From a philosophy lecture to a top-tier developer
In 2011, friends Topi Jokinen, Heikki Jussila, and Miska Jylhä were ordinary second-year students at Aalto University. At that point, none of them had any particular plans to become entrepreneurs, at least not in the construction industry.
That spring, they attended a lecture series titled “Philosophy and Systems Thinking,” led by philosopher Esa Saarinen. In his lectures, Esa created an intense and inspiring environment where their thoughts could run free. Inspired by the lectures, the boys continued their discussions at Miska’s apartment, often late into the night.
One evening, someone floated the idea of starting a company together. The idea wasn’t quite ready yet, but it stayed in the back of our minds. Spring went on until the end of March, when Esa gave his final lecture on dreams. After the lecture, we decided to make the dream a reality and start a company. At that point, we had no idea what we would actually do, but we still decided to hold our first full workday on Saturday, April 1.
The first business ideas focused on employee motivation. From there, we quickly moved on to conducting “Tekniikan maailma”-style product tests. These ended up in several magazines, such as Omakotisanomat, Kodinrakentaja, Rakennuslehti, Talo & Koti, Suomela, Meidän Talo, and Meidän Mökki. They were also widely read and well-liked, but production was eventually discontinued because the focus shifted to improving the quality of construction in Finland.
Today, Vertia has grown into a pioneer in improving the quality of construction in Finland. Our goal is for everyone in Finland to live in a healthy, energy-efficient, and comfortable home. Our vision is that in the coming years, construction quality in Finland will improve significantly, and people in other sectors will look to the construction industry as a model for how things are done. We work toward this every day.
Vertia staff and partners receive training from Esa Saarinen on May 5, 2015