A new and increasingly popular international social network Dreamdo will be presented at the StartUp Village. The project was created in Finland. The founders of this new social network were invited to Russia to participate in the StartUp Village by Pekka Vilyakainen, who explained why it is so important for startups in Russia to be able to dream.
Pekka, how did you come to the conclusion that it is necessary to talk about dreams at StartUp Village and how could project Dreamdo be interesting for our startup community?
P. Viljakainen:
- The fact is that human dreams are very important components, and integral part of the entrepreneurial spirit. During our tour through the cities of Russia we have become convinced of this once again. In Russia, as it turned out, not many people can openly and consciously tell what their dreams are, what they want to achieve for themselves, while starting their own business. Believe me, for investors this is very important information. They want to see a person who has a dream and can reach it. A person’s ability to clearly and inspirationally articulate their dreams proves he is creative. A well presented dream can be a very powerful tool for a startup.
Do you think that in Russia people need to be taught how to dream? It seems that in this country there are quite a lot of dreamers
- During the entire period of the Russian StartUp Tour I met only one startup in Astrakhan, who said directly that his dream was to create a company, hire seven people and enter markets around the world. When I talk with startups in other countries, such as the U.S., China, and other countries, people are not hesitant to state that their dream is to conquer the world with their business. In Russia, we end up hearing much more often about such things as scientific and technological originality, innovation development, the research aspect and so on. And this, of course, is very important. Yet without a dream it is not enough. People talk so little about their dreams here that it almost seems that dreaming in Russia is prohibited. Perhaps, many young people are just very shy.
And yourself, do you speak openly about your dreams?
- Yes, on Dream.do’s website I made an open statement about my dreams. But at the same time, I did write another 27 dreams that are "closed" (laughs). The most important dream that I posted there and show how I realize it, is the construction of the Orthodox Church, not far from my home in Finland. It is approximately 100 kilometers from the Russian border at Lake Saimaa. In these places there are quite a lot of Russians, especially during the holiday season. There is also New Valaam (a monastery of the Finnish Orthodox Church in Heynyavesi). But this church we are building primarily for ourselves, our family, and for our loved ones.
Dreamdo’s presentation at the StartUp Village: a few words on how this event will take place
- On May 27 the CEO of Dreamdo, Saku Tuominen, will announce the official launch of the project, including in Russia. This will be part of the Startup Village program. I think this is a very timely and interesting project, and I even invested my own money in it. I want to help people "to do their dream".