One aspect of the Yaika 2 HD video streaming service that Ivanov emphasizes most is that the simultaneous number of viewers can be over 10,000. Video will be streamed at a higher volume for computers, and at a lower rate in the case of telephones.

Ivanov demoed the new service this past December at the company’s new headquarters in Ülemiste City.

The entrepreneur says that Yaika 2 is being aimed at organizers of conferences, seminars, workshops and concerts. The service allows events to be carried out and transmitted (sold) at significantly lower cost.

“Organizing a conference for thousands of people online is much cheaper than renting rooms, sending out invitations, paying for security, catering and everything else. At the same time, the quality is just as good,” says Ivanov.

How it works

The process is as simple as pie. First, register as a Yaika.com user and describe your event. Then specify the method of payment – whether the organizer will spring for the costs of the event and the livecast and it will be free for viewers, or vice versa: pay-per-view for the audience on their computers or smartphones. The price of admission should also be specified and whether it is to be paid by Paypal, credit card or SMS. Yaika takes care of the rest, including the livecast.

Ivanov says that the idea of such a service has been making the rounds for years. But first testing had to be conducted on how people actually use videos on the Web. Back in 2008, Ivanov launched the social network Yaika, which is similar to Ustream.tv or Justing.tv. Yaika has close to 7,000 users, most of them in Latin America.

Mainstream service

Ivanov says Yaika 2’s competitors include QIK, Usteam.tv and livecasting.com, but notes that they are primarily for pros. Yaika 2 positions itself more as an everyman’s kind of service.

Yaika 2 is part of Ivanov’s Winning Technology Group – WTG9 – where the number 9 stands for the entrepreneur’s personal lucky number. The same group includes a slew of other companies, such as the digital private archival service provider Eesti Arhivaar, the consultancy WinTech, the Information Technology Law and Expert Office, and others.

Where do these aspiring entrepreneurs and “smart money” get their unshakeable confidence in what are often ordinary path-of-least-resistance copycat business projects? Why does the Ajujaht innovation competition field dozens of entries based on boring business ideas that don’t really have a shot? And what is the source of the spark that powers young IT players like the Duracell rabbit?

I went through the 300 stories of Estonian start-up firms that have been featured in my blog at TestMarket.eu. The template that materialized was that of Skype. Things are the way they are precisely because Skype, with founding engineers and R&D office in Estonia, brought a different kind of energy to the scene, opened eyes and doors.

Skype brought too much money to Estonia

When Skype was sold to eBay in 2005 for a little over 2 billion euros, about over 100 million euros of that amount stayed in Estonia. The majority of those funds went into the new investment firm owned by former Skype engineers Toivo Annus, Jaan Tallinn, Ahti Heinla and Priit Kasesalu, Ambient Sound Investments (ASI). With ASI, true Western venture capitalism got its sea legs in Estonia, whereas before only Allan Martinson had fit the definition of venture capitalist.

In four years, ASI has provided more than 17.3 million euros of funding for more than 30 technology or Web companies. At the start of 2010, ASI still had over 50 million euros of liquid assets in its accounts, some of it in term deposits. Besides that, the four men have millions of euros in personal funds. This is too much money; it isn’t possible to invest all of it in Estonia.

Skype provided the seed for very ambitious business projects

About one-half of Estonia’s current technology or Internet businesses – the ones expected to run like gazelles or start a revolution – got their seed capital from ASI, run by the Skype engineers.

The best-known of these ambitious players are Modesat and Guardtime. Modesat is developing a communications technology that will make it possible to introduce ultra-high-speed broadband Internet aboard jets and high-speed trains. The company is working with the world’s biggest telecom giants, such as Ericsson, Nokia, Siemens and others, and recently hired a former vice-president of Samsung as their director of technology.

The other company, Guardtime, has developed a timestamping technology for secure digital data and is now trying to find an application for it. Asian investors led by billionaire Li Ka-shing and the Singaporean government recently invested close to 6.4 million euros into the company.

Estonia has Skype – end of story

The name of Skype has been used to every possible effect to promote Estonia, and many know Estonia as the land of Skype. In the Wikipedia entry on Estonia, Skype is the only local IT company mentioned.

Heikki Haldre, the founder of virtual mannequin technology development firm Fits.me, says he once met a venture capitalist in the US who said that Europe had only produced only one credible IT company – Skype. “I have basically quit talking about Estonia in the US,” says Haldre. “When I am asked where I am from, I ask, Have you heard of Skype? Well, I come from the same country as Skype!”

Martti Paju, sales director of Erply, which supplies hundreds of US firms with business software, concurs: Skype is an important argument for introducing Estonia’s IT development abroad. But a much more practical way of doing this would be to take an Estonian ID card out of your wallet and say it can be used to elect parliament.

Skype, which put a squeeze on telephone companies around the world with its free phone calls, has become synonymous with “breakthrough product”. TechCrunch  called Erply the “Skype of business software” and Fits.me was called the “Skype of clothing retail.”

Skype employees dive into business

Someone once said that the biggest benefit of Skype will be revealed when various people start sloughing off the organization and looking for a new challenge. And that is what has happened.

The former Skype personnel have founded tens of companies, primarily related to Internet services, some of which been successful.

I recently wrote a story about Mikael Suvi, who made millions developing games for the iPhone. He felt that working for the big company had become too routine. Skype’s people have also developed a social network for designers, a “new Facebook” that is free of the mindless babble of the original, sonars for ships, a news site that anticipates what readers are interested in, and much more.

The company founders, Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, bid adieu to salaried work and dove headlong into enterprise. Through their London head office, they used Luxembourg tax breaks and Estonian technology competence, obtained a bit of funding from investors in Silicon Valley and launched a service that has managed to garner 15 percent of the world’s international call market.

Martin Goroško, head of marketing for the Tehnopol technology park, says that Skype has had a bigger influence on young entrepreneurs than the Tallinn University of Technology and the University of Tartu put together. “Eighty percent of the business ideas that reach our incubator or the general community of start-up companies are from Skype,” he says.

Shy mice become roaring lions

Skype has had its biggest influence on the people in Estonia’s IT sector. The company has a great amount of external relations (business trips are one of the biggest budget line items) and work takes place in international teams. All this has broadened the horizons for hundreds of Estonians.

One old hand in IT says Skype has clued people in on how the technology business works in the world as well as how and at what rate organizations are established. Above all, Skype has shown the importance of networking and establishing contacts in the nerve centres of the world’s technology sector. “About ten years after I started going to conferences in the US at the expense of my family budget, there was an understanding in Estonia that wow, something cool is happening over there, across the ocean!” says that same IT veteran.

Skype proved it was possible to change the world. Venture capitalist Yrjö Ojasaar says that the example of Skype is a good lesson for Estonian entrepreneurs as to how important it is to think globally. The company founders, Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, bid adieu to salaried work and dove headlong into enterprise. Through their London head office, they used Luxembourg tax breaks and Estonian technology competence, obtained a bit of funding from investors in Silicon Valley and launched a service that has managed to garner 15 percent of the world’s international call market.

Skype raises awareness of key problems

Skype Estonia’s CEO Sten Tamkivi goes from one seminar to the next, lobbying for solutions to several vexing problems. Skype, Playtech and Webmedia have, between the three of them, snapped up the majority of Estonia’s IT personnel and additional ones hard to come by. As a result, Tamkivi has been talking for years about the shortcomings of the Estonian educational system’s shortcomings for years – it simply doesn’t provide enough incentive to study science, technology and engineering.

The other salient theme that Skype keeps returning to is the use of foreign workers in Estonia. Skype has close to 25 people of various nationalities working in permanent positions. Obtaining residence and work permits for many of them is a headache for the company.

Skype supports education, giving out two master’s studies scholarships worth a total of 8300 euros and the presidential science and technology award, which is 3830 euros.

Skype is also a leader in terms of being an employee-friendly company, supporting employee-founded extreme sports, kitesurfing, snowboarding, cooking and running clubs as well as semi-professional cyclists.

Skype is the flagship of the Estonian economy in many ways

In 2009, the value added per employee at Skype was close to four times greater than on average in Estonia. The same indicator was twice as high as the average for the IT sector. That makes Skype a classic example of effective business administration.

In addition, the company is a key taxpayer. Altogether, Skype has paid 12 million euros of social tax in the past five years, which is only 2.5 times less than Estonia’s largest telecom firm, the former monopoly Elion.

Last quarter Skype accounted for a quarter of Estonia’s computer and information service export (one-sixth in 2005) and almost one percent of total export Estonian service.

Skype employs one of six people working in the IT sector. The company’s close to 400 employees earned an average of 2237 euros per month after taxes. This is almost four times higher than the averidge salary in Estonia.

Skype has a constant need for new employees. One day I checked the company’s career centre showed 117 openings, 19 of them engineering positions in Estonia.

Young people, why are you going into PR or public administration?!

The story was initially published in Eesti Ekspress in December 2010.

I’ve had few posts recently on an Estonian startup Inner Circle, planning to launch a new social networking tool. This is it – introducing here PosterBee, the new crap-free (FarmVille- and optionally even ads-free) private socializing tool, developed by Allan Martinson’s company Inner Circle, co-funded by Estonian Development Fund.

So what is it? Looking at the private beta, my first impression is that PosterBee is very simple in terms of functioning and design, but also hassle-free. Before even creating any new groups, you can tell that it truly takes only about few seconds. 

„Feel free to create groups, message people, plan events or share files and photos – without anyone outside your group knowing,“ PosterBee tells me. Ok. Question is, how they make everyone to join this new environment. Even if groups are currently using traditional e-mail services, it might be difficult to change their communication paradigm, if they are used to it. But I guess PosterBee can do a lot here by wise and well-targeted marketing.

One of the most interesting news coming along with PosterBee is group communication with wide range of totally different tools: web, e-mail, SMS and even voice(calls). Practical benefits of this I can not even imagine yet.

Another perhaps important feature the new tool is offering is linking your account with other social networks. You can share things with your small and private PosterBee group, but at the same time distribute your stuff to your Twitter, Gowalla, Facebook, Foursquare and some other „pipes“.

Andrus Purde from the PosterBee team tells me that he expects to see different clubs, condominiums, alumni groups, parent unions and other groups (currently using primarily mail groups) testing and using new tool.

I must admit that I am a bit worried about how this thing monetizes itself and stands out from the tight competition.

Will I be using PosterBee any time soon? Probably. I have to organise my church choir friends one way or the other anyway.

Estonian business registry shows that new investors behind the project are Regio (the well-known mapping, mobile positioning and GIS software developer), Estonian Development Fund (Arengufond) and its Chairman of the Supervisory Board, entrepreneur Raivo Vare. Investment sum, as I recall Martinson telling me earlier, was around 200 000 euros.

I wrote a post on Inner Circle few weeks ago. In september the team will go to Silicon Valley to prepare for the launch.

Inner Circle aims to establish a new social network, much like Facebook, but lot more private, crap-free and easier to use.

Martinson says that 95 percent of all the communication currently takes place in smaller groups: among family, collegues, friends, hobby groups, training mates etc. Facebook is extremely popular, with hundreds of millions of users (over 200 000 in Estonia already), it has a plentitude of functionality, but Facebook is not the best communication tool for smaller groups.

„Facebook has lists and groups, but they are inconvenient to use. Everyone is your „friend“, irrespective of how they became your fiends,“ Martinson says.
In the new soon-to-be revealed environment of Inner Circle, currently in rough beta phase, the users will be able to switch in between different groups with ease, share content, information,  multimedia – in other words do all the modern social communication things – separately in each of their group.

Artec’s STB’s with Vecly’s software are currently sold in Estonian electronic stores. But Vecly is now targeting much larger partners such as Renesas, NEC, NXP and Trident-Adecq. The company is also having negotiations with Levira, the main TV and radio broadcast network operator in Estonia.

Vecly’s consideration is following: China, where majority of STBs are obviously produced, is an inexpensive country for electronics production, but Chinese software is far from being perfect. Here’s where Vecly enters into the game.

Yrjö Ojasaar says that in the next 3-5 years transition to digital broadcasting will happen in many countries worldwide. Consumers will have higher quality TV and much higher number of channels.

Want it or not, all the analog TV watchers will need to buy the STB. But STB, as we know, is basically a computer, enabling much more than just showing TV. It allows to play games, without the need to buy separate console, X-Box or Wii. It can also be used to share content – movies, pictures etc. It allows video on demand. One can even use Skype, Facebook and Twitter via STB.

„Set-top boxes become the multimedia centers of our lives!“ Ojasaar imagines.

And that will open up totally new possibilities not only for consumers, but for advertisers. In times when conventional TV ads are drying up and Internet advertising is growing, one could expect to see new special advertising channels distributed via STBs. For example a gardening channel paid by your local gardening store.

We’ll see. One thing is for sure though: Vecly wants to be present in all the countries going through the switch from analog to digital.

Few weeks ago two well-known Estonian startuppers, Jüri Kaljundi and Andrus Purde launched Emp.ly – a new social media startup, making staffing a lot easier and fun.

Emp.ly helps companies to spread their job ads over the social web (through friends, fans and followers) with ease. It is more likely to find workers this way, than just using regular classified’s. For people in social web: the more they spread these job ads among their friends, the bigger their chance to get rewarded with Amazon giftcards.

The service is meant for smaller and medium size companies, who have no budgets to carry out massive recruitment campaigns. Remarkable about Emp.ly is that Purde and Kaljundi launched the service in Silicon Valley, believing that there is no better place in the world to attract users and find partners.

Emp.ly also has a „sister application“ called Talentag. If your friend is the best salesman, designer, programmer, visionary or just an inspiring and helpful individual – you can tag him in Facebook accordingly. 

Talentag is the way of making „virtual compliments“, showing how respectful and professional people, who happened to be tagged, are. The custom tags are good-looking and colorful, there are tens of them made already. But Talentag also gathers ideas of new tags.

Andrus Purde is not yet willing to talk about user numbers, since they are very modest. Moreover, he underlines that both services – Emp.ly, as well as Talentag are currently under some heavy development.

The beginning looks promising. But one might have doubts if these, a bit „nice to have“ tools would make a lot of money for their founders. What do you think?

Their aim is to establish a new social network, much like Facebook, but lot more private, crap-free (without the FarmVille and who’s your friend’s friend reminders and all the other annoying things) and easier to use.

Martinson says that 95 percent of all the communication currently takes place in smaller groups: among family, collegues, friends, hobby groups, training mates etc. Facebook is extremely popular, with hundreds of millions of users (over 200 000 in Estonia already), it has a plentitude of functionality, but Facebook is not the best communication tool for smaller groups. 

„Facebook has lists and groups, but they are inconvenient to use. Everyone is your „friend“, irrespective of how they became your fiends,“ Martinson says.

In the new soon-to-be revealed environment of Inner Circle, currently in rough beta phase, the users will be able to switch in between different groups with ease, share content, information,  multimedia – in other words do all the modern social communication things – separately in each of their group. 

Head of the project, Andrus Raudsalu calls it „the private Facebook“ and says it will be useable over different communication platforms: the web, e-mail, SMS, mobile etc. He considers mailing lists and groups as the main competitors.

Social networks serving small groups are becoming more and more trendy these days. About ten projects worldwide are currently in development, but non of them has yet clearly taken the lead.

Perhaps at some point in Autumn, when the project will be launched, Inner Circle is planning to target US market and other English-speaking markets. Revenues have to come from advertising and freemium group-services.

Martinson and Raudsalu expect to see hundreds of thousands of groups established in their environment by the end of 2011.  If the target is not met, feasibility comes under question.

In August Martinson and his partners will raise around 200 000 euros seed capital for their new ambitious project.

Estonian Development Fund was established few years ago. Benchmarking the Finnish SITRA model its main functions are providing economic forecast and ideas how to create growth, but also developing venture capital market in Estonia.

The fund has invested into seven companies thus far: SmartPost (a logistics company offering modern parcel sending solutions), Golitah Wind (developing next generation wind turbine), Massi Miliano (the virtual fitting room developer Fits.me), United Dogs and Cats (social network for pet owners, has failed for good recently), BiotaP (a biotech company) and GrabCAD (a CAD library provider).

Nevertheless, skeptics say the portfolio is weak and insufficient to justify the fund’s existence. Before the Estonian Development Fund started off many people thought we do not really need an extra state VC. Now these people say that the new exceptional investment round, that we are going to see, is giving the fund “a mandate for existence”, because once you already invest, you apparently have to work with the companies.

Heidi Kakko (pictured) and Andrus Oks, the investment people from Estonian Development Fund disagree with this standpoint, of course. And many people think efforts of the fund have been very valuable. It is always easier to criticize and believe me, Estonians are world champions on this.

One of the fund’s investments – United Dogs and Cats – has failed recently. Now the fund is looking for a new investor to take the company over. Two candidates are currently being heavily negotiated with. I think I know one of them (a foreign businessman living and working in Estonia), but I will not say it, because I do not want to blow this thing off.

Kuidas sinust sai ettevõtja?

See oli 1999. aastal. Lahkusin palgatöölt Nokia võrkude ettevõttest (praegune Nokia Siemens Networks), kus olin tegelenud tõeliselt vana kooli telekommunikatsiooniteenustega. Olgugi et toona oli see turg kiiresti kasvav, polnud töökeskkond üldsegi põnev. Suur organisatsioon on ääretult uimane. Ma tahtsin teha midagi muud ja lõin oma ettevõtte.

Millega tegeles sinu esimene ettevõte?

Lõin selle koos viie kolleegiga, nimeks sai Taika Technologies. Meie visioon oli, et internet on sotsiaalse suhtluse koht ning meie ehitame selleks rakendusi ja platvorme. Näiteks tahtsime teha Second Life’i tüüpi 3D-veebikeskkonna, mõtlesime mikroblogidele, reaalajas vestlustele.
Ettevõte käis läbi terve elutsükli – alates loomisest, investeeringust, klientide leidmisest ja lõpetades… sulgemisega 2002. aastal.

Miks Taika hääbus?

Sotsiaalne internet ei olnud siis veel üldse teema. Meie kliendid, välja arvatud telekommunikatsiooni- ja meediaettevõtted ei saanud meist aru. Kui internetimull sajandi alguses lõhkes, kadusid teise ringi finantseeringud sellistele ettevõtetele. See tõi meile probleeme. Firmat oli rahastanud kaks riskikapitalisti, kellest üks ei tahtnud meie käekäigust ööd ega mütsi teada, ja teine oli seda tüüpi kapitalist, kelle vastu me tegelikult võitlesime.

Kui palju raha kirjutati korstnasse?

Kokku viis miljonit eurot. Peamine finantseering oli neilt kahelt riskikapitalistilt. Aga Taikas oli ka pisut Tekese raha (riiklik tugistruktuur) ja pool miljonit eurot asutajate raha.

Olid firma juht. Mis tunne pärast ettevõtte sulgemist oli?

Toona tähendas see ettevõte minu jaoks kõike. Seda asja sai aetud palavikuliselt ja investeeritud palju isiklikku aega. Olin mitu kuud depressioonis, sest kaotasin ka üle 100 000 euro isiklikku raha.

Mida siis tegid?

Pidin väiksemasse ja odavamasse korterisse kolima. Kuna mul oli järsku rohkem aega kui varem, käisin usinalt jõusaalis ja jooksmas. Manustasin toidulisandeid, mida kiiresti liikuvad ja palju treenivad inimesed kasutavad, ning kaotasin tublisti kaalu.

Mida girlfriend kaotuse kohta ütles?

Ega ta eriti hästi sellele ei vaadanud…

Nii et said vägeva õppetunni?

Kindlasti. Mul oli suur au saada see õppetund koos väga tuntud inimestega – meil olid tiimis näiteks Soome praegune eurovolinik Olli Rehn, mitmed tuntud professorid ja USA tehnoloogiaeksperdid.

Kellelt võtsid Taikas malli?

Sotsiaalmeedia firmasid siis veel õieti polnud. Google alles alustas. Microsoft nokitses Messengeri kallal. Mängude tootjad üritasid Second Life’i tüüpi asju teha.

Mis ambitsioonid sul toona olid?

Peale selle, et tahtsime saada rikkaks ja kuulsaks, üritasime ka panna sotsiaalset interneti tärkama. Tahtsime luua oma suure online-keskkonna platvormi, aga selgus, et massid polnud selliseks asjaks veel valmis.

Kas mõtlesid pärast ebaõnnestumist, et selles vallas äri enam kunagi ei tee?

Depressioon oli igatahes väga suur. Pidin oma rahaasjad korda saama ja võlad tasuma. Läksin tööle firmasse, mis kannab nüüd Logica nime. Nad palkasid mind juhtima 50-liikmelist konsultantide tiimi. Nõustasime Nokiat ja TeliaSonerat. Aga pidasin seal vastu vaid kuus kuud. Mõistsin, et selline piiratud ja jäik keskkond mulle ei istu. Suurtes firmade ärikultuur näib olevat üles ehitatud nii, et maksimaalselt piirata teie loovust arendada uusi ärisuundi. Selle asemel peate keskenduma olemasoleva vana hoidmisele. Ma lahkusin firmast ja minust sai taas ettevõtja.

Mis siis tegid?

Logicas töötades tulid minu juurde mõned tuttavad, kes kurtsid, et serverisüsteemidega tegelev firma Fuksiini Sites on sisuliselt pankrotistumas. Kahjum oli sama suur kui müügikäive, tegevjuht ei saanud millegagi hakkama. Mind kutsuti ettevõtet saneerima. Öeldi, et sa, Taneli, oled ühest pankrotist juba läbi käinud, tead, kuidas asjad käivad, tule ja tegutse!
Oli see vast huvitav juhtum. Firma pakkus ülihead teenust, kuid oli kvaliteeti üle investeerinud. Ütlesime klientidele, et teate, nüüd kahekordistame oma hinna, muidu oleme pankrotis. Ja nad kõik olid sellega nõus, sest teenus oli tõesti hea.
Kuue kuuga firma seis paranes. Jõudsime nulli. Ja keegi ei lahkunud ettevõttest peale selle endise juhi. Siis ostis üks suur börsifirma 2003. aastal Fuksiini ära.
Mina sain pisut kapitali, maksin võlad ära.

Milline oli sinu suurim õppetund enne 2003. aastat?

See, et ei tohi olla liiga kontrolliv alluvate suhtes. Ei tohi kogu aeg alluvate tööd üle kontrollida ja vigu otsida – see tekitab neis trotsi. Keegi ei taha sellise bossi heaks töötada, motivatsioon ja loovus kaovad koos usaldusega.

Ja edasi?

Järgnevatel aastatel olin mitme ettevõtte juures. Näiteks firma StarDoll, mis müüdi hiljem briti riskikapitalistidele. Üks keskealine naine oli hakanud hobikorras pabernukke tegema. Ta lõi firma, mida juhtis tema poeg. Mina pidin ettevõtte üles töötama.
Samuti lävisin tihedamalt IRC-Galleria tegelastega. 

Miks just need ettevõtted sinu teele jäid?

Nende ühine nimetaja on tugev kontseptsioon ja võimekas tiim.

Ja nüüd?

Nüüd olen täiesti iseseisev tegelane, mul on oma valdusfirma ja osalen aktiivselt mitme idufirma arendamises. Portfellis on mul umbes 11 investeeringut, kõik tehnoloogia või internetiga seotud.

Kui palju oled oma raha idufirmadesse pannud?

Väikestes summades, kokku on minu osaluste väärtus ehk 200–300 miljonit eurot. Pigem investeerin ettevõtetesse oma teadmisi ja aega.

Mis teeb sinu jaoks idufirma huvitavaks?

Kui tal on teostatav ja arendatav idee. Paljud ideed on teostamatud või lihtsalt nii-öelda „tore oleks”. Näiteks kord tutvustati mulle ideed, teha tarkvara, mis teeks Twitteri sõnumitest väikese video koos graafikaga. Aga mis mõte sellel oleks? Tore oleks lihtsalt.

Mis on sinu arvates kuum teema aasta-paari pärast?

Mina üritan vaadata, mis asjadega tulevad suured tehnoloogiafirmad Google, Apple ja Microsoft välja ning panen selle kokku inimeste psühholoogiaga – mida on inimestel tõeliselt  vaja. Näiteks kuum teema on LED-valgustus – varem või hiljem minnakse sellele täielikult üle.

Sotsiaalmeedial tuleb konkureerida õlle, grillvorstide, tüdruksõbra ja telekaga. Kui ta suudab mehe kõikidest nendest asjadest eemale meelitada, siis ajab ta õiget asja. Facebook võib olla küll ülivõimas, kuid paljud inimesed pole siiani näinud vajadust selle järele. Kuidas see vajaduse barjäär lõhkuda?

Nii et märksõna on meelelahutus?

Jah. Kuna ilma selleta läheb elu ilmselt igavaks. 

Kuidas noortesse ettevõtlikkust süstida?

Seda on raske väljastpoolt teha. Ettevõtja peab igaüks iseenda seest leidma. Peaksime mõtlema, mida tegelikult saavutada tahame. Palgatööl suures firmas tahetakse meilt ainult ühte konkreetset asja, sest laev liigub ühes konkreetses suunas. Kui leiame endast soovi teha ägedaid asju väikeses tiimis kiiresti ja ebaõnnestumisi kartmata, olemegi endast ettevõtja leidnud.

Kes on Taneli Tikka?

• Soome aktiivne ettevõtlustegelane, riskikapitalist, sariinvestor (diilitegija) ja blogija – vt veebist tane.li.
• Olulisemad exit’id ehk müügid: Dynamoid ehk IRC-Galleria.net (mis müüdi 2007. aastal 12,5 miljoni euro eest börsifirmale Sulake Corporation), Magenta (2006), MobileCRM (2003) ja Fuksiini Sites (2003).
• Juhtinud ridamisi mitmesuguseid ettevõtteid, nagu näiteks Wisdom Like Silence, RunToShop, Dynamoid, Magenta, MobileCRM, Taika Technologies. Lisaks olnud juhtivas rollis ettevõtetes nagu Dopplr, Ruukki Group, Kemppi, Logica jt. Nõustanud firmasid ja organisatsioone nagu Vigo Programme, Umbra Software, Brain Alliance, Capital Idea, TEKES jt, Netcycler, StarDoll jt.
• Magistrikraad Helsingi Majanduskõrgkoolist, bakalaureusekraad Laurea Polütehnikumist arhitektuuri ja ehitusinseneri erialal.

Lugu ilmus ajakirja HEI aprillinumbris.  

Aastal 1988, kui kõlavad isamaalised laulud ning digitaalmaailm on kauge tulevik, tutvuvad Tallinna Tehnikaülikoolis kaks noort küberneetikut – Märt Saarepera (praegu 46, ülemisel pildil) ja Ahto Buldas (43, alumisel pildil).

Mõni aasta hiljem sõidab Saarepera Moskva kaudu vahetusüliõpilasena Tokyosse, kuhu jääb üheksaks aastaks. Ta omandab kiiresti jaapani keele. Sukeldub rakendusliku infoturbe ning krüptograafia keerulisse maailma ning avaldab mitmeid teadusartikleid.

Buldas nokitseb Tallinnas digitaalallkirja teema kallal, mis on siis popp üle ilma.

Kaks olulist sõbrunemist 

Tokyo Tehnoloogiainstituudis ristuvad Saarepera teed kahe olulise tegelasega, kellest kujunevad Guardtime’i võtmeisikud. Esmalt sõbruneb eestlane iirlasest koolivenna Mike Gaultiga, kes õpib tuumafüüsikuks.

Seejärel leiab Saarepera ühised huvid tuntud Jaapani riskikapitalisti, tehnoloogiaguru, DJ, reivi- ja kirjamehe Joichi Itoga. Jaapani esimese veebisaidi asutanud Ito kutsub Saarepera tööle oma äriinkubaatorisse Neoteny Labs. Tuntud firmadesse Last.fm, Technorati ja Flickr jt investeerinud Ito avab eestlasele mitmed uksed.

1990ndate teises pooles haub duo Saarepera ja Buldas väga suuri plaane. Nad arutavad üleilmse infoturbe süsteemi peensusi. Süsteemi arendustöö võtab aega aastaid.

Nad otsivad arendamiseks raha. Tutvustavad tehnoloogiat ­Allan Martinsonile, kes leiab aga, et asi on liialt toores. Küll aga huvituvad Skype’i eestlastest asutajad, kes paigutavad ettevõtmisse koos partneritega üle 15 miljoni krooni.

Ito vormistab pisikese investeeringu

Sügisel 2007 käib Ito Tallinnas, et vormistada isiklik investeering Guardtime’i. Ta paneb veebi üles enam-vähem ainsad fotod, mis ujedast duost Saarepera-Buldas tehtud on, külastab Skype’i mehi eesotsas Toivo Annusega ning postitab oma blogisse sissekande, kus kiidab eestlasi ja Tallinna tasuta wifit, mille kvaliteet ületavat pikalt Frankfurdi lennujaama, jäävat vaid alla tema Tokyo kontori omale.

Nüüd saab Guardtime hoo sisse. Itost kujuneb firmas oluline suunanäitaja.

Ettevõtet aitab Skype’i endine personaliboss Riina Einberg. Turvaküsimustes nõustab idufirmat ilmselt üks edukamaid väliseestlasest ärinaisi – Ciscos töötanud ning USAs oma firma Double Shot Security asutanud arvutivõrkude spets Merike Käo (Kaeo).

Peagi leitakse müügimehed ja avatakse kontorid Tokyos ja Singapuris. Insenerid murravad pead algoritmide ja protokollide kallal. Vaja on panna üles serverid Šveitsis, Saksamaal ja Suurbritannias. Algsest ideest püstitada serverid üle maailma loobutakse, sest andmed ei liigu ühest maailma otsast teise piisavalt kiiresti.

Päeval, mil toatäis arvutikraami peaks lennukiga Tallinnast Lääne-Euroopasse lendama, selgub, et see ei mahu kulleriauto peale. Kogu Guardtime’i tiim jookseb Tallinna Rävala puiesteele kokku, et serverid ümber pakkida.

Maagilisel kuupäeval 07.07.07 käivitatakse serverite kell ja algab Guardtime’i ajalugu. Nüüd saab väljastada ja kontrollida ajatempleid.

Põhitegija hoiab väga madalat profiili

Viimased kuud olen üritanud Märt Saareperaga kontakti saada ja kui see lõpuks õnnestub, suunab ta kõik küsimused iirlasele Gaultile.

“Ööl ja päeval pole vahet, olen kogu aeg unine,” ütleb Gault. Ta lendab iga nädal Tallinna ja Singapuri vahet, veetes tunde lennujaamades. “Cathay Pacificus (Aasia lennukompanii) on mul kindlasti miljon lennumiili juba täis!”

Märtsi keskel kohtub Gault USAs Silicon Valleys küberkaitsekonverentsil kaitseminister Jaak Aaviksooga. Mõni nädal varem on iirlane saatnud Jaapani visiidil peaminister Andrus Ansipit.

“Eesti tipp-poliitikud on start­up’ide suhtes väga sõbralikud, kliima on alustava ettevõtte jaoks hea,” tunnistab Gault. “USAs oleks mõeldamatu niisama lihtsalt ministri jutule pääseda,” ütleb Gault.

Sel nädalal saab Guardtime lõplikult kaua oodatud rahasüsti. Punt investoreid paigutab firmasse kokku 8 miljonit dollarit (92,8 miljonit krooni).

Imemees ja filantroop omanikeringis

Asutajate, Joichi Ito  ja Skype’i meeste kõrval on Guardtime’i omanikeringis nüüd ligi 200 miljardi kroonise varandusega Li ­Ka-shingi erafond Horizon Capital, Singapuri riiklik investeerimisfirma Infocomm Investments, Jaapani riskikapitalisti Yukihiro Kayama firma Fit One Capital ning investeerimisfond Elorfas Investments.

Li Ka-shing on maailma rikkuselt 16. inimene, kellele kuulub kuuendik Hongkongi börsi varadest ning kes on investeerinud kõikjale, interneti valdkonnas näiteks Facebooki ja Spotifysse.

Kayamat tuntakse imemehena, kel on paarikümnest investeeringust aia taha läinud vaid üks. 36aastase karjääri jooksul Mitsubishi Corporationis paigutas ta sellistesse alustavatesse ettevõtetesse nagu VeriSign, Net One Systems, Piri jt kokku alla kümne miljoni dollari ning kontsern teenis neilt üle kahe miljardi dollari.

2010. aasta alguses külastab Kayama Eestit. Teda tutvustatakse Guardtime’i presidendina. Kayama veedab Tallinnas ülitiheda nädala ning annab Arengufondi üritusel Eesti ettevõtjatele sütitava loengu, kus võrdleb Eestit Iisraeliga ning rõhutab, et tehnoloogiaid tuleb osata müüa. Tegemist on suurima osavõtjate arvuga Arengufondi üritusega.

Mitteseksikas toode, mille olemasolust on parem mitte teada

Guardtime arendab digitaalse ajatempli teenust, millega saab tagantjärele tõestada digitaalsete andmete ehtsust. Teenus on nähtamatu, lõpptarbijad sellega otseselt kokku ei puutu ega tunneta vajadust selle järele.

Guardtime’i inimestel on isegi kodustele oma tööpõldu raske seletada, sest eesti keeles puudub selleks sõnavara.

“Tegemist on väga igava ja mitteseksika tootega. Meie unistus on, et lõpptarbija ei teakski, et see olemas on,” ütleb Guardtime’i turvainsener Risto Laanoja.

Lihtne näide: oled teinud digi­kaameraga foto ja pannud selle veebi üles. Kuidas tõestada, et sina oled selle teinud? Kui failil on küljes ajatempel, kinnitab see, et foto oli teatud ajahetkel sinu valduses.

Teenus on ühest küljest väga keeruline, teisest küljest imelihtne. Buldas ja Saarepera on aastaid uurinud mitmesuguseid andmete turvalahendusi (üks neist näiteks Eesti digiallkirja süsteem), kuid leidnud, et need pole piisavalt head.

Mida tehakse täna andmetega, kui neid tahetakse turvaliselt hoida? Nad lukustatakse serveritesse, mida kaitsevad “virtuaalsed võtmed” (tulemüürid, rauduksed, salasõnad jms).

Buldas: “Meie püüdsime süsteemi ülesehitamisel hoiduda saladustest ja andmete luku taga hoidmisest. Meile ei meeldinud eeldus, et keegi ütleb: ausõna, ma hoian infot luku taga. Guardtime’i tehnoloogia puhul võivad turvatavad andmed olla avalikud ning nende ehtsust saab kontrollida iga kell, isegi Guardtime’ist sõltumatult.”

Failidega kaasas olev ajatempel on failiandmetest kokku pandud krüptoloogiline kood ehk räsi, mis sisaldab nulle ja ühtesid ning on veidi lühem kui SMSi maksimaalmaht (160 tähemärki). Kui failis muuta kas või üht silpi, muutub räsi ning ajatempel ei vasta enam originaalile.

Kas eestlastel õnnestub revolutsiooni teha?

Buldas ütleb, et nüüd alles tõeline töö algab. Tiim unistab teha Guardtime’i tehnoloogiast üleilmse standardi, et kõiki digitaal­seid andmeid hakataks selle abil arhiveerima.

Põhiküsimus on, kuidas tehnoloogia klientidele maha müüa. Turgu, kuhu tahetakse minna, pole veel olemaski, see tuleb ise luua. Sisendada potentsiaalsetele klientidele finants-, meditsiini-, militaar- jt valdkondades, et teenus pole mitte lihtsalt tore ja uus, vaid neil on seda hädasti vaja.

Riskikapitalist Allan Martinson võrdleb Guardtime’i teenust salvestava turvakaameraga või eksklusiivse kindlustustootega – enamik inimesi arvab, et saavad nendeta suurepäraselt hakkama.

Martinson leiab, et Guardtime’i teenuse müümine on väga ­raske. Pealegi on mitmesugused ajatempli tehnoloogiad turul juba olemas – kas neid peab veel kümme korda kindlamaks muutma? “Aga kui neil on kord klient kätte saadud, siis suure tõenäosusega tähendab see stabiilset käivet aastateks, mis on investorite jaoks eriti seksikas ärimudel.”

Lugu ilmus algselt Eesti Ekspressis. Fotod Joi Ito.