Just Thoughts #34: The first Guest Pen by Teemu Lemetti & Untuvia
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Headlines this week:
Guest Pen: Teemu Lemetti & Untuvia
Intro by Nicolas
Reflections on Building: One Year of Commitment and Growth
The First Steps: From Uncertainty to Purpose
The Grant and a Turning Point
Early Days of Untuvia: Building a Foundation
The First Three Months: Building Untuvia
After Investment: The Challenges of Alignment
Moving Forward: Partnerships and Milestones
Looking Ahead
Reflections and Summary of Just Content since #33
Realizing that old content was still behind a paywall, the first 27 Just Thoughts posts are now available for all audiences. Check the “Top” reads in the archives to find more unique Thoughts.
Guest Pen:
Intro by Nicolas
Like me, Teemu has grown professionally in the local startup scene, creating student-led initiatives that can all roughly be traced back to Aaltoes. We networked later through the ChairBearers (everyone has carried chairs during their operative tenure), the unofficial alumni collective of actives from this scene, including founders of companies such as Wolt, Linear, Swarmia, Smartly.io, MeruHealth, Huuva, Singa, Veri, Realm, Peabbl, and Carbo Culture, to name a few, with VC’s at Maki.VC, Icebreaker, and PlayVentures are represented. Additionally, among the members, you’ll find many early employees, Angel investors, CEOs, operatives, incubators, hub managers, entrepreneurs, and experts across startup land. Most notably, the collective set up an investment fund called TKVentures that has been fully deployed.
Teemu helped me envision RadicL Media, especially working on its financial modeling and feasibility (I’m not good with numbers). The work gave the premise to “Just Thoughts” described in Just Thoughts #1: Rebranding to Just Thoughts, as well as the fact that he decided to join the Antler program. This decision led to him Co-Founding Untuvia, and without further introductions, here’s his story.
Reflections on Building: One Year of Commitment and Growth
By Teemu Lemetti, Untuvia
A year ago, I leaped into full-time entrepreneurship. I didn’t think of it in such clear terms back then—it felt more like a series of cautious steps. But in hindsight, it’s clear that this journey has been one of profound personal growth. Although I’ve often measured my progress in numbers and outcomes, there’s been a more profound realization: the importance of courage in committing wholeheartedly—ideally—to something that matters and that you believe in.
The First Steps: From Uncertainty to Purpose
In the months leading up to this journey, life was turbulent. I was recovering from knee surgery and winding down a previous venture, Matchmade. I turned to consulting to stabilize, yet the work felt empty, and I grew frustrated. Something essential was missing.
During this period, a friend approached me about collaborating on a project with a unique angle on how future startup ecosystems might work. It gave me a taste of purpose, and while contributing to this venture (which later became the “Just Thoughts” Substack) was a valuable experience, I realized I wasn’t fully aligned with the direction. The decision to move on from that project was challenging but necessary.
My next step was to join Antler’s Founder in Residence program. The program’s three-month structure allowed me to test my resolve and see if the path aligned with my goals without feeling indefinitely committed. This framework helped me find clarity, and soon, I was ready to consider the future with renewed focus.
The Grant and a Turning Point
About seven months ago, while in the Founder in Residence program, I applied for a personal grant from Startup Foundation, the ownership body to student-lead initiatives such as Slush, Junction, and Dash and to initiatives with great importance to the Helsinki startup scene such as Maria01 and The Shortcut. The grant is meant to help first-time founders take the leap of faith. The application structure helped me specify the goals I wanted to achieve: I aimed to build a team, design and validate a potentially VC-worthy idea, and secure initial funding. My early brainstorming revolved around community-building, urban mobility, and climate action, but no concept fully clicked.
Then, a conversation with Heikki, who would become my co-founder, provided a shift in momentum. We discussed his experiences recycling a jacket, which he had burned a hole in while on a cold winter ski tour around Kevo Canyon in Finnish Lapland. Recycling something with a down feather fill was only possible if the product was by a brand with a take-back program up and running. This struck to the back of our minds.
Over the following few conversations, we started thinking about approaches that could make sense for recycling down feathers and other natural materials. The concept instantly resonated with us. It wasn’t an instant epiphany but rather a moment of intrigue that warranted further exploration.
I took a week to weigh it against other possibilities, knowing that the decision wasn’t about finding “the perfect idea” but finding the courage to commit. With a third team member, Amanda, we decided to commit for a couple of weeks, laying the groundwork for what would become Untuvia.
Early Days of Untuvia: Building a Foundation
With Untuvia taking shape, we dove into research. We connected with everyone we could—experts across the textile recycling value chain, from sourcing to processing and distribution. We aimed to understand current challenges and anticipate future roadblocks. Over many conversations, we revealed potential solutions, leading us to divide the business into three core areas: sourcing, processing, and distribution. This framework has shaped our internal operations and made communicating with partners and stakeholders easier.
The Antler program emphasized regular pitching, encouraging us to refine our narrative, communicate our progress, and align our vision with market needs. While it occasionally felt performative, it reminded us to share our mission and direction regularly, which is vital when seen from an outside perspective. Having a clear goal on investment day streamlined our decision-making, and we could prioritize effectively against that goal.
The First Three Months: Building Untuvia
The initial three months were intense. I was achieving the goals I’d outlined for myself: building a solid team, validating the core idea, and securing investment from Antler. This phase taught us a lot about the balance between validating the team and the idea itself—momentum around the concept was crucial, but so was ensuring alignment on our culture and vision.
Creating a shared vision requires regular alignment, and in those early days, that vision shifted frequently. Reflecting, I see how important it is to make space for these adjustments. Team alignment is critical; while respectful disagreements are essential to growth, the team must ultimately converge on a shared goal. By the end of three months, we had secured investment from Antler, incorporated Untuvia, and rushed to catch the momentum we’d created.
After Investment: The Challenges of Alignment
Once we secured funding, we focused on building momentum, but looking back, I realize we could have spent more time on mutual alignment. The pressures of moving forward were significant, and over the summer, our visions began to diverge slightly, leading to mounting stress. Our drive to maintain momentum caused us to gloss over some essential discussions about priorities and strategic focus. The demands of a high-stress environment began to impact our team dynamics, with disagreements arising over-allocating time and resources.
Despite these challenges, we made notable progress, particularly in sourcing materials for our recycling process. Yet, eventually, the cumulative pressures took a toll. Our co-founder Amanda ultimately decided to step away from the venture—a difficult moment but one that underscored the importance of alignment and shared commitment.
Moving Forward: Partnerships and Milestones
In the months since, we’ve completed lab-scale piloting, validated our technology, and successfully sourced end-of-life down products from multiple suppliers. One of our most exciting milestones has been collaborating with Joutsen (a leading Finnish manufacturer of down-filled bedding and garments) to create pillows made from 100% recycled down, a project made possible by our partners' commitment and trust. Special thanks go to Joutsen and others who have believed in us and provided essential support that’s propelled Untuvia forward.
Today, Untuvia is poised for its next investment round, ready to scale up and move into commercial pilots. I’m immensely grateful for the support from my family, especially my partner, for her patience and understanding during this journey. Lastly, thanks to my co-founder, Heikki, for his dedication—we’re building something meaningful together.
Looking Ahead
Reflecting on this year, I see how entrepreneurship has shifted from a daunting unknown to an exciting path forward. Committing fully, navigating challenges, and finding alignment have shaped Untuvia and transformed me personally. It’s been a year of growth, clarity, and, most of all, purpose.
With Untuvia’s progress and the road ahead, I feel a deep sense of commitment and optimism. We have something precious in our hands, and I’m eager to see where the following stages of this journey will take us.
Please contact me (LinkedIn / email; t.lemetti@gmail.com) at a low threshold if you see potential in contributing to Untuvia’s journey. There are many potential avenues, so I’ll list a few examples.
You believe your skills and persona to be a good fit for an early team member.
You represent a brand that would love to demo recycled down
You know, a hotel changing their bedding
You are an investor interested to hear more
—Teemu
Reflections and Summary of Just Thoughts content since #33 (by Nicolas)
We decided to add a section for notes, as there may be thoughts we’d hope to share in Just Thoughts by-weekly newsletter, but we don’t want to dilute the message from our guest writers. Hence, we’ll drop notes sporadically and feature them in the summary section.
Notes since #33’d edition
A Note on War - a couple of articles and news that sparked some thoughts about the nature of war and the differences between war strategy & business strategy. The first one will also outline the perfect movie about the war itself. Coming together on the battlefield, two storylines show what the war looks like from either side.
Just Thoughts Podcast
Just Thoughts Podcast #5 - Giving back but receiving more in return and discussing with long-time friend, serial entrepreneur, CEO, & Co-founder of Remode, Pierre Jallow, who lived on four continents, about entrepreneurship, well-being, and the African Markets.
Just Poems
Just Poems #11: Vacker som vårens blommor <3 - Using Chat G PoeT to translate poems to English and using Google Photos, over iPhone gallery, for a better search function when looking for a suitable picture.
Just Culture
Just Culture #9: The Bear in Review - Consolidating old reviews of the different seasons into one post and being reminded of what AI will have a tough time coping with.
Just Culture #10: The most rewarding and humbling goalkeeping job: The Handball Goalie—I'm Discussing the game of handball and its uniqueness; as the manager of my son's handball team, I’ve spent some time getting acquainted with the sport.
Just Culture #11: The best Finnish Athlete ever - It’s the basketball superstar Lauri Markkanen, and he’s already achieved this status. Finns don’t understand how hard that is and what it takes to get there. As someone who’s been a part of the “system,” I add statistics and arguments to prove that notion.
Just Products
There were no product ideas or reviews this past week, but we will focus on them in the coming weeks. With everything that has been tried and ideated so far, we have quite a lot of ground to cover!
Until next time! On Friday, we’re releasing an interview with Ashish Mohite, the CTO and co-founder of Hyperion Robotics!
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