---
title: "Finns in Silicon Valley | Jyri Engeström | Negotiator 27"
titleOriginal: "Suomalaiset Piilaaksossa Jyri Engeström #neuvottelija 27"
episodeNumber: "27"
guest: "Jyri Engeström"
datePublished: 2020-07-05
duration: "48:24"
youtube: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk"
captionsVtt: https://www.neuvottelija.com/podcast/episodes/ep27-piilaakso-ja-riskisijoittaminen-jyri-engestrom/captions.en.vtt
captionsSrt: https://www.neuvottelija.com/podcast/episodes/ep27-piilaakso-ja-riskisijoittaminen-jyri-engestrom/captions.en.srt
originalLanguage: "fi"
topics: ["investing_markets","saas_software"]
subtitleMethod: "none"
provenance: "Owner page assembled from YouTube metadata, the neuvottelija.fi episode record and the published Neuvottelija AI edition summary. No transcript imported."
fiCanonical: "https://www.neuvottelija.fi/fi/episodes/33-suomalaiset-piilaaksossa-jyri-engestrom-neuvottelija-27"
canonical: https://www.neuvottelija.com/podcast/episodes/ep27-piilaakso-ja-riskisijoittaminen-jyri-engestrom/
---
# Finns in Silicon Valley | Jyri Engeström | Negotiator 27

## Chapters

- [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=0s) Jyri Engeström, from Jaiku to Google and the move to the Valley
- [02:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=150s) The Finnish community in Silicon Valley and helping with hiring
- [05:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=300s) Is success learnable or is it a lottery
- [07:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=450s) What growth rate a venture investor actually requires
- [10:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=600s) The power law: a few winners pay for the whole fund
- [12:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=750s) Why the best founders are risk-averse
- [15:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=900s) Don't fall in love with one idea — the surfer analogy
- [17:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=1050s) SaaS and recurring revenue as a requirement
- [20:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=1200s) Angel investing versus investing out of a fund
- [22:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=1350s) The warm reject and why the answer is usually no
- [25:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=1500s) Structural holes in a network and special insight
- [27:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=1650s) From an ad model to a paying customer
- [30:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=1800s) Aligning incentives along the whole financing chain
- [32:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=1950s) A narrow but deep idea beats a broad one
- [35:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=2100s) Testing demand before building the product
- [37:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=2250s) Growth tooling and what to measure early
- [40:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=2400s) You can raise from the Valley earlier than you think
- [42:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=2550s) Learning from failure — the surgeon analogy
- [45:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=2700s) Ecosystem services and the missing Silicon Valley Bank
- [47:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=2850s) Wrap-up and advice for a Finnish founder

## Summary

Jyri Engeström — who sold Jaiku to Google and now runs Yes VC — explains how venture capital actually works in Silicon Valley: why fund maths forces investors to hunt for a handful of enormous winners, why the best founders are in fact risk-averse, and why demand should be tested before a product exists. He also covers what the Finnish ecosystem still lacks: financing infrastructure, a normalised relationship with failure, and the special insight that comes from working the structural holes in a network.

## Chapters

- [**00:00**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=0s) — Jyri Engeström, from Jaiku to Google and the move to the Valley
- [**02:30**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=150s) — The Finnish community in Silicon Valley and helping with hiring
- [**05:00**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=300s) — Is success learnable or is it a lottery
- [**07:30**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=450s) — What growth rate a venture investor actually requires
- [**10:00**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=600s) — The power law: a few winners pay for the whole fund
- [**12:30**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=750s) — Why the best founders are risk-averse
- [**15:00**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=900s) — Don't fall in love with one idea — the surfer analogy
- [**17:30**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=1050s) — SaaS and recurring revenue as a requirement
- [**20:00**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=1200s) — Angel investing versus investing out of a fund
- [**22:30**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=1350s) — The warm reject and why the answer is usually no
- [**25:00**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=1500s) — Structural holes in a network and special insight
- [**27:30**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=1650s) — From an ad model to a paying customer
- [**30:00**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=1800s) — Aligning incentives along the whole financing chain
- [**32:30**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=1950s) — A narrow but deep idea beats a broad one
- [**35:00**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=2100s) — Testing demand before building the product
- [**37:30**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=2250s) — Growth tooling and what to measure early
- [**40:00**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=2400s) — You can raise from the Valley earlier than you think
- [**42:30**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=2550s) — Learning from failure — the surgeon analogy
- [**45:00**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=2700s) — Ecosystem services and the missing Silicon Valley Bank
- [**47:30**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk&t=2850s) — Wrap-up and advice for a Finnish founder

## Watch

The recording lives on the Neuvottelija channel: [Suomalaiset Piilaaksossa Jyri Engeström #neuvottelija 27](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4quua-M5CCk).
A Finnish edition of this episode is published at [www.neuvottelija.fi](https://www.neuvottelija.fi/fi/episodes/33-suomalaiset-piilaaksossa-jyri-engestrom-neuvottelija-27).

---

Cite as: Sami Miettinen, Neuvottelija — Finns in Silicon Valley | Jyri Engeström | Negotiator 27, https://www.neuvottelija.com/podcast/episodes/ep27-piilaakso-ja-riskisijoittaminen-jyri-engestrom/, 2020-07-05. For quotes include episode 27 and timestamp.