Tag Archives: nokia

Nokia devices and services is gone, time for new beginnings for all

Nokia headlines

My social media streams this morning can be summed up with two German words: schadenfreude & besserwisser. So long and thanks for all the fish, Nokia.

Hang on, those still in the mothership.

My feeds are still full of Nokia-related stuff, and just watched another news broadcast with the story front and centre. Even if towards the end of my tenure it was not great, I can’t do more than feel thankful for the chances, the responsibilities, the crazy projects, the friends all over the place, the first-row seat in a globalised technological business and the memories. Many have said that it was the best business school you could ever have, and I have read of a sense of loss not only in Finland but for the whole of Europe. That’s how important what we built was.

It was not just a workplace: we believed and changed the world. Eventually the world caught up, and they will have to reinvent themselves. I will cheer on Nokians past & present, and will continue cherishing what that experience gave me.

Leaving Nokia, looking for the next step

Leaving Nokia

The last day of August was also my last day at Nokia. After 11 years at the company I took the plunge just like some of my friends and colleagues.

A friend who left Nokia some years ago to found his own company has repeatedly said that working at Nokia is the best MBA you could ever have, and I tend to agree.

I worked in global and area roles, executed projects in tens of countries in some cases reaching millions of people in one of the fastest-moving industries in the planet. I shared projects with incredible people and had a chance to see the world. I worked in services product management back in the days of ringtones, in European sales when the N90, N73 & N95 redefined what a smartphone could be, in digital marketing launching internet services and in sponsorships when we ran the partnerships with the Fedération Internationale de Basketball and the World Rally Championship.

Even if it had its challenges, especially during the last few years, I will always be thankful for the chances I had and the friendships I made there. Thank you for the ride and for the lessons learned.

Now it is time to spend some time with my family, recharge my batteries, meet people and start forming an idea of what I want to do next. If the past is any indication, I know it will be tough but great.

If you want to know what I can do and would be interested in offering me an opportunity, there’s always my portfolio and LinkedIn. 😉

Jyväskylä & Lahti, Finland

Spent a long weekend right after Mexico in Jyväskylä and Lahti for Rally Finland.  Some of my best pictures and videos below (the rest are found here).

Nokia at WRC
You can follow live every WRC race straight from your Nokia device.
Lahti
Lake in downtown Lahti

Driving to Jyväskylä
Driving back to Jyväskylä

Abandoned mökki
Abandoned cabin in Urria
Closing ceremony
Awards ceremony. Loeb won again.

Overall it was a very nice experience and now I understand why it is one of the iconic races in the WRC calendar.  The only sad part was a small run in with a drunk racist jerk after I had briefly met MP Hakkarainen in my last night in town (“Smile and wave, smile and wave”). And people ask me why I tend to avoid the cities between Tampere and Lapland… 😉

Córdoba, Argentina

I had visited Argentina before in 2004-05 (during their summer) and had a chance to do so again recently.  This time I didn’t have the opportunity to stay in Buenos Aires, beautiful city as it is, but was in the province of Córdoba for work.  The people have always treated me well (even if someone did remark I speak like somebody from TV due to my accent :P), the food is wonderful and the landscapes of such a varied country are very beautiful.

Pictures are more eloquent than words, so some below (more here).

Bombilla de Mate
Mate is an institution.
Lago San Roque HDR
Villa Carlos Paz is the main holiday destination in Córdoba. No wonder why.
Monumento a los caídos en las Malvinas
The Falklands (Malvinas) war is still a sore point.
Bife de Chorizo al punto
The amount and quality of the beef on offer is not for the faint of heart. I can't imagine there being many vegetarians around.
Asado
Not your standard grill.
WRC SS4 El Cóndor
One of the mythical stages of WRC, El Cóndor. We even saw condors there (no kidding).

Rally has a huge tradition (and traction) in Córdoba as you can gather from the ads below (1, 2).


Sardinia

Visited Sardinia for work. Beautiful, sunny place with a climate and landscape pretty similar to that of the coast of Sonora in spring (heresy, you’ll say).

It had been a while since I had been to Italy, which was the first country I visited in Europe back in the summer of 1997.  Funny how I see certain bits of their behaviour with Finnish eyes now, even if I still speak something resembling Italian and can communicate with them.


Visiting the special stages 12 & 13
Visiting the special stages 12 & 13
Visiting the special stages 12 & 13
Olbia beach in HDR
Power Stage Rally Sardinia Panorama
Power Stage Rally Sardinia in HDR
Power Stage Rally Sardinia
Power Stage Rally Sardinia
Costa Smeralda
Costa Smeralda