Before and after defending my doctoral thesis in marketing in 2004 I focused in investigating entrepreneurship at the individual, firm, and societal levels. Already during that very period of time I worked as a researcher/senior researcher at the Entrepreneurship Unit, School of Economics at the University of Turku. In 2007-2009 I worked as a visiting research scholar at the George Mason University (VA, USA), and between 2018-2019 I worked as an Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship at the Pori Unit at the University of Turku.

I work as a Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship. In my current research endeavors I focus on entrepreneurial, decision making, behavior, and nascent venturing. I was involved in our DISCE-project (funded by EU H2020) which focused among other things on earning logics and entrepreneurial behavior in creative and cultural sectors and professionals. Currently, I'm involved in ECOCRIN-projected (funded by Business Finland), in which we investigate how public policies could support ‘unleashing’ the potential of creative sectors for innovation, growth and internationalisation. In addition, I have joined BIODIFUL-project (funded by Strategic Research Council) which addresses biodiversity respectful leadership through multi-disciplinary lenses.

Well, it varies, but currently I have opportunities to investigate among others entrepreneurial behavior in creative economy, entrepreneurial cognition, and instutional contexts. For instance, I work to understand the relationships between varying entrepreneurial motivations of creative entrepreneurs, how successful entrepreneurs contribute their succes to luck, agency and emotions in entrepreneurship education, to name a few. In a way, my research sheds light on the complex relationships between emotions, identity, context, and cognition when entrepreneurs manage uncertainty and create value in diverse settings.

I "teach" entrepreneurship at University of Turku, School of Economics. I really do not teach, as teaching is more about co-creating a learning enviroment that supports curiosity through which students use their "entrepreneurial me".  

Most rewarding teaching endeavour was our star, Startup! course, during which students from the University of Turku, University of Applied Sciences, University of Human Applied Sciences and Åbo Akademi, were exposed to entrepreneurial behavior, idea validation and similar magic. It was awared as the most entrepreneurial act at the University of Turku in 2016. In this course, I mentored over hundred student-based startup teams in their early stages. Nice.

I have also had a privilege to participate in planning and conducting the innovation process for the Business Innovation Camps organized by Turku School of Economics' CCR, and in teaching University of Turku's Graduage School's courses and TSE exe's MBA-education. Eat failure for breakfast!