Careers Are Rarely Linear: EBS Alumni Share Lessons in Entrepreneurship and Leadership

How can you unlock new career opportunities, navigate change and find the right direction in entrepreneurship? EBS alumni Mariell Toiger, Rain Vääna and Haver Järveoja explored these questions in a panel discussion that concluded EBS Staff Week, sharing their experiences in leadership, entrepreneurship and continuous learning.

The discussion, “From experience to insight: how leaders learn and keep growing?”, highlighted a common theme: careers rarely follow a straight line. Progress depends on the courage to experiment, the willingness to change direction and the people we can learn from and collaborate with to create new opportunities.

The courage to take a different career path

Mariell Toiger, who has worked at Paulig for 18 years and held almost ten different roles during that time, emphasised the importance of being brave enough to explore new career directions. She noted that professional growth can also mean taking sideways steps and accepting challenges that lead beyond familiar territory.

Career development does not necessarily mean moving upwards. Sometimes, trying a new field or role offers an opportunity to gain different skills and look at familiar problems from a fresh perspective. Toiger also highlighted the importance of viewing failure as a learning experience. Rather than dwelling on mistakes, we can look for lessons that help us make better decisions in the future.

Ready Player Me: from experimentation to success

EBS alumnus Haver Järveoja shared the story of Ready Player Me, a company that gained international recognition. He explained that success depends on several factors coming together: a strong team, a great product and the right timing.

The company’s journey was far from straightforward. Over seven years, it changed direction six or seven times, demonstrating how important it is in entrepreneurship to challenge initial assumptions and adapt when necessary.

Järveoja’s own journey began as an EBS student. A shared ambition also played an important role in building the company: the founders wanted to create something new and turn their ideas into reality. Järveoja also recalled the support of EBS founder Madis Habakuk in the early stages of the venture.

The Ready Player Me experience illustrates that a good idea alone is not enough to achieve success. A strong team, perseverance and the ability to learn when the original plan does not work are equally important.

Becoming an entrepreneur means embracing change

Rain Vääna reflected on his transition from a CEO role to entrepreneurship and the changes that came with it. In a new role, the expertise and status built in a previous position may no longer carry the same weight. Being willing to learn, adapt and prove yourself again becomes essential.

At the same time, Vääna noted that much of the appeal of entrepreneurship lies in solving problems. Challenges are plentiful, but so are opportunities to find different solutions. Entrepreneurship makes it possible to keep experimenting, bring new ideas to life and make a difference through your work.

How has EBS shaped its alumni’s careers?

The discussion also explored how EBS has supported its alumni’s professional development and entrepreneurial mindset. Their experiences highlighted that, alongside the knowledge gained at university, relationships, shared ambitions and an environment that encourages action are equally important.

Toiger highlighted Estonians’ entrepreneurial spirit and their ability to try again when faced with difficulties. As a small independent country, Estonia has learned to look for solutions even when the first attempt fails. The key is not to stop at the first obstacle, but to try again and, when necessary, take a different approach.

Vääna emphasised the lasting value of the relationships built at EBS. He remains friends with his classmates from 2001, many of whom are entrepreneurs themselves and continue to learn from one another’s experiences. In his view, people are just as important as knowledge in entrepreneurship: they are the ones with whom you can share ideas, build teams and discover new opportunities.

Järveoja, in turn, recalled how important it was to find people who shared his ambition when starting the company. A common goal and mutual support helped turn ideas into reality and laid the foundation for the company’s development.

The alumni’s experiences show that the value of a university education extends beyond the knowledge acquired during studies. It can also be found in relationships, opportunities for collaboration and an entrepreneurial mindset that stays with people throughout their careers.

Every new challenge is an opportunity to learn

One of the central messages of the panel discussion was that careers and entrepreneurship involve continuous learning. Not every answer is clear from the outset, and things do not always go according to plan. What matters is the willingness to experiment, adapt and learn from the people around us.

EBS Staff Week brought together an international academic community to explore learning and development in a changing world. The alumni’s experiences added a practical perspective to the discussion: the knowledge gained at university, the relationships built there and the courage to explore new opportunities can continue to shape a career long after graduation.