Finnish phoenix: The startups rising from Nokia's ashes

As the person who provided the soundbite about the Elopcalypse, I am still somewhat surprised to see it was quoted in full.

Various people came up with the term independently. I happened to be one. But I sure as hell do not claim to have been the first one. My early use of the term may have contributed to its spread among my friends and co-workers, but that's just how any meme or rumour gains its wings.

To provide some context, I am still a bit sour about the Elopcalypse. I was effectively deprived of a project we had been building towards for nearly five years. I stand by the quoted comment: the resulting destruction and turmoil were the best thing to happen to the Finnish ICT space. Best, but extremely painful.

The headline would be more accurate - though not as punchy - if it spoke of ashes of Nokia's device business, not Nokia as a whole. Microsoft took over the devices but the rest of the company is still there and very much alive. Net sales last year 12 732 M€, profit of continuing operations 1 171 M€. It's not as huge as in 2007, but not doing badly at all.

But indeed there is a lot of startup activity by people who've left Nokia; I joined one that failed, but I'm glad we tried. It would have gnawed my soul if I hadn't joined an attempt when there was the opportunity.

Sometimes it's good for one large company to either fold or be reduced so that all the innovative or productive employees can move on to set up new companies.

A similar analogy is happening in Rochester NY with the Kodak's bankruptcy proceedings. Now there are many smaller companies specializing in various types of imaging business.

But the transition can be really painful if the area is not already diversified or have a strong social safety net.

I live in Tampere, and I honestly can't tell yet whether I picked the best or the worst time to decide to retrain as a programmer.

As an American who grew up looking across the pond at the Finnish demoscene, I have no doubt that there's enough talent and smarts in Finland to come back stronger than before.

They should just make old Nokias again https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8975623 There is a demand.