Last autumn, the Finnish Startup Community began a partnership with the business law firm
Roschier. For Roschier partner Arto Linnervuo, the startup world is not unfamiliar, as he has
been involved in the technology field and startup ecosystem for 25 years in various roles.
Arto Linnervuo graduated as a lawyer around the turn of the millennium during the so-
called “dotcom bubble” burst. His interest in the technology sector arose even before law
school, and any lawyers who understood anything about the field were quickly snapped up
from university into the working world.
Since then, Linnervuo has closely followed the transformations in the technology sector and
the development of the startup ecosystem. It’s no surprise that he actively participated in
planning of the co-operation and partnering deal making between Roschier and the Finnish
Startup Community, when Roschier was invited to become the latter one’s first corporate
partner, alongside his colleagues, partners Tero Jormanainen and Johanna Flythström.
The Finnish startup ecosystem is doing relatively well. Over the years, many companies
have succeeded domestically, and some have grown into significant international players.
This progress has been supported by numerous experts, companies, and organizations that
have contributed to fostering innovation and the emergence of growth companies. For this
reason, Roschier wanted to become more strongly involved in the ecosystem and decided to
partner with the Finnish Startup Community.
“We’ve worked for years at Roschier with the startup ecosystem in various roles, both on the
company side and the investor side. We’ve been involved during the phases of scaling up
and rapid international growth, and we’ve seen how the most successful companies evolve
from small beginnings into internationally recognized enterprises. Along this development
path, we’ve advised companies on how to find practical, business-serving solutions to
increasingly complex legal challenges. As a partner of the Finnish Startup Community, we
get even closer to growth companies from their very first steps and help the startup
community to arrange various events through which the full expertise and experience
available in our firm can be leveraged,” says Linnervuo.
Linnervuo believes that identifying and properly addressing key legal matters from the very
beginning of a company’s journey helps safeguard the positive development of its valuation,
which materializes during funding rounds and potential exits, such as acquisitions or IPOs.
“For the entire startup ecosystem, it’s critically important that it includes solid companies
where the fundamentals – such as protecting and developing innovations, financing, human
resources, and sales operations – are handled professionally from the start, and that their
legal matters are in order. For us, this concretely means ensuring that the basic
requirements for success are in place and that companies are ready to face the challenges
of growth and internationalization,” Linnervuo adds.
Roschier wants to be an active and constructive member of the startup community
According to Linnervuo, technology and other innovation-driven sectors are particularly
interesting because they evolve so rapidly that legislation rarely keeps pace. It requires
anticipating how regulatory frameworks may change in the future. When attempting to
regulate something new, regulators often cannot foresee let alone control various
developments.
Linnervuo believes Roschier can bring expertise to the ecosystem that supports companies
in navigating a constantly changing regulatory landscape and a more complex world. The
best way to engage and make an impact is to be actively involved with startups on the
ground – listening and discussing.
“Collaboration with the startup community enables us to address the same questions that
concern most companies directly through joint events. A big topic, for instance, is
internationalization and establishing a presence in the U.S. market, concerning which we
shared practical advice and experiences with participants during our first event in
collaboration with our partner based in Silicon Valley.”
From a lawyer’s perspective, the worst situation in the business world is when legal matters
are seen as slow processes or mere formalities that must just be dealt with. However, this
has been rarely evident in discussions with member companies of the Finnish Startup
Community.
“It’s been pleasantly surprising to see how much interest there is in business law and how
ambitious entrepreneurs are to handle these matters well, even though resources are often
very limited in the beginning,” says Linnervuo.
Arto’s Motto: “If you never take the first step, you’ll never move forward.”