Marten Mickos
@martenmickos.bsky.social
CEO in the service of AI startup CEOs.
Former CEO of HackerOne, Eucalyptus Systems, MySQL.
Former CEO of HackerOne, Eucalyptus Systems, MySQL.
Startup winners were often immigrants or outsiders, sometimes neurodivergent or socially awkward, sometimes even unpleasant or difficult to work with, but they all had an inevitable quality to them.
www.linkedin.com/posts/adamsh...
www.linkedin.com/posts/adamsh...
Over the last 6 years, we manually tagged 16,000 founders across a number of binary signals that indicated someone had lived outside the matrix: odd hobbies, extreme life choices, unusual upbringing,…...
Over the last 6 years, we manually tagged 16,000 founders across a number of binary signals that indicated someone had lived outside the matrix: odd hobbies, extreme life choices, unusual upbringing, ...
www.linkedin.com
November 27, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Startup winners were often immigrants or outsiders, sometimes neurodivergent or socially awkward, sometimes even unpleasant or difficult to work with, but they all had an inevitable quality to them.
www.linkedin.com/posts/adamsh...
www.linkedin.com/posts/adamsh...
Karri Saarinen has sought to do things differently.
"Companies are so focused on what all the other companies are doing, so they’re trying to build the same things or catch up to everyone.”
www.fastcompany.com/91445544/the...
"Companies are so focused on what all the other companies are doing, so they’re trying to build the same things or catch up to everyone.”
www.fastcompany.com/91445544/the...
The billion-dollar AI startup rejecting 996 hustle culture
Linear CEO Karri Saarinen tells Fast Company why he's bucking the trend of AI companies’ ‘hardcore,’ always-on work styles.
www.fastcompany.com
November 27, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Karri Saarinen has sought to do things differently.
"Companies are so focused on what all the other companies are doing, so they’re trying to build the same things or catch up to everyone.”
www.fastcompany.com/91445544/the...
"Companies are so focused on what all the other companies are doing, so they’re trying to build the same things or catch up to everyone.”
www.fastcompany.com/91445544/the...
Startup field guide by Unusual Ventures. Articles, case studies, and tools built to help founders master the journey from insight to product-market fit.
www.unusual.vc/field-guide/
www.unusual.vc/field-guide/
Field Guide
The Startup Field Guide provides essential tools and insights to support early-stage founders on their journey to success.
www.unusual.vc
November 27, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Startup field guide by Unusual Ventures. Articles, case studies, and tools built to help founders master the journey from insight to product-market fit.
www.unusual.vc/field-guide/
www.unusual.vc/field-guide/
Some of the most powerful mentorships happen in complete silence. They happen when you simply observe, absorb, and evolve - without the mentor ever formally knowing that they are shaping you.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/mentor...
www.linkedin.com/pulse/mentor...
The mentor who never knew: Lessons I learnt in complete silence
Mentorship is often painted as formal sessions, structured meetings, or long conversations over coffee. But in my experience, some of the most powerful mentorships happen in complete silence.
www.linkedin.com
November 27, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Some of the most powerful mentorships happen in complete silence. They happen when you simply observe, absorb, and evolve - without the mentor ever formally knowing that they are shaping you.
www.linkedin.com/pulse/mentor...
www.linkedin.com/pulse/mentor...
From bike mechanic to CEO of Oura.
Podcast host Anne Hancock Toomey and guest Tom Hale.
Human-centric leadership, mission-driven companies.
open.spotify.com/episode/6rdD...
Podcast host Anne Hancock Toomey and guest Tom Hale.
Human-centric leadership, mission-driven companies.
open.spotify.com/episode/6rdD...
205. From Bike Mechanic to Oura CEO, with Tom Hale
open.spotify.com
November 27, 2025 at 12:17 AM
From bike mechanic to CEO of Oura.
Podcast host Anne Hancock Toomey and guest Tom Hale.
Human-centric leadership, mission-driven companies.
open.spotify.com/episode/6rdD...
Podcast host Anne Hancock Toomey and guest Tom Hale.
Human-centric leadership, mission-driven companies.
open.spotify.com/episode/6rdD...
Agency is the internal belief that you can influence your circumstances and the willingness to actually do so.
addyosmani.com/blog/high-ag...
addyosmani.com/blog/high-ag...
High Agency Matters
High agency is the habit of seeing it, owning it, and moving it forward. In the long run initiative beats intellect. This essay explains what agency is, why ...
addyosmani.com
November 26, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Agency is the internal belief that you can influence your circumstances and the willingness to actually do so.
addyosmani.com/blog/high-ag...
addyosmani.com/blog/high-ag...
Boardy! Investors and founders I am talking to praise the tool for doing networking for them. www.boardy.ai
Boardy
www.boardy.ai
November 26, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Boardy! Investors and founders I am talking to praise the tool for doing networking for them. www.boardy.ai
The human brain evolves through 5 eras, with pivots at 9, 32, 66 and 83 years.
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
Brain has five ‘eras’, scientists say – with adult mode not starting until early 30s
Study suggests brain development has four pivotal ‘turning points’ at around the ages of nine, 32, 66 and 83
www.theguardian.com
November 26, 2025 at 1:31 PM
The human brain evolves through 5 eras, with pivots at 9, 32, 66 and 83 years.
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
pontificast /pɒnˈtɪfɪˌkɑːst/ (noun)
1. A podcast with VCs interrupting each other to agree on topics they googled 5 mins earlier
2. An auditory hallucination where VCs mistake a FOMO-driven investment strategy for a PhD in macroeconomics
3. Loud confidence masking a lack of operational experience
1. A podcast with VCs interrupting each other to agree on topics they googled 5 mins earlier
2. An auditory hallucination where VCs mistake a FOMO-driven investment strategy for a PhD in macroeconomics
3. Loud confidence masking a lack of operational experience
November 25, 2025 at 8:00 PM
pontificast /pɒnˈtɪfɪˌkɑːst/ (noun)
1. A podcast with VCs interrupting each other to agree on topics they googled 5 mins earlier
2. An auditory hallucination where VCs mistake a FOMO-driven investment strategy for a PhD in macroeconomics
3. Loud confidence masking a lack of operational experience
1. A podcast with VCs interrupting each other to agree on topics they googled 5 mins earlier
2. An auditory hallucination where VCs mistake a FOMO-driven investment strategy for a PhD in macroeconomics
3. Loud confidence masking a lack of operational experience
Gorgeous StoraEnso HQ
November 19, 2025 at 5:25 AM
Gorgeous StoraEnso HQ
AI Summit in Turku live streamed here: areena.yle.fi/1-76514739
AI Summit | Suorana suomalaisilta
Ylen yhteistyökumppanin tuottamaa sisältöä.
Suomen ELLIS-instituutti, AI Finland ja Foundation PS järjestävät merkittävän kansainvälisen tekoälytapahtuman 17. marraskuuta 2025, kun Logomossa, Turussa...
areena.yle.fi
November 17, 2025 at 9:28 AM
AI Summit in Turku live streamed here: areena.yle.fi/1-76514739
AI datacenter buildout is real, plans unreal.
November 16, 2025 at 4:58 AM
AI datacenter buildout is real, plans unreal.
Täällä Otaniemessä on tekemisen meininkiä. Sitä meininkiä, jota koko Suomi nyt tarvitsee. Täällä ei puuhastella, täällä tehdään. - Antti Lindtman 15.11.2025
November 15, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Täällä Otaniemessä on tekemisen meininkiä. Sitä meininkiä, jota koko Suomi nyt tarvitsee. Täällä ei puuhastella, täällä tehdään. - Antti Lindtman 15.11.2025
Finland's most accomplished startup founder Miki Kuusi visited Aalto Founder School to share his thoughts and experiences in an awesome fireside chat with two students.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIFg...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIFg...
Founder Talks #3: Miki Kuusi, CEO of Deliveroo and Head of DoorDash International
YouTube video by Aalto University
www.youtube.com
November 13, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Finland's most accomplished startup founder Miki Kuusi visited Aalto Founder School to share his thoughts and experiences in an awesome fireside chat with two students.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIFg...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIFg...
We humans cling to assumptions, instincts and habits.
November 12, 2025 at 8:43 PM
We humans cling to assumptions, instincts and habits.
How to be a Founder, by Alice Bentinck and Matt Clifford (2022).
"Success is not dependent on what you already know, but on what you learn through pursuing a particular solution to a particular problem."
"Success is not dependent on what you already know, but on what you learn through pursuing a particular solution to a particular problem."
November 12, 2025 at 6:37 AM
How to be a Founder, by Alice Bentinck and Matt Clifford (2022).
"Success is not dependent on what you already know, but on what you learn through pursuing a particular solution to a particular problem."
"Success is not dependent on what you already know, but on what you learn through pursuing a particular solution to a particular problem."
Kasvun kaava, Wolt-tarina, Startup-käsikirja. Voittamattoman kolmikon kirjailijat Akateemisessa huomenna 12.11.2025
akateeminen.com/tuoteryhma/1...
akateeminen.com/tuoteryhma/1...
Tapahtumat | 12.11. Katja Boxberg ja Juhani Mykkänen, Mårten
Tapahtumat | 12.11. Katja Boxberg ja Juhani Mykkänen, Mårten
akateeminen.com
November 11, 2025 at 8:59 AM
Kasvun kaava, Wolt-tarina, Startup-käsikirja. Voittamattoman kolmikon kirjailijat Akateemisessa huomenna 12.11.2025
akateeminen.com/tuoteryhma/1...
akateeminen.com/tuoteryhma/1...
OpenAI thinks it's now or never. Anthropic thinks it's a long obstacle course.
Within their respective beliefs, both are acting rationally.
www.wsj.com/tech/ai/open...
Within their respective beliefs, both are acting rationally.
www.wsj.com/tech/ai/open...
Anthropic Is on Track to Turn a Profit Much Faster Than OpenAI
Financial documents from both companies show the different approaches they are taking to the AI boom.
www.wsj.com
November 11, 2025 at 6:35 AM
OpenAI thinks it's now or never. Anthropic thinks it's a long obstacle course.
Within their respective beliefs, both are acting rationally.
www.wsj.com/tech/ai/open...
Within their respective beliefs, both are acting rationally.
www.wsj.com/tech/ai/open...
Mielenkiintoista keskustelua Isak Raution kanssa Futucastissa.
www.futucast.com/jaksot
www.futucast.com/jaksot
JAKSOT | FUTUCAST
Futucast on podcast, joka käsittelee tulevaisuutta yhdessä Suomen huippupäättäjien kanssa. Formaatti on rento, avoin keskustelu, jossa pohditaan isoja ja välillä vaikeitakin kysymyksiä. Tavoite on kok...
www.futucast.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:38 AM
Mielenkiintoista keskustelua Isak Raution kanssa Futucastissa.
www.futucast.com/jaksot
www.futucast.com/jaksot
Amazon, Walmart, and Uber collectively employ almost four million workers (if you count freelance drivers).
theallinpod.substack.com/p/the-terror...
theallinpod.substack.com/p/the-terror...
November 10, 2025 at 3:31 AM
Amazon, Walmart, and Uber collectively employ almost four million workers (if you count freelance drivers).
theallinpod.substack.com/p/the-terror...
theallinpod.substack.com/p/the-terror...
What is it like to work at one of the hottest AI startups in San Francisco?
joincolossus.com/article/insi...
joincolossus.com/article/insi...
Inside Cursor
Sixty days with the AI coding decacorn
joincolossus.com
November 9, 2025 at 5:48 PM
What is it like to work at one of the hottest AI startups in San Francisco?
joincolossus.com/article/insi...
joincolossus.com/article/insi...
Everything in America is bigger because things grow faster.
November 8, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Everything in America is bigger because things grow faster.