vendep Capital