Pekka Puolakka (FIN) - lessons from father and IOT

<p>In this Tax Stories episode I chat with Pekka who has spent more than 20 years with <em>Sorainen </em>law firm. After that he was the Managing Partner of <em>EY Law Baltics</em> for nearly 2 years. He has been my role-model and many others. I’d describe him more as an artist in his heart, a lawyer who speaks business language and a friend who understands people, knows how to pay attention & listen.</p><p><strong>Making movies</strong></p><p>We started the chat about Pekka’s hobby - making movies. In 2021 his movie was demonstrated in cinemas of Tallinn, which was a tribute to Charlie Chaplin’s the Kid, exactly 100 years after the original movie was released.  </p><p><strong>The Finland - Baltic common history</strong></p><p>Pekka told a story about starting the law firm in Vilnius back in 1990s when a mafia type guy was working next doors. During summer time the windows were open and the lawyers could hear the guy giving orders to his subordinates. We also discussed the Finnish sauna tradition roots and the differences of Soviet occupation outcome after WWII - why the Baltics lost it’s independence, but the Finns didn’t. Despite the history Pekka sees the current Finnish investment regime fairly safe, so Finland joining NATO is more necessary for politicians that for businesses.  </p><p><strong>Lessons in life</strong></p><p>Pekka’s father used to remind him that there are no shortcuts in life - those who work the most will succeed the most. For your book shelf Pekka recommends some nice titles as well:</p><p><em>21 Lessons for the 21st Century</em> - by Yuval Noah Harari. The book promises to give answers to questions relevant to many, some of them we discuss in this podcast as well, like where we have come from and where we are going, how do computers and robots change the meaning of being human; how do we deal with the epidemic of fake news; are nations and religions still relevant; what should we teach our children? Here the author invites us to consider values, meaning, and personal engagement in a world