Ari Backholm

Current

Board Member at JoikuSoft
Vice President, Marketing and Product Management at SEVEN Networks, Inc.

Past

Co-Founder and Executive Vice President at Smartner Information Systems ltd.
Research Director at Sedecon Consulting
Assistant Lecturer at Helsinki University of Technology

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Education

Helsinki University of Technology

Recommended

1 person has recommended Ari

Connections

500+ connections

Industry

Wireless

Websites

My Company

Ari Backholm’s Summary

Ari Backholm is the Vice President of Marketing and Product Management at SEVEN. In this position, Backholm leads global marketing strategy, product offering and roadmap to secure and enhance SEVEN's leading position in the market. Backholm has over 10 years of experience in wireless telecommunications and information technology. Ari Backholm is also Board Member of Joikusoft, an global wireless startup on an exponential growth track.

Ari Backholm joined SEVEN in April 2005 through SEVEN's acquisition of Smartner, which he was co-founding in 1999. At Smartner, Backholm served as Executive Vice President and headed Smartner's product development, marketing and business development organizations. By decisively driving customer needs to engineering, opening up Smartner's operations in new territories such as Asia Pacific, and securing partnerships with leading players in the mobile industry, including Nokia, Ericsson, IBM, Sony Ericsson, and Microsoft, he was instrumential in rapid growth of Smartner from its foundation to serving over 30 operators around the world and achieving awards of distinction, such as Frost & Sullivan 2005 Entrepreneurial Company Award and Tornado top 100 private technology companies in Europe.

Before joining Smartner, Backholm worked for Sedecon Consulting where he oversaw strategy, business development and knowledge management projects for major Finnish and international corporations. Backholm holds an M.Sc. (Tech) with Distinction in Industrial Management from Helsinki University of Technology and 4 patents in mobile technologies.

Ari Backholm’s Specialties:

Entrepreneurial leadership, creating unfair advantage to win, innovating and executing for winning products and business

Ari Backholm’s Experience

Board Member

JoikuSoft

(Wireless industry)

July 2008 — Present (4 months)
Vice President, Marketing and Product Management

SEVEN Networks, Inc.

(Public Company; 51-200 employees; Wireless industry)

May 2005 — Present (3 years 6 months)
Co-Founder and Executive Vice President

Smartner Information Systems ltd.

(Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Information Technology and Services industry)

September 1999 — May 2005 (5 years 9 months)
Research Director

Sedecon Consulting

(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Management Consulting industry)

January 1997 — May 2000 (3 years 5 months)
Assistant Lecturer

Helsinki University of Technology

(Educational Institution; 1001-5000 employees; Higher Education industry)

January 1996 — December 1999 (4 years)