Jaak is a vibrant addition to our community. He is very passionate about the things he does, and will gladly discuss anything with you. Above all that he is a father and a innovative business man.
HEY JAAK, TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND!
I was born and raised in Tallinn, but later moved to Tartu for my university studies. I initially studied Physics, but soon realised the future was in IT and changed my major to Informatics.
I started working in Microlink Systems as a developer during my university studies and created the first version of Estonian e-Government. I still remember the huge piles of papers on the table of each government minister before we introduced our solution. After that I built multiple national geoinformation registries in Regio. I was chief software architect in Playtech, worked in STACC as a data scientist doing research for Skype and founded a fully regulated fintech company TransferFast. This has given me a broad spectrum of knowledge in many different domains and in many companies with different development phases and organizational cultures.
WHAT ABOUT YOUR CURRENT COMPANY, WHAT IS YOUR MISSION NOW?
I am a co-founder of Geneto. The aim of this company is to help people live longer and happier lives. We combine genetic testing with a diet and fitness app. The genetic testing helps people understand how their body works and find out their risk factors for lifestyle diseases giving them motivation and knowledge.
The app works as a tool to make this advice practically usable in everyday life and to carry out the behavioral lifestyle change. We create a highly personalized food plan for each of our customers based on their genetic profile.
My personal motivation is rooted in the fact that a few years ago I weighed 20kg more and this made me unhappy with my life. I started using the products of our competitors. There were things that I felt could be improved a lot, so I started with my own product.
I see that obesity is a large issue in the world, even in Estonia, where nearly 60% of adults are overweight. This causes a number of lifestyle diseases like Type 2 diabetes, creating a huge burden on the medicine system and society as a whole. 14% of premature deaths in the world are caused by obesity related diseases and could be easily prevented outside the medicine system. Therefore my mission is to help people get assistance with the things I myself have personally struggled with.
We also want to bring science closer to people. When you see the real numbers and risk factors it is more motivating to make lifestyle changes and this is what we want to encourage people with. Our team is very diverse, covering many domains - we have genetic scientists, developers, bioinformaticians, nutritionists and even Jaak Mae, an Olympic medalist on our team.
HOW IS THE PRODUCT CURRENTLY DOING? WHAT ARE THE FUTURE PLANS?
The feedback on the product has been very encouraging, and when people say that our product has changed their lifestyle for the better, we know we are on the right track. Around one third of our customers come from the personal recommendations from previous users.
Currently we are operating in Estonia together with Elisa. We have about 1800 paying customers and our co-branded product name is Elustiil (Lifestyle).
Our performance numbers show that we have a good product-market-fit in Estonia and therefore are planning to expand to next markets including the UK, Finland and Poland. We are also working to improve our product and science. We are currently building polygenic risk scores using data from UK Biobank and Estonian Genome Center. We are also working on life expectancy calculations so we could say to each person how their current behavior is affecting their lifespan. We are currently fundraising on the Funderbeam platform to execute our vision and make the World a better and happier place. If you feel that this cause is important to you as well, then you are more than welcome to invest in our company on the Funderbeam platform.
IF YOU WERE TO GIVE ADVICE TO FRESH START-UP FOUNDER, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
The best way to build a great product is to use it yourself, that way you can understand all the aspects that could be changed for the better. Having co-founded different companies and also participated in many teams, I can say with certainty that the most important thing when founding a new startup is building a good team. That is something that has been of key importance to me. Always either join or build an energetic, motivated team of like-minded people and you will instantly be on the path of success.
Another thing is that you must really believe in your product and feel that you can change the world with it. Not everything can or will change the world but the mindset is what really matters in the end.
WHAT KIND OF A PERSON ARE YOU? IS THERE ANYTHING YOU’RE VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT?
I’m a passionate nature photographer, largely due to the reasons mentioned above. I like to take photos of landscapes and birds. I have participated in many national and international photo competitions where I have got some smaller and bigger awards. Taking those photos involves long trips and hikes. It is normal for me to hike on foot for a week with a 30kg backpack or go skiing in the snowy Scandinavian mountains with -30C degrees. Feel free to check out my webpage to see my photos.
I was brought up with a high respect for nature. For that reason, I have connected my hobbies and interests with this as well. I am the co-founder of a non-governmental organisation Koosloodus. We collect donations to buy forest land and plant trees, to help increase biodiversity. We plant all kinds of broadleaf trees like oak, linden, maple, elm etc, since the forest industry takes down all trees, while planting only three species. Our NGO statute will not allow us to cut those forests down, keeping them intact for our grandchildren and all the species living in nature.
You can donate for Estonian nature and join our tree planting events on our webpage.
“Nature gives me a lot of energy, so this is my way of giving back.”
I also love to spend time with my family and friends, I have three awesome kids. I often visit the theatre, concerts, museums etc.
My latest favorites were Serafima and Bogdan, produced by the Tartu New Theatre, Lehman Brothers in Drama Theatre and ballet Anna Karenina in Estonian National Opera.
Music also plays an important role in my life. I listen to music a lot and may sometimes forget myself dancing in random places with my headphones on. I also sing in a men’s choir.
I try to find joy in small wins. I used to be unsatisfied with how my day had gone, as it seemed like I hadn't done anything significant.
Today, I have reached a point where I like to write down all my tasks of the day and tick them when I have completed them. That way, at the end of every day, I can see that I have accomplished a whole list of things, no matter how big or small.
AND FINALLY, HOW DID YOU FIND YOUR WAY TO LIFT?
When I lived in Tartu, I used to visit LIFT99 in Tallinn during some events. I always dreamed of working here, since it seemed like such a great environment. When I moved back to Tallinn I found an apartment nearby and joined the LIFT99 community. There is a very good vibe in the office, people from different companies and nationalities. I also really enjoy the events and am happy that these are still happening in the crazy COVID times.