Kadri has been a great addition to the LIFT community for the past four years. She is the kind of person who is always busy to the maximum but will find the time in her day to pop into conversations or read an intriguing article. Impressive.
TO START THIS OFF, SAY A FEW WORDS ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND.
I have a background in marketing and communications, that's what I did before doing what I do today. I have a degree in cultural management, which means you are essentially a manager but you don't expect to earn much. Now I’m in a business where it would be nice to earn something as well. I also have a Bachelor’s degree in East-Asian studies, I mastered Chinese language and culture and shortly lived in Beijing as part of it. However, that was many decades ago.
AND WHAT ARE YOU UP TO NOW?
Currently, I am managing operations in Vok Bikes, we produce electric cargo bikes, renting them to business customers and directly to delivery couriers working for companies like Wolt, Bolt Food and others.
We’re currently active in Tallinn, Vilnius and just launched in London as well. I've been with Vok Bikes for a year and we do have an office in Mustamäe, but since I live in the Old Town I'm usually going only once or twice a week. I'm not a big fan of transporting myself to places.
Author: Martin Kosseson
In addition to Vok Bikes, I’m a co-founder in a medtech startup Beamed where we’re developing a new method for early- stage breast cancer detection. The company is still in its early days. Although the project has been ongoing for a number of years we’re only now running pivotal stage medical trials and thus it is a bit early to comment on it too much.
The company we operate under is Interspectrum but we are actually called Beamed. The tech is based on taking a sample of human hair, the place where hair grows in skin is connected to the bloodstream, where all the hormones that affect hair are, in addition to hormones, numerous different growth factors are also present. They get to the derma papilla area inside your skin and affect a ratio of different molecules inside hair. It characterizes hair and makes hair the way it is. We cut a few hair strands and bring them under a spectrometer, which is widely used in many industries so this technology is not new or innovative, however only very few companies have evaluated hair. In addition, we also have a predictive model that can tell you, based on the structures in your hair, whether you have breast cancer present in your body or not. I joined this startup, because it seemed like an interesting new challenge.
“MedTech is definitely very tricky. However the complexity of it is intriguing.”
WHAT KIND OF A PERSON ARE YOU? WHAT DRIVES YOU?
I can’t put a finger on what drives me the most. it's some sort of a weird itch. I’ve never thought about what I want to do with my life, I've only ever done what makes sense in the moment but I usually have some sort of a vague idea of me in 5 years.
Opening of Latitude59, 2018. Author: Annika Haas
I take great pleasure in working, I’m not exactly a workaholic but I do enjoy being in the flow. Fortunately I'm a good place right now, both Vok Bikes and Beamed are challenging but at the same time the more effort you put in, the more possible gratification you’ll get. I'd say I'm somewhat of a risk-taker in chaotic and uncertain environments and that kind of situations definitely get me going.
HOW ABOUT YOUR SPARE TIME, HOW DO YOU SPEND IT?
Aside from having two jobs and three kids I enjoy old school individual sports like running, swimming and cross-country skiing. I also started sailing this year. My friends bought a yacht and put together a team for competing. Taking part in the Muhu Regatta was definitely one of the highlights of last summer. Recently, I have attended Drink&Draw events with my husband. He went to an art school, but I kind of suck at it. So if you ask me when did I last do something I’m really terrible at, then that would be Wednesday evening.
I also read a lot, both fiction and non-fiction. I have so many book recommendations I wouldn't even know where to start. It’s my favorite topic. For example, if a friend asks me for a book recommendation, I go down a spiral of sending a list of books with elaborate suggestions, even if it is a super busy Monday morning. If you like fiction, then my absolute favorite from the past year has been Lily King’s “Euphoria”.
If you want to see my friendly side, just ask me about books and I will get all excited.
Kadri and Jim sailing.
BEING A CO-FOUNDER AND A GENERALLY BUSY BEE, WHAT IS A GOOD WAY TO OVERCOME CHALLENGES, IN YOUR OPINION?
Depending on the challenge. And in all honesty, there are challenges not worth taking on. I’m a big fan of asking for advice. But at the same time you have to be sure you know the topic well enough to be able to either take the advice or leave it at that. When you're a founder, everyone around you has ideas on how you should build your business. It’s worth remembering that they only have their own experience to build on and if you’ve done your homework you should be way better informed than random advisers who jump in after 20-minutes of discussions with bold suggestions.
“Know when to take advice and when to turn it down.”
LASTLY, YOU HAVE BEEN A MEMBER of LIFT99 FOR A WHILE NOW, HOW HAS THAT BEEN FOR YOU?
I have been at LIFT99 for four years now and my favorite part is the location, but I appreciate the people, space itself and the concept of sharing office space with people who are not your immediate colleagues.
Working at LIFT was probably more useful for all of us, when there were more visitors and investors lurking around. I feel it is a bit quieter these days. It’s not as relevant for me, given that I have been a part of the startup community for some time now. But I imagine it’s a bit more challenging to people new in the scene. In the beginning being a part of a community like this can prove to be quite useful, especially if you’re a freelancer in the beginning of your career or a new founder. LIFT gives you an opportunity to meet potential clients, investors or get feedback on your product. Compared to other workspaces, I don't think they have that.