Landing A Jumbo Jet In A Hurricane

 An aviation metaphor is particularly apt for the high-growth enterprise EDZCOM that Mikko Uusitalo, SF ’08, founded in 2014. The company—which operates the fastest high-performance private network systems in Finland for demanding environments such as energy plants, mining operations, and transportation hubs— counts Helsinki-Vantaa International Airport among its high-profile clients.Uusitalo and his team labored for six years to bring their venture to a cruising altitude that would attract a buyer in the global telecommunications sector. EDZCOM was on a glide path to a successful exit in early 2020, just when the dark clouds and choppy air of the global pandemic appeared on the horizon.

Uusitalo admits that he found the moment when he had to send people home a bit terrifying. “I was very worried about losing visibility and control over the direction of our business at a crucial time in its development. Plus, we took a significant hit in revenue. The fact that the hit turned out to be temporary didn’t make it any less scary. We just didn’t know where things might be headed.” As a small, high-growth company, however, EDZCOM was fortunate to have the agility to protect its most important asset—people.

Drawing on a reservoir of trust
When Uusitalo caught his breath, he recognized that trust would be key to moving forward. “The prior six years had been all about choosing the right people and building the right teams,” he says. “Trusting them was much more than just a business necessity. It was an affirmation of what we’d all been working to build together since 2014. We embraced the risk and kept everyone working.”

Uusitalo’s trust was well placed. After an initial slowdown, EDZCOM was back to growing its customer base. That can-do spirit also attracted a buyer—an established company with deep pockets and big expansion plans, the perfect match for EDZCOM’s growth posture. “It turned out to be one of the best springs we’ve ever had, and the due diligence process went very well,” he says. “I never would have imagined we could exit so smoothly in the midst of all this turmoil.”

Lessons for the next phase of growth
One of the most important lessons Uusitalo plans to carry forward from the pandemic is the need for a more sophisticated business intelligence system. “We were lucky that the size and commitment of our workforce enabled us to stay on task in the midst of so much uncertainty,” he says. “But we have big plans to scale up in the next phase of EDZCOM’s existence, and we must be prepared to support our people in achieving their objectives in a more robust and sustainable fashion.”

Uusitalo and most of his team are happily back in the office now, a development he credits to quick and decisive action by Finnish leaders early in the COVID-19 outbreak. Under such extreme circumstances, he says, you hope that you will have the insight to make the right calls at the right times. That’s why he is dedicating time now to scenario planning for the next 24 to 36 months in Europe. “I have no crystal ball, but I do have an incredible global network thanks to MIT. Tapping into that is the best way I know of building a vision of what the future may be.”