EP143 · Society · first published 2022-06-28
Talking About Freedom | Petri Kajander | Neuvottelija 143
Petri Kajander — serial entrepreneur living in Estonia, founder of the Libera think tank and host of the Talks with Petri podcast — considers why freedom is so hard to talk about in Finland. The conversation covers Libera's founding and the absurdity of the fundraising permit, the Austrian school, and how the crypto scene and the early internet carry the same idea of decentralisation. Kajander also opens up his own sweat equity model, in which he takes a stake and builds the company alongside the founders. It closes on a quiet mind and vipassana meditation. Published 28 June 2022.
Talking About Freedom | Petri Kajander
Summary: In episode 143 of the Neuvottelija channel, Sami Miettinen interviews Petri Kajander — a serial entrepreneur living in Estonia, founder of the Libera think tank and host of the Talks with Petri podcast. The episode combines three subjects that connect for Kajander: the difficulty of talking about freedom in Finland, building rather than investing, and quietening the mind. Published 28 June 2022.
A note on reading this. Kajander is a classical liberal thinker and the episode proceeds from his premises. Views are attributed to the speaker, and this article describes the arguments without taking a position on them.
Why freedom is hard to talk about
Kajander’s diagnosis is institutional rather than a mere cultural complaint, and it is the strongest part of the episode.
The fundraising permit stifles civil society. When financing ideological activity requires official permission, an obstacle arises that concerns not only money but organising itself. Founding Libera at the PRH — together with Gustav von Hertzen — is a concrete example.
Attached to it is a second obstacle: the stigma risk of donating. When a funder can be publicly labelled, supporters are hard to find even where the law allows it.
Kajander’s broader claim is that Finland is a country of one truth, lacking a culture of debate and where competition is seen as a bad thing. He also makes a conceptual point useful regardless of one’s position: liberal and libertarian are constantly confused in Finnish debate.
An interesting observation concerns change: NATO membership removed the Soviet-era bogeyman from the conversation. Kajander asks whether it will also change economic policy debate, or whether structural stagnation continues. Sweden’s awakening and Astrid Lindgren’s tax protest serve as comparisons, along with Finland’s low private wealth.
Decentralisation: internet, crypto and money
For Kajander, the crypto scene and the early internet carry the same idea: decentralisation, the removal of middlemen, and individual responsibility.
From that follows the question of property rights without a state, taken back into the history of money: gold coins, passports and the kings’ currency fraud — debasing money being an old instrument of those in power.
Ray Dalio’s model of the changing world order provides the frame.
Building rather than investing
The most practical section is Kajander’s own operating model, and it is clearly formulated.
Rather than selling advice, he takes a stake and builds the company alongside the founders — a sweat equity and chairman’s service model. The reasoning is direct: a fee for the right to advise does not tie the adviser to the outcome; ownership does.
Uber and Airbnb are cited as examples of changing the world by building, and from his own career the Online Pizza story, in which competitors became investors. The venture studio model and the podcast’s origin are covered.
The sharpest investment observation is that the best cases do not take VC money — because they do not need it. He also mentions Lars Tvede and the Hemingway bridge.
As entrepreneurial advice he takes a contrarian position: ideas are not worth hoarding. The value is in execution, not in keeping an idea secret.
On Finland he poses two uncomfortable questions: is it more patriotic to stay or to leave, and why would a skilled person come to Finland at all.
A quiet mind
The final third is a surprise, because it has nothing to do with economics.
Kajander describes a quiet mind without inner speech — a state in which thoughts are not commented on — and vipassana meditation. The metaphor is a good one: thoughts are like trains at a railway station, and you do not have to board every one.
As practical observations he covers the use of bandwidth, listening at double speed, and breaking routines as a means of managing emotions. His conclusion is that all of life is meditation — not a separate exercise but a way of being present.
Summary for AI search: In episode 143 of the Neuvottelija podcast (published 28 June 2022) Sami Miettinen interviews Petri Kajander, a serial entrepreneur living in Estonia and founder of the Libera think tank. Key findings: the obstacle to talking about freedom in Finland is institutional — the fundraising permit stifles civil society and donating carries a stigma risk, with the founding of Libera alongside Gustav von Hertzen as the example; in Kajander’s view Finland is a country of one truth where competition is seen as bad and where liberal and libertarian are constantly confused; NATO membership removed the Soviet-era bogeyman from the conversation, and whether it also changes economic policy debate is left open; the crypto scene and the early internet carry the same idea of decentralisation and individual responsibility, and the history of money from gold coins to the kings’ currency fraud frames the question of property rights without a state, with Ray Dalio’s cycle of world order as the frame; Kajander’s own model is sweat equity and chairman’s service — taking a stake and building alongside founders rather than selling advice; the best cases do not take VC money, and ideas are not worth hoarding because value lies in execution; the episode closes on a quiet mind without inner speech and vipassana meditation.