Nick Wilson

Ilkka Paananen co-founded Helsinki-based mobile gaming company Supercell in 2010, starting with a €5 million (£4.4m) investment from Finnish government-funding agency Tekes. From the start, he implemented a radical structure for the company: small teams of developers operate with a high degree of autonomy and make key strategic, creative and production decisions themselves, while management deals with operational aspects of the business such as HR, marketing and finance.

The approach appears to be working: more than 100 million people play Supercell’s free titles – Clash of Clans, Boom Beach, Hay Day and Clash Royale – every day. In 2016 alone, in-game purchases generated $2.3 billion (£1.7bn) in revenue. Just six years after launch, Supercell was valued at more than $10 billion. Here, Paananen shares what his entrepreneurial experience has taught him along the way.


Military training teaches you how to lead. “I did my one-year military training in the coastal infantry in Finland. Training to become an officer is a good lesson in leadership. If you’re leading people who aren’t getting paid and you want them to follow you into battle, you learn a lot about motivation.”

Know when something’s not working. “My first company, Sumea, got sold in 2003. I stayed until 2010 because the founder of the new owner was an inspiring leader. Then I realised, ‘This company is set up in a certain way and there’s no way anyone can change it.’ I left, took some time off and started thinking about running the perfect company.”

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Always think, “what if?” “I wondered: what would happen if you turned corporate structure upside down and, instead of the managers being the vision holders, it was the games developers? We don’t track staff and we are flexible in terms of hours. Our one rule? Do what is best for your team and the game. We trust them to get it done.”

Diversity is strength. “There’s not really one single model you can force everyone to sign up to. Broaden the base: hire and recruit people from everywhere because there’s not just one consumer, so there shouldn’t be one mindset. How can an organisation really change if everybody thinks the same way?”


From Clash of Clans to Hay Day: the secrets of Supercell's success Magazine From Clash of Clans to Hay Day: the secrets of Supercell's success

You can feel whether a team is working or not. “The only way to tell if you’ve got the best team is to put them together and see what happens. Then you walk into the team room, observe what’s going on; you can either feel the energy and passion or you need a new team.”

Always pay your taxes. “We don’t use ‘tax-efficiency’ techniques. I’ve been ridiculously lucky with my life. There’s philanthropy – which we do – but contributing to free education and healthcare in the country you came from helps the next generation. Freedom and responsibility all the way.”

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There are two things you need to do to run a great business. “Put together the best possible teams. Create the best environment for them. That’s it.”


When you’re recruiting, make sure you personally interview everyone you hire. “No exceptions.”

Don’t hide bad news. “When we launched, our games were cross-platform. Then we decided to focus on mobile and kill everything else. We had to say to our investors, ‘Sorry guys, the strategy you invested in isn’t working out, so we’re going to start again.’ Thankfully, the board trusted us. The only way you can keep that trust is to be honest and direct. Don’t sugar-coat anything.”

Throw away your promotional rulebook. “Anyone who says to you ‘This is how you do marketing’ probably hasn’t done it. It completely depends on your business and your market. Even games marketing changes. I used to sell mobile games to mobile operators. I now sell them to users – and it’s completely different.”

It’s all about freedom and responsibility. “A great company is like a sports team. I’m a big ice hockey fan; a good ice hockey player scores lots of goals. A great hockey player passes the puck when his team-mate’s in a better position. I’ve organised Supercell like a professional hockey team. I’m the coach. The coach can’t score goals.”


Set yourself insane goals. “Supercell’s mission is to create top-ten games you can play for years. In our market, 20,000 new games are released every month, so owning the top-ten games and thinking they’ll stay there for a long time is a very bold statement. But we do it – because everyone in the company wants that.”

Creative people need to own what they work on. “The better they are, the more important that is. Telling the best creatives what to do doesn’t make any sense.”

Never stop learning. “My parents were both teachers, so I appreciate how important it is to keep studying. Even if you think you know something, it may have changed.”