Peers around the world: entrepreneurship, leadership and the story of a new name

In this edition of Peers Around the World, we speak to Tom Palenius, CEO of Business Turku (Finland). Tom’s extensive experience across research, life sciences, and business development positions him as a key figure in driving Turku’s economic and sustainable development goals. We ask Tom about his strategic vision for Business Turku, his insights on entrepreneurship in Finland, and how he likes to replenish his reserves of creativity and energy.

What are the biggest challenges currently facing entrepreneurs in Finland, and how is Business Turku addressing these challenges?

First of all, entrepreneurship is a coin with two sides – the freedom in running your own business is attractive but at the same time it involves a lot of uncertainty. In Finland, 2015 was a top year for establishing new startups, but since then the number is steadily declining. The reason for this is not crystal clear, however I can see a few points behind this trend. One is connected to the mentioned uncertainty - the economy and employment situation in Finland has been very good and “low-uncertainty” alternatives have been available. Secondly, during those years there was a lot of hustle around startups in Finland. Many startups were established with a ”pitch-deck-first” -philosophy without paying too much attention to the actual business viability – this has now clearly changed. Thirdly, regarding academia spin-offs, Finland’s university policies do not really reward becoming an entrepreneur. The universities are measured more by number of exams and publications than the role of feeding the economy with new businesses. Also, on a personal level, changing from academia to business turns easily to a path-of-no-return. We at Business Turku put in our ten cents by offering support and services over the entire life cycle of a company. With this we want to wipe away a bit of the uncertainty – we want to give a clear message to the entrepreneur: we are there for you and we can help you in all kind of situations, either by ourselves or through our network. We are also strong believers in the good old triple helix model and work very closely with the local universities to promote also academic entrepreneurship.

How have your diverse experiences - from being a researcher at CERN, CEO at Abacus Diagnostica, and now leading Business Turku - shaped your leadership philosophy and approach to innovation?

My background is in natural science and specifically in experimental physics, which brought me to CERN in Geneva as a young researcher. Interestingly though, the work at CERN - although being one of the world's largest and most respected centers for scientific research – included a lot of industry collaboration in e.g. new materials and semiconductors. This was probably an eye-opener for me that even basic research can have commercial context. Another impressive thing was the very international environment with lots of nationalities (and personalities) on board of the same project, working for the same goal – very inspiring and learningful!

Since those years I have been lucky to have the chance to work in a wide range of companies and positions: from a US owned global corporate to a small university spin-off like the mentioned Abacus Diagnostica; and from tech-transfer and research commercialisation to searching target companies for a Swedish venture capital fund. The common denominator is my interest in building and creating – I really enjoy working with new and early-stage concepts at the “dawn of the innovation”. 

During the years I have seen both good and bad leadership. This in combination with my own personality has shaped me to who I am today as a leader: participative, inclusive and collective. And emphatic - sometimes perhaps even too soft, but rather that than “command and control”, which simply is not the way to go with an expert organization. The key thing is to be genuinely yourself – you can always learn and become a better leader, but be true to your own personality and values.

A few months ago, you changed the name for Turku Science Park Ltd to ‘Business Turku’. What was the reason for the rebrand, and how does it impact your mission?

We have a history dating back to 1988, when the company DataCity Center Ltd was established, mainly for property business but also for bringing together the universities in the City of Turku as well as business and the public sector (familiar concept, right…?). 

In 2001 through some mergers Turku Science Park Ltd was established as a successor for DataCity Center, still active also in the property business and with a strong innovation focus on academia and industry collaboration, their spinoffs and growth companies in general.

In 2016, a new merger and business transfer took place turning Turku Science Park Ltd’s focus from a science park -organization towards an Area of Innovation -developer. The property business was already earlier taken over by a new company, Turku Technology Properties Ltd, and we then started to work more broadly with ten other municipalities besides City of Turku.  This “reborn” Turku Science Park Ltd offered services from the very beginning of entrepreneurship, not only for growth companies but also for self-employed persons and local businesses. Invest-in work became a crucial part of the service portfolio, and to support this we launched a new brand name Turku Business Region in 2018.  
A few years down that road showed us that the “two-name-strategy” was not a winning concept. There was a lot of confusion what Turku Science Park is and what does Turku Business Region mean, who to contact when you are an entrepreneur in need of help, etc. Also, the “science park” part in the name was a bit misleading since we do not have any property business to run.  Given all this, we decided to go with a new name and a new brand strategy. We wanted to combine the long history of Turku into today’s innovativeness, which takes form in one of our new slogans: “First in business since 1229”. The Business Turku -name aligns well with other peer organizations in the major cities in Finland and with that, it already includes the answer who we are and what we offer. Our basic mission remains the same – making Turku region the most dynamic and attractive innovation hub in Finland, supporting companies and entrepreneurs in an approachable and effective way, and emphasizing the focus on companies and business ideas with a strong growth potential.

You’ve been involved in various capacities within the startup and innovation sectors. What personal advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs?

That is true, and what I said about leaders goes also for entrepreneurs – I have had the privilege of meeting a spectrum of people with various background and education. There is no one-size-fits-all advice, different people work in different ways, and that is definitely needed since also the businesses are on a broad scale. However, what I would like to say to anyone considering an entrepreneurship career is that you have to find the balance between believing in yourself and listening to advice. So look for support, find advisors, preferably many of them and with different profiles. Listen to their advice, understand their background and experience, and filter the feedback accordingly – but never ever believe blindly in just one piece of advice coming from one person, whatever “big name” he or she might be.  The strength is inside you and you have to maintain that.

In your downtime, what activities or hobbies do you pursue that help recharge your creativity and drive for innovation?

We have a summer house out in the beautiful Turku Archipelago, built in early 1960’s by my parents who already have passed away. That place is a “charging station” for me – close to the nature, sea and forest, peace and tranquility, lots of wonderful memories… During early spring there are a lot of migrating birds, so it is a perfect place for my nature photography hobby to shoot some photos and share them on Instagram. During summer it is also a place for the entire family to get together and enjoy – my wife and I as well as our grown-up children spend a lot of time there. And about the drive for innovation? Relaxing and letting your thoughts fly is the best way to nurture innovation – and what could be a better place for that than the traditional Finnish sauna!