Courage, smart risk-taking and a club

“It’s just a flesh wound,” tends Vesa Härkönen to say after a speedy tumble off his bike. He is the CEO and founder of a modern professional training agency called Splended. According to Vesa, his superpower is his fearless attitude and courage to try without being too afraid of failures. Of course, it is important to learn to take smart risks. He would not ride his bike without wearing a helmet either.

“When feeling insecure, you should always ask yourself what is the worst that can happen. And often it’s the ego that suffers the most. And that is like ‘so what’,” Vesa says.

The idea of entrepreneurship had been lurking in the back of Vesa’s mind for a long time. Until mid 2022, he had been working in various expert and leadership roles within the design and education industries. And while he had had an interesting career so far, the entrepreneurial freedom and an opportunity to boldly start building something completely new, spoke to Vesa. Then, his path crossed with Fusion Ecosystem and he grasped the opportunity to become a co-founder and CEO at Splended.

“I’m a builder, an experimenter. I have always admired entrepreneurs who dare to follow their own path. Now there was no need to think twice to follow mine,” Vesa exhilarates.

No biking without a helmet. Becoming an entrepreneur was a smart risk for Vesa. He felt the it was easy for him to get excited about the idea of the new pro-to-pro training agency. While the initial business idea had got its shape by Fusion, he felt he got the entrepreneurial freedom to use his competencies and detail the concept into what Splended now is.

“I feel Fusion gave me the final spark for jumping on the entrepreneurial path. I could see there is such strong expertise in Fusion companies. There is an unfair advantage over many other operators. The skills and prerequisites for the new different training business were real,” Vesa explains.

Splended turned into a company that helps its customers with digital transformations through professional trainings. Pro-to-pro concept means the trainers are professionals who do for work what they teach. Less theoretical knowledge and more practical skill-building. Most trainers come from other Fusion companies, which gets Vesa seemingly inspired.

Vesa finds similarities in his serious cycling hobby and driving Splended. An important part of Vesa’s cycling thrill is having great people with similar ambitions around. Belonging to a club makes the journey more fun and meaningful. In the Fusion community, Vesa feels he gets to walk the entrepreneurial path with incredibly talented people and rock-solid professionals. Building collaborative growth offers the same benefits in entrepreneurship as a cycling club for road racing.

“Splended is still in the beginning, but a lot has been accomplished in a short time. The designer in me helps me go forward iteratively. It’s interaction. It’s testing. And it’s learning.”

Explore the full series for more co-founder stories:

1. Finding meaningfulness in entrepreneurship – Jani Kallio
2. Curiosity leads an entrepreneurial path – Mikaela Nyman
3. Courage, smart risk-taking and a club – Vesa Härkönen
4. The story an entrepreneur would tell – Emma Grönlund
5. Building a company is a journey worth experiencing – Jaakko Karhumaa
6. If you can do it for someone else’s account, why not make it your own business – Ilkka-Cristian Niemi
7. On a mission to transform learning through a purpose-driven business – Marjut Sadeharju
8. From corporate world to GenAI pioneer – Daniel Arroyo
9. The converge of art, people and data – Kira Sjöberg