Helping founder-led companies grow on healthy foundations
Your company is growing, but what worked before doesn't work anymore. Too many things run through you, and while the people on your team are amazing, there's more that could be achieved together.
Senior operational leadership for founder-led startups
My approach to operational leadership is human-centred, systemic and result-driven.
I help founder-led growth companies by building a scalable operational system that releases the full growth potential of the company and frees 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 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 for founder-led startups and scale-ups
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Strategic Sparring & Design
Focused strategic support and challenging for specific moments and needs, providing clarity and perspective exactly when it matters.
→ On-demand support for key challenges and decisions→ Strategic thinking partner who challenges assumptions and helps you make better decisions, faster
→ Fresh perspective on growth bottlenecks
→ Build organisational readiness before problems become urgent
Engagement model:
Tailored to your needs: from a single hour of sparring to clearly scoped projects — fixing a specific process, planning or facilitating a workshop, or ongoing strategic support. -
Fractional COO/CPO
Embedded senior leadership building the internal capabilities and operating system that enables growth — without the overhead of a full-time hire.
→ Tackling your biggest operational challenges, driving growth, and installing systems that keep your business moving
→ Creating clarity, alignment and building trust
→ Reducing founder dependency on tactical decisions and releasing their time & energy to strategic work
Engagement model:
Flexible and cost-efficient: ~ 2-10 days/month embedded in your team (remote + in-person),
3-12 month engagements that scale based on your needs -
Fractional Chief of Staff
Reducing the overhead of coordination and turning the C-level team into a single unit by building strategic execution architecture and organisational capability.
→ Senior strategic role working directly with CEO and leadership team (remote + in-person)→ Building the operating rhythms and coordination structures that keep the team aligned
→ Creating strategic execution architecture from priorities to decisions to follow through
→ Behind-the-scenes enabler: no extra layer of hierarchy, just fewer gaps between intent and action
Engagement model:
~ 2–10 days/month, 6–12+ month engagements with flexible intensity
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![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
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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.
You can also send a message or call me:
susanna@groundedcompany.fi
+358 50 4386 489
Koskelantie 25 F 51
00610 Helsinki
Finland