The National Startup Entrepreneur of the Year Competition

Hello again, dear reader! Väinö here!

It's time to acknowledge one more success. After the last post we had another stroke of terrible luck: the Mikkeli Region Start-up Center went and nominated us for the national competition.

Daaamn it, the stress hit hard with that news, when Anna told me we'd have to go to a cocktail event in Helsinki, and being from Savo, I don't really care for that sort of thing. A cocktail dress code and everything?

Then came the date, 1 October, the moment of truth. Anna said we'd leave at 1 pm so that for once we'd arrive on time. At 12:30 I started googling "cocktail dress code", and then I broke into a sweat as Google punched me in the face. I had subconsciously assumed the dress code meant something relaxed but neat: trousers a bit fancier than sweatpants, maybe a nice-coloured collared shirt, and the socks wouldn't matter much. Well, it didn't mean that.

I quickly started yanking different outfits out of the wardrobe and trying them on. After trying on 95% of my more festive clothes, I noticed that for some undefined reason they had all become too small… Luckily I found the black suit I bought last summer. That suit saved me, since for some reason it hadn't shrunk in my wardrobe like all the other outfits.

Once we arrived, we waited a little, since for once we were actually on time. Anna seemed as calm as anything, while my nerves only kept growing as I wondered how I'd manage to eat with the fork in my left hand and the knife in my right.

In the end, to my relief, the event started with a welcome drink and carried on in a relaxed atmosphere all the way to dinner. Then a couple of Members of Parliament sat down next to us, along with the CEO of the Start-up Center and a certain successful entrepreneur. My situation took a sudden turn for the worse, so I had to switch the fork to my right hand now and then to get anything eaten. Between courses there were fine speeches, and after those we were called up on stage.

To our pleasant surprise, we were awarded an honourable mention for a bold career change, exceptionally strong brand building, our ability to create a sense of community, and growing our revenue in a challenging market. The tension eased for a moment as I tried to make a quick exit from the stage, but I was pulled back almost by the collar. The next award was presented: the audience favourite.

On the drive to Helsinki, Anna and I had agreed that if a speech had to be given, I'd handle it, because in situations like this Anna usually just stammers and then blushes. During the drive I turned various words and sentences over in my mind and was sure this would be the finest speech of the century. When the moment came, every single word and sentence I had put together vanished from my head. I did, however, manage to say to the staring audience: ”Phew, I haven't been this stressed since walking out the door of the Start-up Center four years ago, and big thanks to our customers and partners.”

That was all my big thoughts put into words. Afterwards I felt the way Anna does in a tough situation.

Well, in any case we made it home without a cardiac arrest, and Heli from the Start-up Center hadn't even mentioned there'd be awards handed out!

We didn't win the Startup Entrepreneur of the Year title, but that's fine! The main thing was getting out of our comfort zone. The title went to people much better than us, and huge congratulations to the team at Termode Oy on a job well done!

The competition was covered by Länsi-Savo and MTV Uutiset, and the moment was also shared on the Start-up Center's Facebook and Instagram.

Final words

Huge thanks to the people at the Mikkeli Region Start-up Center, especially Heli, to all our customers and to our partners. Noora gets a little thanks too. Feedback on this post can be addressed to Noora.

Shortcut to our coffees via this link

A selfie of the writer, taken on a computer downstairs in our café on 13 October 2026.

The end
Väinö from Kirjalan Paahtimo