Why Slush Exists

Slush is a not-for-profit organization on a mission to help and create founders to change the world

Founded in 2008 as a 250-person gathering, Slush has grown into the world’s leading startup event—bringing together a curated crowd of European startups, world-class investors, and tech journalists.

While Slush is best known for its annual main event in Helsinki, an equally vital part of our mission is to inspire young people to pursue careers in tech and entrepreneurship. Slush is meant to be a human accelerator—giving young people their first step into the startup world, whether they go on to become founders, operators, or VCs. To this day, Slush is organized by students and recent graduates, and the main event is made possible by a team of 1,600 volunteers.

We serve founders and investors with a year-round online community via the Slush Platform, and support nascent startup ecosystems globally to build their own local events through Slush'D.

Slush is owned by the Startup Foundation, a Finnish not-for-profit working toward strengthening the local startup ecosystem. Most of any profits made by Slush go back to the foundation, which uses them to support other ecosystem initiatives.

The Next Decade

Our goals for the decade are derived from Entrepreneurship Redefined, a whitepaper we wrote in 2020.

We need companies to be built by a diverse set of individuals. People solve problems they themselves face.

We need those companies to take extraordinary risks that, if successful, change the future beyond recognition.

We need them to pursue the most pressing problems of our time, requiring that society at large – investors, LPs, academia, corporates, and regulators – is on board.

2020-2030

The change doesn’t happen overnight, nor is it something we can just focus on during one event, tick a box, and consider it done. That’s why we’ve dedicated the 2020s to really working on it.

Mission & Vision

We believe entrepreneurship is the most efficient way to change the world at scale. We need more builders. But we also know building companies is hard.

That’s where we come in. Our role is three-fold: inspire, help, and collide.

  • Inspire the current and next generation to take on hard and complex challenges through entrepreneurship.
  • Help them build impactful, durable companies.
  • Collide them with the people who’ll enable their success—co-founders, investors, operators, mentors.

In other words, we want to create and help founders to change the world.

OuR Values

Be Curious

Slushers are some of the most curious individuals you’ll encounter. We have strong opinions, but we're curious to hear reasons why we might be wrong.We’re curious to understand how great companies are built and how technology is shaping the world we live in. We value people who get excited about entrepreneurship—about building and solving hard problems. We value time spent on learning about the ecosystem, whether through consuming content by others or actually getting outside of the office, getting to know people, and forming our own opinions.

This is important for three reasons:

  • Slush is a workplace that will give young people more responsibility than any other. What we lack in experience, we must make up for in curiosity.
  • With 15 different teams, curiosity is essential to understand how our own work fits into the broader goals of Slush, what’s happening in other teams, and what makes this company run as a whole.
  • Slush is meant to be human accelerator and a launchpad to the startup ecosystem. We acknowledge we’re not (yet) founders ourselves, and make an effort to understand the founder mindset by going out there to ask, listen and read.

Trust by Default

At Slush, trust is not earned, it can only be lost. From your first day as a Slusher, every person will believe in you more than you believe in yourself.We show this trust in ways that set us apart from most workplaces:

  • Slush trusts you more than you do. To complete our work, we first ask ourselves “can I do this myself”, and only then ask for help. More often than not, we learn something very useful along the way.
  • At Slush, leadership is a division of responsibilities, not an expression of hierarchy or a command chain. We trust every Slusher to act as the founder of their own domain. This means taking full ownership of projects, planning your work, challenging the status quo, and making decisions as if Slush were your own venture.
  • Decisions should be made as close to the team as possible and by the person who owns the corresponding domain. We trust each other to seek out the necessary perspective to make an informed decision, and even after heated debate, once a decision is made, we expect our colleagues to stand behind it.
  • We recognise that while we’re at Slush, we have been put in charge of a project that is not our own. Each year, the team is trusted to shape the company and event to look like their own. We strive for leaving Slush and our own domain in better shape than we found it.

World-class standards

To achieve world-class results, two things are essential: A) Understanding what excellence looks like and actively pursuing it, and B) Holding each other accountable to the mindset that "if the basics aren't right, nothing else matters."

To that end, we maintain high standards for ourselves in doing the basics right:

  • Clarity. We believe everything is “work in progress” and therefore document and share our work publicly for feedback already ****before it’s ready. We recognise the difference between half-done and half-thought: we ask the right questions while providing the needed context, instead of making our colleagues to do the thinking for us. Clarity and complexity can rarely be reconciled verbally—therefore, we default to writing.
  • Communication. The most common root cause of failure at Slush is unclear or insufficient communication. We always show up on time, communicate promptly, and close the loop—both internally and externally. If we are unsure, we say “I’ll figure it out and get back to you.” We put extra effort into documentation because we know it’s a gift to current and future Slushers.
  • Leadership. We recognise that the most important job of leaders at Slush is to reduce complexity. We help our teams do intentional, clear and specific work. We ask “why?” over and over again. Whenever needed, we get our hands dirty and tackle the challenge together. This way, we set our teams up for success.
  • Prioritization. We separate what truly moves the needle and what is noise, and focus on the former. When tackling complex tasks, we break them down into actionable steps. We understand that there is always more work to be done than hours available to do it. Therefore, we actively take time to prioritise, deprioritise, and plan our work.
  • Frugality. We are frugal like a startup, and default to solving problems with creativity over budget. Whenever it makes a difference, we are ready to do things that don’t scale. We want to ensure that money is being spent where it has the most impact for our core customers.

Crazy Ambition

Over the past decade, Slush has grown from a local gathering into the world's leading startup event: a remarkable achievement for a team of inexperienced students and recent graduates. However, the ecosystem is ever-evolving, and we must be too. Stagnation and reliance on past successes are sure paths to irrelevance.

Therefore, we must constantly evaluate our work from first principles, as if nothing had come before us. Every day, we must answer questions that haven’t been asked before. Equally, we don’t hire people who can execute a checklist—we hire those who can throw it out the window and redefine what success looks like in their role. Concretely, this means we don’t rely on an existing playbook; instead

  • We ask what the startup ecosystem truly needs and how Slush can answer that need.
  • We reimagine how Slush works and make it memorable both for newcomers and returning attendees.

We ask over and over again, 'Why does this matter?', 'Why are we doing this?', and 'What's next?', because at Slush, every day is Day 1.*We understand the importance of using our resources , especially time and money, wisely, and not reinventing the wheel for concepts that already work. Instead, we focus our efforts on aspects that truly need redefining.

Care Deeply

We care deeply for our work, our colleagues, founders and the surrounding startup ecosystem. Work at Slush is about us, not me. We are curious to get to know our team members, and proactively ask how they are doing. Even if in a hurry, we take time to pause and listen.

Caring takes many formats in the Slush team:

  • We win and lose as a team, and help beyond our own responsibilities. We own our failures and embrace them as collective opportunities to learn. Internally, we spread positive news through channels like #posiposiposi and celebrate our colleagues both in public and private.
  • We give and ask for candid feedback to help each other grow. By giving and receiving feedback, we're able to create a feeling of accomplishment, foster personal and professional growth, and resolve issues proactively.
  • We steer clear of gossip and encourage giving feedback directly by asking “have you said this to...?”. When encountering something uncomfortable or against our culture, we don’t close our eyes but run towards the pain.
  • We know that doing what’s best for Slush translates into maximal personal learning for ourselves. To pursue our mission, we actively put founders first in everything we do. It means that we obsess about solving founders’ problems at all stages, from pre-seed to exit and everything in between.
  • Our commitment to diversity, inclusion, and sustainability guides every decision we make, demonstrating our care for and dedication to improving the European startup ecosystem.

Open positions

Startup operations
Overview:

Startup Operations will have full ownership of some of our biggest startup activities. Most of them will be novel, so in this role you’ll have a chance to leave a lasting impact on Slush. Together with the rest of the Startup Team, you’ll work closely with founders throughout the year to shape their Slush Week.

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Responsibilities:
  • Concept ownership. You’ll take full ownership of multiple broad concept ideas (e.g. an event for first-time founders) and turn them into reality.
  • Customer insights. You’ll go deep into founders’ needs and help define how Slush Week should look for them.
  • Communications. You’ll be the first point of contact for many founders, guiding them through Slush, and turning simple conversations into engagement.
  • Scouting. You’ll scout the most promising startups with a European focus and attract them to Slush.
  • Ecosystem insights. You’re expected to follow the startup ecosystem closely, stay up-to-date on current trends, news and reports, and use that knowledge to foster Slush Team’s startup knowledge.
  • Ticket sales. Together with the rest of Startup Team, you’ll be responsible for selling out our Startup Pass quota (6,000 in 2025). As our Startup Passes are application-based, this responsibility also includes reviewing startup applications.
Requirements:
  • High curiosity for startups and tech. Understanding the basics of startups, such as VC funding and how startups differ from other businesses, is seen as a requirement. As we recruit potential over experience, the key is still in curiosity and the willingness to learn more. We’re looking for a person who absorbs insights from the startup ecosystem with passion and has potential to become a future founder.
  • Experience in project management. You’re expected to have a track record of leading events or similar projects with excellence.
  • Strong communication skills, empathy and strategic mindset. Building trust, asking the right questions, listening with empathy and turning insights into action will make a large part of your work. Listening to founders may be the most important part of your work.
  • Courage to challenge the status quo. You’re not expected to redo what’s been done in the past. Nor will you be given a detailed handbook on how to run your concepts. Daring to do new and hard things is a must in this role. You’re expected to take risks and be fine with the possibility of failure—all in the pursuit of building greatness.

Most importantly, we don’t look for ready-made professionals rather than people with limitless potential. We believe that passionate curiosity and the ability to learn fast are what ultimately make people thrive.
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What will you get?
  • High-impact role where what you do directly helps thousands of startup founders.
  • Creative freedom to design unseen event concepts.
  • Learning opportunities throughout the year from founders themselves.
  • A front-row seat to what’s happening in the startup ecosystem.
  • Unique network of founders, VCs, facilitators and other ecosystem players.

Due to our culture of “trust by default” and the constant need to renew ourselves, Slush has become one of the best founder schools on the planet. You will not have the same amount of freedom and trust in any other organization.

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Practicalities:

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This is a full-time, paid position with a fixed-term contract until the end of 2026. We are recruiting one Startup Operations who’s expected to start early March.

Our team works mainly at the Helsinki office. Because of the physical nature of the work we do at Slush, working here will require office presence, but partial remote work is also possible.

If you have any questions, feel free to send a message to Niki at niki.nurmi@slush.org.

We look forward to hearing from you!

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OPERATIONS PRODUCER
Overview:

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The Production Team at Slush ensures that one of the biggest and most complex event productions in Finland is easily accessible and enjoyable for all visitors, regardless of the customer group. We design event services and concepts to make our attendees’ journey seamless, enjoyable, and memorable—from the moment they arrive in Helsinki to the moment they leave. Beyond nailing the essentials—Badges, food, cloakrooms, signage, etc.—we aim to sprinkle a little magic into every customer touchpoint.

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What will you get?
  • Full ownership of your concepts, such as Slush’s registration processes and affiliated partnerships. You'll gain valuable project management experience—essential for any producer
  • Work with an incredibly curious international team, building connections that can shape your future
  • Expand your network by collaborating with a diverse range of production partners
  • Build a unique international network across the global startup and innovation ecosystem, including VCs, founders, facilitators, and leading tech companies worldwide
  • Due to our “trust by default” culture and our constant drive for renewal, Slush has become one of the best schools for founders and startup operators
  • Gain valuable leadership experience by leading the largest volunteer teams at Slush (approx 300-400 people)
  • You’ll be recruiting, training, and supporting volunteer Team Leads responsible for managing the hands-on volunteer operations
Responsibilities:

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Operations Producers are responsible for both the planning and execution of essential event services. If the basics don’t work, nothing else matters. Moreover, the outstanding success of Slush is dependent on operational excellence. Reporting directly to the Head of Production, these roles involves overseeing multiple aspects of the event services and orchestrating various operational and production-related tasks.

  • Event Access & Badge Operation. Including:
    • Badge Claims
      • Event Badge Claim
      • Pre-Badge Claim
    • Badge Designs
    • Access Planning
  • Customer Experience Management
    • Overall Journey to Slush
    • Info Operations
  • Leading 300+ person volunteer teams & operations.
    • You’ll be recruiting, training, and supporting volunteer Team Leads responsible for managing the hands-on volunteer operations
  • Production Partnership Management
Requirements:
  • Proficiency in English.
  • Execution oriented - Ability to learn quickly and always thinking what needs to be done next.
  • Experience in project management - Proactive, detail-orientated, planning ahead time.
  • Teamwork - work smoothly in cross‑functional teams, share credit, and handle disagreements constructively rather than defensively.
  • Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment and manage multiple priorities effectively with quick problem-solving.
  • Team leading and skills in customer service - Ability to motivate large customer service teams.
  • Ownership and reliability - follow through on commitments, manage time well, and proactively raise risks before they become blockers.
  • Furiously into learning and development – Eager to learn about the industry, project management, professional development, etc. through feedback and curiosity.
  • Analytical mindset - Approaching projects/tasks in a structured manner in sheets/excel. Ability analyse past data and make data driven decisions.
Practicalities

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This is a full-time, paid positions, with a fixed-term contract until the end of 2026.

Start-Date: March 2026

Our team works mainly at our Helsinki office. Because of the physical nature of the work we do at Slush, working here will require some amount of office presence, but partial remote work is also possible.

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Hiring Process

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We’re continuously reviewing applications, so don’t wait to apply! We’ll hire as soon as we find the right candidate.

If you have any questions, feel free to send a message to Joakim at joakim.berger@slush.org.

We look forward to hearing from you!

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Head of finance
Overview

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Head of Finance is the core of Slush’s finance function, which consists of an over 11 M€ in revenue. You will have a significant impact on the financial health and operational efficiency of Slush as well as developing the company through data and analytics. You’ll work closely with our COO, play a crucial role in team goal setting and managing budgets, revenue tracking, leading our analytics and automation efforts as well as leading the two person Finance team. You’ll be working closely with our Partnerships and Investor Teams as well as collaborate with other teams around finance topics.

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What will you get?
  1. You’ll get an unmatched experience of running the finance & analytics operations of a 50-person company—this level of ownership and responsibility builds a solid foundation for any finance-related career. This is a full time paid position.
  2. You will not have the same amount of freedom, responsibility and trust in any other organization; leading a multi-million not-for-profit’s finance operations and development will be fast-paced and highly rewarding.
  3. You will build a unique network of people throughout the global startup & innovation ecosystem (VCs, founders, facilitators), as well as an international tech/innovation/CVC network through our counterparties (leading tech companies globally).
  4. Due to our culture of “trust by default” and the constant need to renew ourselves, Slush has become one of the best operator & founder schools on the planet. You’ll get to work with an exceptional young and ambitious team that never settles.
Responsibilities
  • Leading the two-person: Finance team at Slush (and during the Fall the Finance Team Leads). This includes setting the right ambition level with goals, ensuring your team reaches them and ensuring your team’s growth. Finance team at Slush is known for it’s approachability and default-to-action approach with complex tasks.
  • Budget management: Managing and having an overall responsibility of our over 10 M€ budget—managing the budgets with our COO, delegating budgeting responsibilities to teams, setting deadlines and objectives, updating the budget, and making sure we are on the right track financially.
  • Leading our analytics efforts: Head of Finance will be the main responsible for driving our operations and efforts forward through data and analytics.
  • Financial Operations: Overall responsibility over day-to-day finance operations, such as accounts receivables, accounts payables, payroll, monthly and annual closing processes. You will also manage the yearly audit process—one of your first tasks will be closing the fiscal year of 2025 with the support of our COO.
  • Compliance & Policies: Ensuring company-wide compliance with financial policies, procedures and regulatory requirements.
  • Tickets & Tracking: Ticket sales generate 50 % of Slush’s revenue. You’ll manage and oversee our ticket & revenue tracking, and ensuring our tickets-related requests & transfers, visa invitation process and business analytics function seamlessly and reliably.
  • Liquidity Management: Overall responsibility of our liquidity management—modelling cash flows to ensure liquidity, optimizing capital use, and making decisions around short-term deposits.
  • Customer service: The Finance team owns our finance and tickets inboxes. You’ll ensure all of our customers get 7-star customer service from the Finance team all the way from purchasing tickets to ticket troubleshooting at the Slush Main Event.
Requirements
  • Excel and SQL: Advanced skills in Excel and SQL. Our finance operations are run in Excel, and our analytics and revenue tracking are run on a SQL-based database. Curious mind towards data and analytics is a must as the Head of Finance will be the main point of contact with these efforts for the entire organization.
  • Accounting & finance knowledge: You have experience in accounting/finance and a solid understanding of basic accounting principles, e.g. from a relevant university degree or previous work experience.
  • Process-orientation: You’re always looking for ways to improve processes and drive efficiency across the finance function. You must be process-oriented and constantly look for ways to improve and streamline our finance operations.
  • Project management skills: Strong project management abilities, decision-making, delegation, and the capacity to execute both big-picture strategies and detail-oriented tasks.
  • Excellent communications: You have strong verbal and written communication skills, both in English and Finnish. Unlike other roles at Slush, fluency in Finnish is required for our Head of Finance.
  • Thriving under pressure: Slush is a dynamic and evolving company, and you will need to thrive in an environment that has tight deadlines, is fast-paced,  high-pressure and sometimes unpredictable.
  • Interest in startups: You are curious about startups and want to become a leading finance professional in the European startup ecosystem.
Practicalities

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This is a full-time, paid position, with a permanent contract starting at the beginning of February. We open the recruitment process in December and finalize the last interviews in January.

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Our team works mainly at the Helsinki office. Because of the physical nature of the work we do at Slush, working here will require some amount of office presence, but partial remote work is also possible.

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If you have any questions, feel free to send a message to kasper.makela@slush.org.

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We look forward to hearing from you!

Get in Touch

General inquiries

hello@slush.org

Technical support

support@slush.org

Tickets

tickets@slush.org

Startups

startups@slush.org

Investors

investors@slush.org

Partners

partners@slush.org

Media & PR

media@slush.org

Speakers

speakers@slush.org

Marketing

marketing@slush.org

Meet the Slush Team

Charlotte Alholm
President
Sandra Savelieva
Visual Designer
Santos Alcover
LP Relations
Rania Said
Partnership Manager
Polina Kuklenko
Head of Product Design
Oskar Aaltonen
Program Curator
Noora Saksa
CEO
Niki Nurmi
Head of Startups
Nelli Sillanpää
Head of Media & PR
Mikhail Cherkashin
Video Producer
Marina Yurchenko
Head of Marketing
Margot de Maulmont
Full-Stack Developer
Khai Chan
Full-Stack Developer
Kasper Mäkelä
Chief Operating Officer
Joakim Berger
Head of Production
Ida Sinisalo
Head of Partnerships
Freja Teijonsalo
Head of Program
Edoardo Vacca
Mobile App Developer
Carlos Perez
Creative Director
Aapo Leppänen
Head of Tech
Anshul Mahajan
Chief Technology Officer