Alum Vesa Sironen: 'It's important that studies have a certain amount of flexibility'

School of Business alum, board professional Vesa Sironen began studying in 2002. He initially attended the bachelor's programme in International Business in Mikkeli. Later, he completed the master's programme in Information and Service Management, graduating in 2020. He also completed the ITP and IDBM programmes as separate studies in Otaniemi.

Intensive studies in Mikkeli, then work life took over during the master's degree

'I ended up studying in Mikkeli because I had heard a lot of good things about the programme. I moved there from the capital region, so it was a big life change,' Sironen recalls. He says that the school-like model helped him a lot in Mikkeli, as it reminded him of studying in a small secondary school. 'In Mikkeli, the teachers and staff were familiar to everyone and had a genuine interest in the students. The staff would ask – and often knew – how you were doing and how your studies were progressing.' The course structure, where each day had half a day of lectures and the other half with assignments, made the studies progress clearly and intensively.

Sironen is grateful for his study experience during his master's degree as well but says the structure of studies changed radically compared to the bachelor's studies in Mikkeli. 'Work life clearly took bandwidth away from many master's students. There was a lot happening in business at that time. I also felt that some of the taught subjects seemed to lag behind practical work in companies. This was one reason why work took over and studying took a bit of a back seat.'

'During my master's studies, I completed the joint ME310 programme by Aalto and Stanford University. I had applied a couple of times, but I hadn't fit into the whole as an applicant. When the programme expanded to include several teams instead of just one, the opportunity arose. The studies included a couple of weeks in the autumn and a couple of months in the spring at Stanford. ME310 was a really educational experience! One might have imagined all sorts of things about an American top university in advance, but Aalto's students were on the same level with the locals,' Sironen recalls.

Sironen admits he sometimes wondered if he should have completed his studies at a faster pace. 'The things I've had the chance to do, for example, at KY or outside of studies, have been really great and rewarding experiences. I wouldn't trade them for anything. It's important that studies have a certain amount of flexibility,' Sironen sums up.

'Certain substantial skills that I've since learned in working life, I could have started to develop already in the university, for example as a minor subject. Nowadays, it's great to see how Aalto's emphasis on interdisciplinarity makes it easier for business students to complete studies or modules from the fields of art and technology.'

'I'm sure I could do this myself'

Sironen explains that during his bachelor's studies in Mikkeli, he worked part-time for the IT team at the School of Business. Although he enjoyed the job, older students advised doing other things if he didn't want to stay in IT. 'During the transition between my bachelor's and master's studies, I worked at two management consulting firms as an analyst. That’s when the idea formed that I could do this on my own.

So I founded my own consulting business. The concept of entrepreneurship was completely new to me, from setting up the company to registering with the PRH (Finnish Patent and Registration Office). In 2008, there weren't opportunities for light entrepreneurship, and getting started required more familiarisation with things than it does nowadays. I'm glad that the threshold for entrepreneurship has lowered.'

Sironen says he knew how to do analytical work and conceptualise ideas. 'The first clients and jobs in my own company's name came partly through acquaintances and partly through public tendering. They were typically investigative tasks (such as research to business projects for universities), reports and light analyses. At that stage, I didn't feel I was capable of actual management consulting. I utilised networks and combined forces with other operators.'

From assignments to a professional board member

‘I had become acquainted with Linda Liukas in the ME310 programme, who was founding Gapps. Through Linda, I initially ended up doing project assignments for Gapps. After a successful project, I went to work for Gapps and eventually became a shareholder in the early-stage company. Through various stages, I have ended up doing my current work as a board professional. I would say that previous experiences have always fed the next steps in my career,’ Sironen explains.

Nowadays, Sironen is the chair of the board at Gapps, Mapita and Jaakko.com. In addition, he is a board member at Laavu Performance, Oscar Software and Lenio. He is also a member of the board of Software Finland ry and the Alumni Advisory Board of the School of Business. Sironen says that board work requires foresight and systematic approaches. ‘Forming strategy and market understanding, along with aligning these to the company's people's skills and available resources, is a puzzle where all the pieces are rarely available at the same time. In the role of chair of the board, I work closely with the managing directors of the companies and advance matters with them at least weekly, often daily.’

The calendar must, however, also have a lot of empty space. ‘If things are going well in the company, there might be less board work. On the other hand, if several companies are simultaneously recruiting a new managing director or a member of the management team or if the company faces an acute risk or threat, there is more work. Despite foresight, unexpected situations do come up in board work from time to time,’ Sironen says.

Sironen mentions that he trained for board work after his studies by constantly reading and taking courses such as Boardman's and the Certified Board Member (HHJ) training concept courses. ‘I feel that continuous self-development is very important. That's why I still train for board work.’

Get to know Vesa Sironen's career path on LinkedIn!