Veera Virintie – Vainu

This edition of Pro Interviews features Veera Virintie. Veera is a marketing manager at Vainu and a master of languages.

Pagezii – Veera, please tell us a bit about yourself.

Veera – I’m a Master of Arts from the University of Helsinki who ended up working for a tech startup a year ago. Now I’m running marketing at the two-year-old Vainu, which is one of Europe’s fastest growing startups.

Before joining Vainu, I briefly worked as a university language teacher. After that, I dove into the world of inbound marketing at a real estate company. I also run a network with other core team members called Aalto Women in Business, consisting of over 2,000 women starting their careers. We’ve arranged a lot of different events with inspirational leaders, researchers, politicians and other influencers – the first female President of Finland is on our list for the coming spring.

I’m also very passionate about the health business. This passion has grown into company called Nutly, founded by me and a few others, aiming to make the world a better place one nut at a time.

Pagezii – What interested you in the field of marketing?

Veera – I’ve always loved reading and writing since I was a little girl, whether it was poems, anecdotes or self-made school books for my siblings. Throughout my education, I’ve spent my time learning new languages and cultures and have always been interested in communications and psychology.

Marketing was a natural path for me – a way to be able to be an influencer and use the power of language, both online and offline. I’m also genuinely curious about people, the reasons behind their actions and what motivates them. And as an added advantage for my job and hobbies, I rarely get tired of networking and getting to know new faces.

Pagezii – Can you tell us a bit about the tech startup you’re working with?

Veera – Vainu is a sales software that finds company insights and leads and helps you target your sales efforts accordingly. In other words, Vainu eats big data and spills out pearls and diamonds.

The logo of the company is actually a dog’s nose. In Finnish “Vainu” means sniff or hunch – saying that we really have a nose for business. Characteristic to the logo, Vainu is truly the sales person’s best friend – something you can’t live without once you’ve had it.

Pagezii – And what is marketing like at Vainu?

Veera – If there’s one word that describes Vainu best, it’s smartbound. We combine outbound sales and inbound marketing to maximize our growth and performance.

At Vainu, every sales person does marketing and every marketer participates in sales. Inbound plus outbound equals smartbound – a way of doing sales and marketing in a more effective way. Like my colleagues in sales, I’m constantly looking for sales opportunities and using our own software to target my efforts.

Pagezii – What are the most important KPIs to track?

Veera – Marketing in a startup is very goal-oriented. Our KPIs are related to our monthly inbound marketing goals.

We focus on contact details, demo requests, referrals as well as the number of job applicants reaching out to us. When I joined Vainu last fall, I was the employee number 20. Now we are 65 in three countries and growing.

Pagezii – And finally, I see you’re a master of languages – how has your knowledge helped you in business?

Veera – My intercultural communications background has helped me as a marketer. Being an excellent communicator can be a major resource for companies both externally and internally. Simplicity, consistency and understanding the pain points of your different audiences are key to getting your message through.

Pagezii – Thank you Veera. Your experience offers valuable insight to marketers working in a fast-paced startup.