Discussion points

With Mikko, we explored what it takes to lead a fast-scaling, product-first company in today’s complex landscape — and what kind of leadership mindset actually works.

As the business environment shifts rapidly, the leadership models and operating principles of fast-growing companies are becoming increasingly relevant — even for more traditional organisations.

We focused on three defining principles shaping Mikko’s approach:

1. Trust as the foundation — Full ownership is given from day one. Leading with trust, not control, empowers people to rise to the responsibility — supported by interest, questions, and care.
2. Product as the centre of gravity — Sustainable growth starts with product–market fit: solving the right problem in a way customers truly value — and building from there.
3. Narratives over numbers — Leadership through stories and assumptions that guide focus and action. Direction comes first — numbers follow.

Together, these principles reveal a modern blueprint for scaling with focus, conviction, and humanity — even across borders, cultures, and uncertainty.

Early experiences that shaped Mikko’s entrepreneurial mindset

• Grew up around technology — his father brought home one of the first Apple Macs in the 1980s.
• Started out in graphic design — and founded his first company at 21.
• Studied architecture — which sharpened his systems thinking and spatial reasoning.
• Founded a creative urbanism consultancy — focused on solving real-world friction, like reducing urban littering.
• Developed a way of working that blends curiosity, technology, and global perspective.
• Moved into fintech — founding a banking startup straight after graduation.

Xolo in brief

• Business admin platform purpose-built for solopreneurs
• Operates in a fragmented market — mostly local, single-country providersThe only player offering cross-border services at scale
• Active in four European countries, with plans to double footprint
• Previously VC-funded — now VC-free and profitable

First moves as CEO

1. Rebuilt the management team

• Replaced “big logo” hires with people who had something to prove
• Promoted from within — product and customer understanding mattered more than pedigree
• Chose leaders with the drive to endure discomfort — “it’s going to hurt a little bit”

2. Shifted to sustainable, product-led growth

• They were “burning cash — quite a lot” on digital marketing
• Stopped all paid acquisition in week one —stopped relying on Meta and Google
• Reframed every conversation around the product
• Focused on how it acquires, retains, and serves customers — in the best possible way

3. Leading the team and engaging board through quarterly assumptions

• Leads with quarterly narratives — each built on clear assumptions
• Assumptions guide focus — they either prove right or don’t
• Failure is part of the process: “If it fails, scrap it. It’s learning.”
• Narratives align both team and Board — and remove fear by creating direction
• Core belief: “The numbers follow when you have a direction and a story that guide shared action”

The way to get it right, or learn

1. Assumptions clarify what matters

One early assumption: they didn’t know their best-fit customers well enough
Mikko focused on identifying the “true fans” — people who truly needed the product
They turned these users into affiliates — who now drive most customer growth through referrals

2. Not every assumption leads to growth — but many still add value

• One early bet: solopreneurs might benefit from being connected to each other
• It didn’t lead to monetisation — but they kept the feature
• Why? Because it still supports users and strengthens the overall service

People staying by choice

• Mikko believes people should want to be at Xolo
• Engineers were encouraged to explore the market — to see if Xolo was truly right for them
• The same approach now applies across the company
• Team members often share openly when interviewing elsewhere — and most stay, more committed
• This openness builds trust and deeper connections

Leading a globally scattered team

1. Start with full trust

• Mikko’s default is 100% trust — if someone owns an area, they’re trusted to run it
• Trust is visible in daily interactions and actions — and motivates people to take ownership
• “Once you are given your own ownership area, you basically are responsible to yourself mostly after that.”

2. Communicate clearly — in different formats

• Believes format variety matters: “People consume content differently”
• Shares monthly written updates to explain what matters
• Uses all-hands for alignment and energy
• Includes face-to-face: one 2-day team offsite each year to connect in person

3. Navigate cultural differences — with shared humanity and curiosity

• Cultural differences exist — but underneath, we’re all humans with shared hopes and fears
• Culture is “built on top” of that — it’s something to recognise and respect
• Mikko is deeply curious about how people think and work
• Often asks questions about people’s backgrounds, ways of doing things, and perspectives
• “I think that’s probably the key thing — just showing that you’re interested in them.”

People-centric leadership — strengths and challenges

1. Summary of Mikko’s leadership style

• Built on full trust — “trust to be trusted”
• Leads with narratives — prefers questions over answers
• Believes in testing assumptions — “let’s find out if it’s true”
• Direction and story come first — “from narrative to numbers”

2. The challenges that come with it

• A distant, numbers-driven style would be easier — but not for him
• Success is when someone acts without asking — and it works
• The hard part: when full trust doesn’t lead to good outcomes
• It’s especially difficult when the wrong person is in the role
• When that happens, Mikko uses “the mirror” — to look back and ask how they got there
• Often, in hindsight, the signs were there — but it becomes learning, not failure

Views on experience

• Experience doesn’t guarantee success — “You can repeat what worked before and still fail”
• He values first-principles thinking over past playbooks
• Experience is helpful for spotting patterns — but doesn’t solve problems
• His approach: “Start fresh every time” — no assumptions carried over
• Believes this mindset is his biggest personal edge

The future of Xolo — and the solo economy

1. Xolo’s ambition

• Mikko’s vision: make Xolo the global category leader for solopreneurs
• Sees a huge gap: most competitors are local, limited in scope
• Fragmented market = opportunity to build something truly scalable

2. Built to scale across borders

• Already active in Spain, Italy, Estonia, and the Netherlands
• Expansion plans: double country footprint within a year
• Now VC-free and profitable — open to strategic funding if it fits the mission

3. A bet on the solopreneur wave

• Mikko sees solo work as a structural shift
• Of the world’s 1billion knowledge workers, 80% want to work solo
• Xolo’s role: remove friction — automate admin so people can focus on real work
• Believes borderless, autonomous work is the future

Mikko’s source of optimism

1. A vision of work without borders

• His optimism goes back to the early days of the European Union — a symbol of openness and shared opportunity
• Sees Xolo as a “Solopreneur Union” — enabling people to work across borders, freely and seamlessly

2. Fit beats location

• Some of Xolo’s most committed team members come from far away — drawn not by geography, but by the mission
• Believes the real match is between product and customer, and mission and employee values

3. Connecting like-minded people

• Mikko believes people naturally want to work and connect across borders
• His job: find those who believe in the mission — as customers and teammates — and create an environment where they can thrive

Mikko, thank you for joining us and sharing such valuable insights on modern leadership. I truly enjoyed the conversation!

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