From a first computer to production.

The first computer

I got my first computer at about ten, and it was glorious. The machine itself was clumsy and slow, and the ISDN line did not help. Being online also felt expensive, so time on it had to be rationed.

There were not many games around back then, so the time went where everyone my age spent it: RuneScape, Habbo Hotel and the Finnish game site Aapeli.

TodayMy first lesson in limited resources. When time or budget is short, what matters is where you spend it. The same question comes up in every ad campaign.

The first build of my own

As hardware got better and summer jobs started paying, I began building machines myself. The parts came from Jimm's PC Store in Helsinki, a shop that no longer exists. I always wanted the best possible whole, so the homework was done on Finnish hardware forums before anything was bought. The total budget was between 500 and 700 euros.

YouTube had build guides, but nobody reads the instructions until something refuses to work. The operating system was acquired in the spirit of the time, because every euro was meant to go into the hardware.

TodayThe same buying habit stuck: compare first, decide second, and write the reasoning down. The newsletter platform was chosen exactly like that, five options compared.

Games and the first mods

Coding interested me early on, but I could not do it, and back then my concentration was not up to studying it. Instead there was a lot of gaming: World of Warcraft, Team Fortress 2 and Counter-Strike 1.6.

In Counter-Strike the modding actually worked out. I downloaded modded weapons and skins and swapped them into the game so it looked the way I wanted. That meant hunting down files, getting them into the right folders and working out why one of them refused to load.

TodayMy first contact with the idea that finished things can be modified. It is still the core of how I work: a ready-made package is a starting point, not the result. For the newsletter integration I wrote the missing connector myself, because none existed.

Sales in Tampere

My first proper job was as an account manager in the car trade. It was B2B sales to around two hundred dealerships, some of it international. About 500 vehicles were sold, worth roughly five million euros.

TodaySales taught me what engineering does not: the buyer does not care how elegant the solution is, only what they get. I still write ad copy from that angle.

Competitive gaming and the first social content

After Tampere I took a couple of gap years, as the right job did not seem to turn up. The time went into gaming, but not only for fun: I played NHL 6 vs 6 at a competitive level for SJ Gaming, Örebro Hockey and Luleå Hockey, and made social media content for those teams. Great times.

TodayThat was effectively my first marketing job, even if nobody called it that. Making content for an audience that spots anything forced or fake is a good school.

Why business studies and not engineering

I applied to a business degree because trade had always interested me and computers had been there the whole time anyway. I also thought an engineering degree would be a heavier route for me after the trouble I had with studying as a teenager.

The choice turned out to be right. The field suited me and the studies went well: a 4.35 average for the bachelor's degree and 4.30 for the master's. Both theses were graded at the top mark, and both were about AI in marketing.

TodayThe business side is what separates me from someone who only builds. I can justify a solution in euros, not just in technical terms.

Marketing and engineering in one job

In my current job I am used to combining marketing and engineering without friction: from fixing office equipment to maintaining servers and untangling website problems. I did not imagine working life would look like this when I got here.

In practice it means the same person plans the campaign, builds the landing page, fixes the tracking and reads the results. No handovers, and nothing stalls because it belongs to someone else.

TodayI have noticed how much I enjoy solving problems. It is the best part of this work.

AI as a tool

I want to get better at solving technical problems with AI in the loop. No challenge feels impossible, and I try to work through the options before saying something cannot be done.

A broad academic background gives me the business and marketing side, and because of it I can deliver fairly large solutions with a very small team. Often the team is me and a well-specified tool.

TodayI am looking for a permanent position where this combination is needed: sales, digital marketing, web development or e-commerce.