Estonia is the least happy country in the world

Actually I lied. Among 178 countries in the world, there are 6 countries which are more unhappy than Estonia: Ukraine, Congo, Burundi, Swasiland and Zimbabwe. This according to the New Economic Foundation study Happy Planet Index (here is the PDF). And guess what – I believe it is all true! Estonians die young, work too… Continue reading Estonia is the least happy country in the world

Ross Mayfield and Shel Israel on Estonia

One of the big fans of Estonia, Ross Mayfield, had lunch with Shel Israel, who is writing a new book Global Neighborhoods. Shel blogged a bit of how Ross described Estonia and its developments.

Estonia leads in Brainbench certifications

As noted by Jaanus, Estonia is the “most certified nation” per capita according to Brainbench. Everyone can now print out their Estonia-cert, which says: “This award is in recognition of the nation whose people have shown their dedication to making improvements in business and technology by demonstrating their skills, knowledge and abilities as well as… Continue reading Estonia leads in Brainbench certifications

Estonia lacks IT people

Come change the world Originally uploaded by JKaljundi. This morning I found a baloon with Skype jobs ad in front of our office quite near to the centre of Tallinn. Unfortunately it never took off, probably because there was no wind. It is almost impossible to find any IT people in Estonia nowadays and Skype… Continue reading Estonia lacks IT people

Skype founders invest in a radio communications firm Modesat

The core 4-person Estonian technology development team of Skype, via their VC firm Ambient Sound Investments, has made their third investment, this time into a radio communications firm Modesat Communications. The core technology of Modesat is meant for satellite communications and has been developed in Byelorussia, a country with strong Soviet background in military and… Continue reading Skype founders invest in a radio communications firm Modesat

Skype founders VC firm makes their second investment in Estonia

Ambient Sound Investments, the investment firm of Skype’s founding engineers Ahti Heinla, Priit Kasesalu, Jaan Tallinn ja Toivo Annus, made their second VC investment. This time it was Oskando, a 12-person GSM-based telematic solutions firm. For only 200 kEUR they purchased a 42% share, after which they hold 57% of the company. After the successful… Continue reading Skype founders VC firm makes their second investment in Estonia