S1E7 Startup life is like race driving. Race Driver Matt Cowley as guest.

04/02/21 • 17 min

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Host Mika Tienhaara. Guest Matt Cowley, professional race driver.

Finland has a long history of successful race drivers. We go with pace, also in the world of business, creating successful startups. In this episode we explore the world of race driving. UK has a fantastic infrastructure and eco system for breeding talent in motor sports - a young UK talent with a fantastic merit list is Matt Cowley. He has been racing since he was 16 years young, he has won championships in UK and the Americas. Race drivers have many similarities to entrepreneurs and we explore a few of those sides in this episode.

You have to be mentally top, Matt spent time alone in the US and becoming a champion. Meditation is a key element, according to Matt. Stress is around you constantly (just like in a startup) so staying mentally fit is very important.

Being active and spending time outdoor helps, says Matt.

What about the team? It is hugely important, without the team support from day-to-day the driver cannot make it. This sounds similar to being the CEO for a startup that has to build a motivated and competent team to be able to achieve the goals and being able to execute.

With your natural gifts you can only get so far. You have to have determination, set higher goals and put in the efforts of training. For instance, in racing the reaction time can be a deciding factor on the starting grid. For entrepreneurs - have a strong hands-on mindset, don’t let things slip!

Matt has shown grit, persistence and determination, for instance starting from the back of the pack and overtaking 150 cars to get on the podium! A startup is an underdog, but with speed-to-market and good traction you can overtake the old dogs!

We see change in racing also, for instance we now have Formula-E with electrical racers. A lot of innovation happens in racing, the technology and knowledge transfer into consumer products (CARS) is of huge importance.

Matt has set his target on LE MANS 2023, the biggest GT race in the world. He is determined not only getting there, his ambition is to WIN.

This is of course requiring fund raising, Matt is looking for sponsors and investors to support him to reach his goals. He has proven to be a winner, he has the determination and the talent to make this his next successful milestone. Matt and his team are looking at raising 2 million GBP, reach out to him to get onboard!

Check out his driving and pit talks on his YouTube channel.

Concluding this episode I learnt how many similarities there are between race drivers and entrepreneurs, we just compete in different fields building our dreams.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mikatienhaara.substack.com

Host Mika Tienhaara. Guest Matt Cowley, professional race driver.

Being active and spending time outdoor helps, says Matt.

Matt has set his target on LE MANS 2023, the biggest GT race in the world. He is determined not only getting there, his ambition is to WIN.

Check out his driving and pit talks on his YouTube channel.

Concluding this episode I learnt how many similarities there are between race drivers and entrepreneurs, we just compete in different fields building our dreams.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mikatienhaara.substack.com

Previous Episode

S1E6 "Together Everyone Achieves More". The future is electric and we need a bit of madness. EVangelist Roger Atkins as guest.

Had a fun and inspiring talk with Roger Atkins of Electric Vehicles Outlook.

Is the future electric? Where will that put our 1 billion vehicles with internal combustion engines?

We need to see beyond to move away fossil fuels. For many the pinnacle of innovation in the automotive sector happens in Formula One. Embrace the extraordinary capabilities in Formula One to helps us in electrical vehicle journey as well as non-combustion engine propulsion systems. And by the way, how addictive the Netflix “Survive to Drive” series is - we both binged-watched the third season...

Batteries are happening: Volkswagens Power Day - 6 giga-factories announced. There is a need for even more. The drive to battery electric vehicles and need for battery storage is changing our society. The abundance to energy for production and for any of our activities is crucial.

We need a bit of madness to make disruptive innovation. As an example how rockets are brought back to the surface of the planet without crashing, this was probably not recognized a few years back being achievable.

There is so much going on, innovation, connectivity and the possibilities to work and engage. This can be intense, but also be energizing.

Roger’s comment that “SAAB was a fabulous company” I appreciate much, at least I am not alone thinking that.

We started to talk about the fascinating Nordic region; Norway as the EV kingdom, Sweden well-known for a lot of things - but what about Finland? Finland has more islands than Greece, happiest nation on the planet. World-leading sustainable corporates. Finns are rooted to nature and seeking practical solutions. The growth of Nokia gave also the spin-off effect and creation of a myriad of tech companies. The whole soul of Finland is carrying an innovative mind - you can now also become a Finn for 90 days - bring your family and get your startup company going. I convinced Roger - if the Finnish Tourist Board is looking for an ambassador we have one strong candidate!

A lot happening in the Nordics - don’t forget the June 2022 EVS35 gathering in OSLO.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mikatienhaara.substack.com

Next Episode

S1E8. The future is now, but be careful how you apply technology. Guest Vivek Wadhwa.

I met Vivek several years ago in Houston, TX and have been in contact every now and then. With his knowledge and expertise in technology shaping the future and his engagements with Harvard, Stanford, Carnegie-Mellon, Duke, I thought it was great to hear Vivek’s opinions on where we are heading.

Here we are, still enduring the pandemic; we are able to create new deadly viruses and look at how quickly we, humanity, have been able to develop solution. This shows on how quick technology development is taking place. For just a few years ago this would not have been possible.

The next 8-9 years will be more amazing than the previous 80-90 years. This decade will bring more progress than the last 100 years.

What we see happening now is our adaption of technology with electric vehicles, autonomous drive, clean energy and cleaning up our planet. We will see more drone technology and 3D printed housing and food. Living will get cheaper. This transition will create a big mass of new jobs, however the automation and robots will then take over the jobs. Some of Wadhwa’s views on technology you can read about in his book “the Driver in the Driverless Car”

Technology adoption is key, find ways to embrace the new and share the knowledge. We need to work jointly for the benefit of humanity. Sharing equally is key.

(NOTE: listen to the episode with Ernesto Sirolli, he has the same message).

The future needs to give us freedom of choice, not just rigid control.

AI, what is it? Are we overhyping it or are we able to utilize it properly? The bias in pattern recognition is happening many places, which can be scary and dangerous, so we need to be very careful in how it is put in use.

And is the innovation and venture capital going to stay/grow in Silicon Valley, is the magic still around? We ended up discussing the quality of life in the Silicon Valley vs. other regions.

As a matter of fact this is the cliffhanger - as a follow-up we are going to have a second round of discussion in a couple of months on how innovative and good life is in Silicon Valley but also the Nordic region. And we need to discuss his most recent book also - “From Incremental to Exponential”. Until then, I hope you enjoy this episode!

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mikatienhaara.substack.com