Lisa Sounio

LISA SOUNIO

Lisa Sounio, 40, is a past CEO and the current chairperson of social networking site Dopplr Brand and design expert Lisa Sounio (MSc, Econ., IDBM) is the CEO of Sonay Ltd. Sonay, founded in 2004, is a consultancy specialized in product development, design strategy and PR. Sonay’s clients include Artek, Nokia, Valio, Kone and UPM.

She is also the CEO of her own design management consultancy Sonay. She has a background in industrial design management. Early in her career she worked as a sales- and export manager in the Finnish furniture industry. Before becoming an entrepreneur she worked for Iittala where she was in charge of branding and product design development.

Before founding the companies Sounio worked on brand marketing, export sales and product development. As Brand Manager of Iittala, the icon of Finnish design, Lisa was in charge of the most successful product families in the company’s history.

Sounio has gained her international experience working on three different continents. Sounio also writes media columns, gives lectures and teaches marketing in the University of Art & Design Helsinki.
During the 2007 fall TV season Sounio was a judge and investor on the Finnish version of “Dragon’s Den”, the popular and controversial “pop-idol for entrepreneurs” television format. Sounio writes regular media columns, gives lectures and teaches marketing in the University of Art & Design Helsinki.

I am only a co-founder, I am part of a team and so I would not take that decision by myself. But we do not look to be bought up. I think, we created Dopplr for people who are likeminded. Business travelers, but a new type.

The business travellers of today may fly with budget airlines and use the money in a nice hotel, so there is a new kind of customer. We want to understand that new customer.