Helping founder-led companies grow on healthy foundations
Your company is growing, but you are involved in too many things, and you feel your team could achieve more.
Strategic support for Founder-CEOs as a Fractional COO/CPO
I’m a generalist and a human-centred leader. My approach to helping organisations is open-minded, systemic and result-driven.
I help founder-led growth companies by building a scalable operational system, freeing the founder-CEO's time and energy for what matters most – sales, customers, fundraising, and leading the vision.
Susanna Laanikari, Founder of the Grounded Company
Ambiguity in an organisation eats productivity and innovation. Small problems grow into big ones over time.
I help create clarity, identify the most critical bottlenecks, and unlock your full growth potential by finding ways to address them—through people, systems, and structures.
Services
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Strategic Sparring & Design
Focused support and challenging for founders who want to stay ahead of growth challenges, how and when needed, without adding execution overhead.
→ On-demand support for key challenges and decisions→ Strategic thinking partner who challenges assumptions
→ Fresh perspective on growth bottlenecks
→ Build organisational readiness before problems become urgent
→ Flexible engagement model that fits your needs, like a 1-hour sparring session, offsite planning and facilitation, a clearly scoped project, or continuous support.
FOR STARTUPS & SCALE-UPS
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Fractional COO
Embedded senior operational leadership for companies where growth has outpaced structure, with a fraction of the cost of a full-time role.
→ 2-10 days/month embedded in your team (remote + in-person)→ Create clarity around priorities, roles, responsibilities, and ways of working
→ Build decision-making frameworks and operational systems enabling the team
→ Reduce founder dependency on tactical decisions and release their time & energy to strategic work
→ 6-12 month engagements with flexible intensity
FOR STARTUPS & SCALE-UPS
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Collaborative Capacity Model
Building a model that combines traditional employed teams with cultivated freelancer communities—enabling financial resilience while maintaining quality and culture.
→ Design hybrid team structures (employed + freelance)→ Build curated freelancer communities aligned with culture
→ Create financial resilience through variable capacity
→ Maintain quality and culture while increasing flexibility
→ Turn fixed costs into a competitive advantage
FOR AGENCIES & PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
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![Meri-Tuuli Helin]()
“As interim COO at Gubbe, Susanna was able to identify where the real need was and helped us direct our focus to the right things, namely interpersonal trust, leadership structures, and creating clarity.”
— Meri-Tuuli Helin, Co-Founder & CEO of Gubbe
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![Antero Vartia]()
"Susanna has an exceptional ability to empower both leadership and the wider team, while ensuring that necessary changes are carried through with purpose and respect for people."
— Antero Vartia, Founder of Compensate
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![Ciarán Duffy]()
"Susanna translates complex challenges into actionable next steps, ensuring everyone understands the 'what', 'why' and ‘how’ behind organisational changes."
— Ciarán Duffy, Sonder Collective
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![Katri Kallio-Koski]()
"Susanna brings clarity and operational flow, allowing the team to focus and shine on their work. She has a wide range of tools and approaches, and she engages the team in a way that makes everyone feel heard and want to commit."
— Katri Kallio-Koski, Gaia Consulting
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![Melanie Wendland]()
"Engagement with Susanna brought us clarity and focus. Her human centred approach helped to surface unspoken tensions and move us towards solutions that fit both people's and the organisation's needs.
— Melanie Wendland, Co-Founder of Sonder
Get in touch
If you want to hear more, please reach out to me.
Book a 30-minute intro call
You can also send a message or call me:
susanna@groundedcompany.fi
+358 50 4386 489
Koskelantie 25 F 51
00610 Helsinki
Finland