Reputation of Estonia: Built on Startups, Sustained by Foreign Talent

Estonia has proudly worn the badge of “most unicorns per capita” for years, and there is little to suggest that this position will change anytime soon. 

There’s even a chance we may be so committed that we are willing to ignore if it came from the expense of lower capita/population. Simply put, it’s an inverse correlation - less people we have, higher the “most unicorns” metric. 

“What got you here won’t get you there.”

From Skype to Wise and Bolt, everything we have accomplished in 30 years far exceeds what our population size might suggest. In part, this can be explained by the foreign talent we have been able to successfully attract. 

We’ve gotten pretty good at attracting people willing to give Estonia a shot, but what about retention? How often has the talent we hope to retain actually ended up living here?

Our reputation may attract people to our shores, but what makes them stay?

There is a widespread assumption that once someone secures a tech job or a startup visa, everything else falls into place. When it comes to Estonia, that is the easy part. 

There’s no doubt that Estonia offers incredible opportunities for focus and self-improvement, with few distractions to speak of. But that same solitude can turn from productive to isolating, and quietly reach a breaking point of looking for a job elsewhere. 

That’s a problem, because international reputations aren’t built only on metrics that reflect our work ethic, innovation or efficiency. We seem to have become reliant on pumping up those metrics because in only 30 years, this strategy has worked miracles. Why fix it if it ain’t broken, right?

Wrong. As a country all about high-growth companies, we should instead follow the advice often given to companies scaling fast: “What got you here won’t get you there.”  

“Foreign policy begins at home.”

What might get us “there”? To a point in, say, 50 years where we are still a thriving startup ecosystem with enough people living here to be considered a country by an average European?

Perhaps a reminder will do. A frequent enough reminder that a long-term reputation is built on how a country feels to live in. 

We can write as many articles about our way of life, and receive momentary accolades for being in the top five of something in the world. As a way of attracting people, it does indeed work. 

But over time, the word will spread. Whether that word is good or bad is entirely up to the internationals living here, who have families back home and friends all over the world. 

The expat experience is also something we can have an effect on, as locals. Even if it means respecting the customs of a colleague from outside Europe, and being cordial to your Bolt driver or courier. 

As a local, there isn’t too much I have been able to do for tourists who visit Tallinn. Other than being an Airbnb host to hundreds of them, over the years. In my experience, tourists receive a very apt impression of our tech-efficiency and personal safety. Both well deserved, but I’m not quite sure if it would ever give them a reason to stay or recommend a close friend to do so. 

If only we would put as much effort into the experience of our international community, in how we are perceived after years, instead of days. This is most certainly not an “Estonian” problem, by the way, but we are competing with other countries in how we are perceived so it’s worth reminding.

“So… tell us everything!”

Live somewhere long enough, people expect to have some connection to the place. Stories to tell their friends and family back home. Learn things that can’t be found in travel guides. Moments that make it worth experiencing Estonia first-hand, rather than remotely work for one of our startups. 

If we want skilled people to relocate and then stay, we better leave an emotional impression that goes deeper than our "e-edge". In order to do so, we have to ask the uncomfortable question: beyond our e-services, what do we really offer? Culturally, emotionally, socially?

We like to compare ourselves to our Nordic neighbours. By all metrics, they seem to be the happiest people on the planet. And we love metrics, as I mentioned above. 

But now that the Scandinavian countries and soon the rest of Europe have caught on in digital infrastructure, what’s our edge? What’s our next value proposition? We pride ourselves on being adaptable, light on our feet, and rightfully so. 

So why not apply that same mindset to how people living here could feel connected. Not to the government, which has been our focus so far, but connected to each other? So that they would not have to tell their family and friends “stories” about how fast the internet was (up to 500 Mbps is nuts, though) but all the memories they made. With other expats, and perhaps even locals!

“Make me an offer I can’t refuse.” - Expats to locals

Just as Estonia once had no legacy systems when building e-services, we also have none when it comes to bringing people together. That was our advantage then, and it can be again. 

All it takes is for the public sector to join forces with startups, who can build the social platforms. For the public institutions to help make sure that every single expat would know about it, and have a chance at finding their people. Those for whom to stay, even if the foreign talent receives a job offer they should not refuse. 

Now, I understand that the Estonian government has bigger fish to fry than social integration. Which is why, hopefully, locals can do their bit in the coming decades. A local helping expats integrate should absolutely be considered a public service, for lack of a better term. A way to help their country, even before army conscription (which hopefully never has to happen). 

30 years might seem like a long time but, even now, our identity is still being defined. Ask an average European and they might describe Estonians as quiet, reserved, somewhere between East and West. Is that the reputation we want, 50 years from now? 

Or could we become known as the most welcoming nation of all our neighbours. One that appreciates difference, not just tolerates it.

This doesn’t require government programmes or policy shifts. It starts with how we treat the people who have come here and are giving Estonia a chance, hoping to call it “home”. For people from vastly different backgrounds to feel at home, we must learn to offer more than efficiency in bureaucracy.

Maya Angelou said it best: “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”