Stop running your company.
Start growing it.
Helping founder-led companies grow on healthy foundations
Senior operational leadership for founder-led startups and scale-ups — embedded, practical, and built to make itself unnecessary.
Sound familiar?
You've built something real, and the momentum is there. But at some point, everything started running through you, preventing you from focusing on the strategic things.
You know you should be working on the vision, on customers, and on what's next. But instead, you're firefighting.
That gap between the company you have and the one you're trying to build is exactly what I work on.
What I offer
Three ways to work together, depending on where you are and what you need.
-
Strategic Sparring & Design
Focused strategic support for specific challenges — when you need clarity, a fresh perspective, or someone to challenge your thinking at exactly the right moment.
-
Fractional COO/CPO
Embedded senior operational leadership that builds the systems and team capability your company needs to grow — without the overhead of a full-time hire.
-
Fractional Chief of Staff
Turning your C-level leadership team into a single, aligned unit by reducing coordination overhead and closing the gap between what's decided and what actually gets done.
Senior operational leadership for founder-led startups & scale-ups
I build the scalable operational backbone your company needs so you can stop running the business and start growing it — focusing your time on what only you can do: vision, customers, and investors.
I've spent over 20 years working inside organisations — building teams, fixing what's broken, and designing the kind of operational foundations that let companies actually grow.
My approach isn't to come in with a playbook. It's about understanding your company from the inside — your people, your context, your real blockers — and building from there. After I leave, things are running better than when I arrived, because you and your team feel clear and empowered.
Susanna Laanikari, Founder of the Grounded Company
-
![Meri-Tuuli Helin Gubbe]()
“As interim COO at Gubbe, Susanna managed to identify where the real need was. She 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
-
![Antero Vartia]()
"Susanna helped clarify my thinking, and allow me to focus on my own strengths as a founder. She's able 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
-
![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
-
![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
-
![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.
You can also send a message or call me:
susanna@groundedcompany.fi
+358 50 4386 489
Koskelantie 25 F 51
00610 Helsinki
Finland