Former Nokia CEO: We knew we sucked at software back in 2000

Jorma Ollila (pictured above, orange tie) isn’t a name that’s familiar to most folks, but it should be. He was Nokia’s CEO between 1992 and 2006, otherwise known as the years when a small Finnish company known for making cables transformed itself into the world’s largest mobile phone maker. Over the weekend he gave an interview to YLE, Finland’s version of the BBC, and said this when asked about why the company is in the position they’re in today:

“It mostly began with the weakness of our software platform capabilities and the fact that it was not a European strength. We identified this ten years ago, towards the end of the 90s, at the beginning of 2000, that this should become Nokia’s strength, but we were not able to build it. Something that would have exploded the normal, safe way of thinking, a kind of violent shake-up, that would have woken up the entire organization ten years ago.”

There’s one day I’ll never forget at Nokia. One of the older employees sat me down and told me about his vision for the future of mobile. To say that the words coming out of his mouth were prophetic would be an understatement. He then showed me a PowerPoint presentation that he made back in 2001/2002 with the exact same concepts he told me during our conversation back in 2008. It was then that I realized that something was wrong. I’m paraphrasing here, but he said something to this tune:

“The feature phone guys are responsible for keeping this company alive. Anyone in this company who wants to deviate from the idea that we should worship the dumb phone guys will be ignored and put to work on a project that’ll never leave the planning stage.”

What breaks my heart is that Nokia is (was?) filled with talented people, but they’re incredibly mismanaged. All of my former colleagues, every last one of them, have left the company. They cite various reasons, but the consensus is that they don’t to be aboard a sinking ship.

About The Author

Stefan Constantinescu

Stefan Constantinescu (@WhatTheBit on Twitter) has loved technology since as far back as he can remember. It started with computers, but in the past few years his passion has turned to mobile devices. As a mobile phone enthusiast who lives and breathes devices that connect to the internet, he knows he is not alone with this radical fascination of all things wireless. He is strongly opinionated and enjoys a good debate so leave comments in his posts and he’ll get back to you! Stefan began blogging as a hobby in the fall of 2006 and joined IntoMobile in the summer of 2007. Later he got a job at Nokia in March 2008, but as of June 2009 he has rejoined the IntoMobile team. He is currently based out of Helsinki, Finland.

Anonymous

I left just after you joined. Actually, I remember correctly around 2005/6, Anssi Vanjoki visited our office in Tokyo and was talking about transitioning into software, services and internet, and was targeting for Nokia to make its first $1B in internet, software and services by 2010.
- http://www.rickycadden.com/ Ricky Cadden
  
  I remember those statements from Anssi – right around the Nokia: Go Play event, where they first mentioned Ovi. It was a grand idea, basically the groundwork for what Google has built. Unfortunately, as Jorma points out, it came down to execution, or lack thereof.
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http://www.facebook.com/people/Atlant-Schmidt/100003275790339 Atlant Schmidt

Stefan, I know that *I* left Nokia when it became all-too-clear to me that the leadership simply wouldn’t allow itself to become aware of 1) how far Nokia had fallen behind Apple (and later, Android) in software technology and 2) how they were never going to understand why Apple customers developed such loyalty to Apple and remained Apple customers, whereas Nokia was actively driving its top-tier customers away by releasing half-baked phones such as the N97, inventing and abandoning ecosystems, and not supporting phones already in the field.

I came into Nokia full of ideas, hope, and passion and left deeply disappointed that a corporation with such high values and so full of outstanding technical skills simply couldn’t execute to (literally) save the corporation’s life.
http://twitter.com/snidely1459 Snidely

It’s a shame that Jorma wasn’t in a position to do something about it…Jorma doesn’t need the money, but he basically just signed his employment death warrant. “While I was leading this global powerhouse, I was unable to make the changes necessary to make the company competitive long term, though I knew what those changes were.”
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