This year marks a milestone for us: we’re celebrating our 10th anniversary. Time flies when you’re having fun is very much true! Most tech startup companies don’t even see their first anniversary. So I guess we’ve certainly done something right.
Who are we?
If you don’t know what Showell is and what we do, let me introduce ourselves. We're an award-winning sales enablement software company. Showell is both the name of our company and our software product. The name is a combo of two words: show and well.
We help hundreds of sales teams worldwide activate their sales collateral throughout the buying journey: from showing inspiring presentations to sharing relevant content with all decision-makers. Showell is truly a diverse and international company. We speak over a dozen different languages and have clients from every continent.
How did it all start?
It all started at a customer meeting back in 2011 from a simple need: a customer wanted to get their sales presentations, product brochures, and data sheets into iPads of salespeople. Instead of printed brochures, sales wanted to use iPads for presenting. IPad was launched just a year before, and there was no easy way to transfer files from computer to tablet devices back then.
From an idea to reality
In that meeting, it all sort of clicked and came together in my head. What the client needed was not just an app to show presentations. It had to be also easy to add, remove and manage content. The idea of Showell - a sales tool that combines cloud-based content management with offline presenting and content sharing - was born. We saw that there was a demand for a tool like Showell.
"We've managed to preserve the essence of Showell: simplicity and a smooth user experience."
The funny fact is that the client never bought Showell! But the second one did, and they are still with us.
I feel that even though we’ve developed a lot, we have still managed to preserve the essence of Showell: simplicity and a smooth user experience.
The journey of memories
Memories from the last ten years range from total despair to “nothing can stop us” winner feeling.
"Hey Sami, did you notice that we are the only ones who speak Finnish here."
My best memories are from moments when we have gathered together to spend time with each other. Just a few weeks ago, when we were having after-work drinks in a nearby bar with a group of employees, a colleague of mine said to me: "Hey Sami, did you notice that we are the only ones who speak Finnish here." That comment reminded me that my dream of building an international software company had happened.
Personally, I have learned the most from working with international clients and investors. There are also many fun memories from these trips. Like meeting with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s cousin in Austria, traveling across Golden Gate in a Limousine, staying awake in a small Swiss village because nearby churn bells rang every 30 minutes through the night, or having dinner with the Finnish Consul General in his New York Central Park apartment. As an outcome of meeting new people and businesses around the world, I can proudly say that today we are an international software company.
"Its the not the Destination, It's the journey.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Together we did it
I want to thank all our customers. Some of you have been with us for years already. This year we also celebrate our 10th anniversary in cooperation with Valtra.
Some great people have made all this possible. People like my brother Juha Suni, Co-founder and our CTO. Other people whose contribution has made Showell a reality are Aleksi Niemi, Markus Lehto, Kari Turunen, Juha Mattila, Tero Paananen, Tapani Tikkanen, just to name few.
Also, special thanks go to our Seed round investors, Trind Ventures and CHB Partners. And of course to all current and former employees of Showell.
The next 10 years
"We’ve already stepped into the world of digital sales rooms, and we support immersive content and technologies such as 3D and augmented reality."
What will the next ten years have in store for Showell? We believe that educating buyers and helping them to find the right solutions in a chaotic, competitive, and global environment is more crucial than ever. Sales will be more fragmented, and buying journeys will have more touch points. Sales tools like Showell help sellers to interact in each step and guide buyers forward in the process. We’ve already stepped into the world of digital sales rooms, and we support immersive content and technologies such as 3D and augmented reality.
In the next ten years, we will become part of the so-called Metaverse. And we will continue to help sales teams to show well and sell better, both in person and virtually.
