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Episode · Apr 16, 2025 · 40 min

From Acquisition to Reinvention: Tuomas Toivonen on Leading Holvi Through Crisis

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About this episode

What do layoffs, leadership, and letting go have in common? In this episode, Tuomas Toivonen, co-founder and CEO of Holvi, shares what it really took to rebuild his company after a major acquisition and painful downsizing.

We get into why charging for your product might be the healthiest move you can make, how growth can mask broken fundamentals, and what true leadership looks like when everything falls apart.

Tuomas opens up about the hard decisions that followed Holvi’s buyout by BBVA, the lessons he learned from cutting his team by more than half, and why startups are never just about solving one problem.

🟢 And before you go, subscribe to our free newsletter at ⁠⁠followthegradient.io⁠⁠. Twice a week, we break down startup and tech news, share exclusive insights from our podcast guests, highlight top job openings from European startups, and provide food for thought you won’t find anywhere else. 🟡

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