Indrek Kelder

The Development Fund recently made its first investment and the media - disappointed by the unfulfilment of its own overheated expectations - recognised that it was not the 'Estonian Nokia'. This inspired me to ask: Even though many of us love to talk about the 'Estonian Nokia', what do we actually mean by that? Are our expectations realistic? Whilst 'looking under a cabbage leaf searching for the Estonian Nokia' we might cast a glance at the original company and ask ourselves how history unravelled for Nokia.

Nokia today is the world's leading mobile phone manufacturer. AT&T was deliberating a communication solution similar to a mobile phone as early as in 1915. The same year Nokia was already celebrating its 50th anniversary. The company that began its life in 1865 (thus it is comparable in age to our Kreenholm Manufacture that was established in 1857) making raw materials for paper manufacturing had by that time evolved into a significant rubber goods producer. However, there were no known plans to enter the telecommunications sector.

The first mobile communication network was launched in 1978 in Japan by NTT. By that time Nokia had already experimented with radio communication. It was only six years later in 1984 that the telephone maker Mobira was conclusively incorporated into the Nokia Group and Nokia's mobile telephone business was thereby in full swing under the name Nokia-Mobira OY (and until 1991 still under the brand name Mobira). For over a hundred years Nokia had been operating in different areas, it had grown into Finland's biggest company while manufacturing also computers and home electronics. It was not until the extraordinary mobile communication boom that elevated Nokia into a genuine global company.

Nevertheless, during the boom there were several companies that found themselves at an equally favourable starting position, but did not pick the winning ticket.

Nokia grew truly big partly on account of luck as it was the best at making use of the possibility that had materialised in the surging mobile phone market. Such opportunities do not often emerge and millions are looking for them. Should we be disappointed that so far such an opportunity has not been discovered in Estonia?

In Nokia's case the real key to success is not just an ingenious idea, but hard work throughout many years and not just within the Nokia Group, but nationally - by developing the education system, building a support structure for entrepreneurship, etc.

Therefore a more relevant question is: What are we doing in order to be prepared, should an opportunity present itself? The answer is actually simple - our main focus should be on systematic and purposeful development of the Estonian economy at large by creating fruitful conditions, sowing many tiny seeds and propping up stronger sprouts. The more progressively-minded entrepreneurs we have and the stronger our companies are, the bigger the likelihood is that, if an opportunity appears someday, we will be capable of utilising it and the next Nokia will, indeed, shoot up from Estonia. And even if it does not, nothing is wrong - a strong, broad-based economy is probably preferable to reliance on just one shiny flagship.

All businessmen with good ideas regarding expansion of their business are welcome at the Development Fund, even if it is unlikely that such growth would match that of Nokia in the near future.