Risto Lähdesmäki

Founder & CEO, Idean

Risto Lähdesmäki is a Founder and CEO of Idean Inc., one of the leading UX design companies in the world. His passion is to create world-changing user experiences and make design driven business impact for his clients. Since 1999 Risto has been working with a huge number of UX projects around the world for major leading consumer and b-to-b brands – from mobile to ubiquitous screens. He has a special talent for identifying business opportunities for his client companies – and he is somewhat water-resistant for a phrase: “this is not possible to do”. Luckily he is surrounded by a group of other similar mindsets at Idean. Currently Risto is growing Idean business in the US and as a Chairman of the company he oversees global business development. Risto is an designer and entrepreneur by heart and has worked with Start-ups all his professional career.

Articles by Risto Lähdesmäki

How to Build a Customer Support Function for Startups Using AI Tools with Alex Velinov

Delivering high-quality customer support can be one of the most resource-draining parts of a startup. The good news: we’re at a turning point where founders can use AI tools to...

Zero → 100: The Exact Steps We Took to Close Our First 100 Paying Customers

Going from zero customers to 100 in just four months sounds impossible—unless you’re a founder willing to roll up your sleeves and hustle relentlessly. I’m Gaurav Bhattacharya, co-founder of Jeeva.ai,...

Unblocking Startup Growth: Best Practices for Sales Discovery & Qualification with Richard Harris

Startups are in a constant race against time and resources, navigating complex sales environments with lean teams and limited margins for error. In a recent session from the Mucker Growth...

The LinkedIn Playbook: How Startup Founders Can Stand Out & Scale

This LinkedIn Playbook is based on insights from a recent one-time Mucker Growth Session webinar featuring LinkedIn growth experts Alec Paul (Founder of SalesBrand) and Kyle Williams (Founder of Brickstack)....

DeepSeek vs OpenAI: Comparison Breakdown and What It Means For Your Tech Startup With Dan Cleary

In this recent webinar of our Mucker Growth Series, we discussed the evolving AI landscape with Dan Cleary, founder of PromptHub. He provided an in-depth breakdown of DeepSeek vs. OpenAI,...

Building Product Without Knowing Code With Adam New Waterson

In a deep dive into AI-driven product development, Adam New-Waterson, a former CMO turned Chief Product Officer and now solopreneur, shared how non-technical founders can harness the power of AI...