A brave leap from big corporate to pioneering start-up — Timo Lehto’s journey at Starship began 2.5 years ago and continues to provide him that extra something in life. As Product Manager, he thrives at the opportunity to build products in-house that do not yet exist in the world. Together with his team he builds the future of Starship by exploring the unknown. Every day.

After spending more than a decade working in a big corporation within maritime logistics, Timo Lehto decided to join Starship and help us make low cost, convenient and sustainable delivery available to all. As our Product Manager in Helsinki, Timo is driving the software development of autonomous equipment fleets and related products and solutions.

In winter, he gladly steers north to the mountains for some downhill skiing, a common interest of all members of the Lehto family, as well as the sauna, open fireplace and evening board games.

What’s the best part about your job?

“It’s the part where I need to look ahead. To identify what we need to do in this very moment, or a year or two from now, to reach our long-term goal. I’m intrigued by the constant adaption where we provide a human element to a system where the role of the human changes. As the system evolves we start to expect different things. That exploration of the unknown is very exciting.”

Tell us about the culture at Starship. How is it different from other companies?

“For me, it’s quite unique in the way that we all share the same goal: there’s no extra politics or debate. I have never worked in a company before where it is so clear where we are going. And everybody tries to do their best to get us there.”

Of the projects you’ve been involved in so far, which do you consider the most important?

“I’m very interested in Situational Awareness. We are setting up remote locations, and we need to provide an efficient way to know what is going on with our robots and operations, everywhere and always. We need to be able to take action if something is going wrong. It’s an ongoing and fun challenge.”

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Do you think there is life on other planets?

Life probably exists on other planets, maybe even at this exact time. Although intelligence is harder and more unlikely to find. There’s been life on Earth for a few billion years, and it is only in the last 100 years that we have been able to communicate beyond this planet. So, the risk is that civilisations will miss each other in time.

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Tell us something about the Helsinki team!

“Like most teams at Starship, the Helsinki team is international. My teammates are from all over the world, and there are very few of us who can actually speak Finnish. For me, it was new to be part of such an international team, and now after being here for 2.5 years, I can say that it’s incredibly valuable to have multiple cultures represented. Our very different backgrounds provide fresh perspectives and a wider angle to solve problems. Oh yeah, and we meet for breakfast every Wednesday. That’s fun!”

Speaking of the Helsinki team, we are actually looking to expand our fleet, creating a new cross-functional team with software engineers, product designers, data analysts and product managers. Be part of Timo’s team and join our extraordinary journey here.