”I want to work with customers who appreciate the value we create for their business, and that they see us as partners”
Petri Näppi is a co-founder of Taipuva, here he tells about how it all started, how he sees success and the importance of working agile. And how fishing is similar to his work.
– I met Pasi when we worked at the same company 15 years ago, when we were both new to Polarion and I worked as a Quality engineer. After that I tried my wings as an entrepreneur in a completely different area. It was difficult and I learned that if you want to succeed as an entrepreneur, you need to fail and redo or be extremely lucky. You also need an extensive network and should not do everything yourself.
– Pasi reached out to me if I wanted to do something together in Polarion, and with the joint efforts we could work with process development in Polarion and have a unique customer offering. At that time and even now, no one could do process development the way we did. We have not seen that concept anywhere else. We knew that Polarion is a good tool, so we decided to found Taipuva together, says Petri.
Petri leads the tech team
When Taipuva saw daylight, it was the only company that offered Polarion in Finland. Taipuva implemented processes and configured the Polarion tool to suit each customer’s business. Pasi introduced Polarion to Sandvik, and they still use the tool and are a customer of Taipuva. Taipuva has many customers in complex industries with regulatory requirements. Petri is the team leader for the tech team. He is also Solution Architect where he comes up with ideas and concepts for customers, while being responsible for support services, managing application and hosting operations.
– Taipuva has had competent employees from the start and it wouldn’t work if we didn’t have a good team around us. My days look very different and it’s important to prioritize correctly, it is one of my biggest challenges in everyday life. You must also be able to manage the different goals for customers, employees and owners. It must go hand in hand with each other, and so it has been so far and hopefully it will continue to do so. If employees evolve, feel good and create value, it benefits the customer, which benefits the company. I’m proud to have a ”people first” culture here at Taipuva.
Success according to Taipuva
Taipuva’s success has led the company to choose which industries they want to focus on, something that both the customer and Taipuva benefit from.
– Success for us means that we can develop ourselves and our customers. I want to work with customers who appreciate the value we create for their business, and that they see us as partners. It develops us as a company, so both benefit from it. For me, success means having the freedom to do things you really appreciate, without compromising your private life, says Petri.
Taipuva is aTaipuva is an agile company, small enough to be flexible, but large enough to have several different competencies. All employees are experienced with their specific key areas, so they complement each other well.
– From my perspective, we are good at listening to both employees and customers, which means that we capture many insights that we are happy to share. We are constantly trying to predict what will affect the future, and prepare our customers for changes that will affect their business. It can be anything from new laws, standards or requirements. We are often the bridge between different departments at a company, so we can come up with recommendations for solutions that another department at the company has just implemented.
A dynamic workplace
Petri describes Taipuva’s culture as ”laid-back”, a team that focuses on working together and making customers happy, non-hierarchical and constantly changing. It’s a dynamic workplace that is characterized by the motto: What can we do better? If there is one thing they have learned from their customers, it is to work agile. Petri sees great opportunities for growth in Sweden, Finland and Denmark.
– We are constantly reviewing new opportunities to grow. Both in the countries we operate in, but also in new industries. We need to become more scalable when it comes to our services. They need to be easy to copy and implement for our customers, says Petri.
Systems engineering in a complex world
Petri predicts that products will become increasingly complex, and there will be even higher demands on product safety and sustainability. For example, systems engineering will then be the solution to meet all the regulatory requirements and laws that are hammered out.
When Petri does not spend time in Taipuva’s office, he likes to go fishing.
– I was fishing salmon in Kalix a few years ago. We went on for six days without getting any salmon. You have to experiment and figure out where the fish will be, what it will take on and what time is best? You need to be prepared and anticipate, it’s very similar to what I do during the day at work. Problem solving and experimentation. It’s extremely frustrating sometimes, but when all the calculations are correct and you get the catch, then you’re in heaven.
Taipuva Polarion Days
Want to learn more what Taipuva does with its customers?
- See examples with customers’ own voice from Polarion Days conference!
