Juho Lipsanen

Juho Petri Lipsanen (born 29 May 1961) is a veteran Finnish business executive turned board professional and investor. He holds an M.Sc. (Econ.), specializing in finance, from the Turku School of Economics (University of Turku). He began his career in 1988 at the industrial conglomerate ABB, where he spent roughly 14 years in a range of roles, including CFO of ABB Automation and CEO of ABB New Ventures.

From 2002 to 2005 he served as President & CEO of Alma Media Oyj, the Finnish media and digital-services group, moving there directly from ABB. He then led parts of TeliaSonera from 2005 to 2008 — first as CEO of TeliaSonera Finland, and from 2007 heading the Integrated Enterprise Services / Business Services division. His executive track is centered on turnarounds and internationalization; he co-authored the 2009 Finnish business book *Operaatio Täyskäännös: The Art of Turnaround* with Hannu Laakso.

After his operating career, Lipsanen founded LATO Leadership Automation Tools Oy (a strategy-execution software venture) and built an extensive portfolio of chairman, board, and advisory roles. He runs his own advisory vehicle, Juho Lipsanen Consulting Oy, and is an advisory board member of InCrest Oy (part of InHunt Group). He is today a Regional Partner at Alder — the Stockholm-based sustainable-technology growth investor (Alder AB) — where his role is oriented toward the firm's activity in the Finnish region.

His board and chairman roles have spanned a broad set of Finnish companies, currently including Pinja Group (board member since 1 June 2022), Aico Group Oy (chairman), and Isku Oy (chairman), plus past positions at SSH Communications Security Oyj, Neova/Vapo Oy, Lamor Group, Coronaria, Gasmet Technologies, Raskone, Innofactor HRM, Harvia (shareholders' nomination board), Onvest, Hollming and Ilmatar. He is a cousin of the Finnish musician Ilkka "Danny" Lipsanen.

• Backs and governs growth-stage Nordic companies, especially those pursuing internationalization and building a scalable global service business — the exact themes he cites when joining boards such as Pinja's.
• Through Alder, associated with sustainable / resource-efficient industrial technology: Alder acquires and grows established, profitable technology companies that "advance global climate and environmental goals."
• Strong personal focus areas (per his Kasvu Open expert profile): internationalization, sales & marketing, and finance / growth funding, across consulting, bioeconomy, energy, ICT and health/wellbeing sectors.
• Values operator credibility over passive capital. In his own words: *"The best advisor for a startup is a growth entrepreneur… when building a growth company into an organization, advice should be sought from business leaders — ask board members who have experience on the subject."*
• Leans toward companies where his turnaround and scale-up playbook (the core of his book and career) can be applied — undervalued or transition-stage businesses with room to professionalize.