Teodor Sternäng, Teo to everyone here, joined a month ago as our first person in Sweden. We asked him what the job actually looks like. His answers, lightly edited, and worth reading to the last question.
The first month
In his first week at Good2Know, Teo drove a rally race. He did not finish last. He beat last place by four seconds.
That is roughly the right amount of confidence for month one at a company like this: in the race, learning fast, not pretending to lead it yet. A month ago Teo became our first employee in Sweden, leading business development across Sweden and Denmark. He came from the car business himself, by way of a detour: first seven years in key account roles at Nike, then company sales at Bilia in Stockholm. This week we announced our expansion into the Swedish market. Teo, one month in, is the person building it.
We sent him nine questions over Slack and asked for honest over polished. Here is what came back.
Straight answers
One month in: how is it going, in your own words?
Honestly, better than I expected, but with a lot more to learn than I realised. I'm still very much in learning mode, but the more conversations I have with dealers and potential partners, the clearer it becomes that the challenges Good2Know is solving are very real.
What does your typical day actually look like right now?
There's probably no completely typical day yet. A lot of my time goes into connecting and speaking with dealers, building relationships, following up and learning how different businesses approach vehicle sourcing and risk.
What surprised you most in the first month?
Probably how differently dealerships approach the same challenge. Most want to reduce risk when buying cars, but their processes and priorities can look very different. Also the versatility of the data: how many different parts of the automotive industry can benefit from it.
What have you learned about how dealers in Sweden and Denmark buy, that you did not know coming in?
There really is no standard buying process. But one thing is clear: if something saves time, reduces risk and fits into the way dealers already work, they're interested.
What has been harder than you expected? And easier?
Harder has been accepting that you can't learn everything at once. Easier than expected has been getting people interested in the conversation. Most immediately understand the value of having the right vehicle information available.
One moment that stuck with you?
One conversation that stuck with me was with a dealer who initially said they already had systems for this. But when we started talking about their actual buying process, it became clear something else was going on.
"Access to information and actually being able to use it in the right moment are two very different things."
How do you explain Good2Know to a dealer now, compared to week one?
In week one, I probably focused more on the vast data that Good2Know provides. Today, I start with the problem: dealers already have access to a lot of information. The challenge is making the right information useful in the actual buying decision.
What are you going after in the next three months?
The next three months are about turning learning into momentum. I want to have more conversations, connect with more stakeholders, understand dealers' and other partners' processes even better, and build a strong pipeline of businesses where Good2Know can create real value.
We are opening the same role in a new market: what would you tell the person thinking about applying?
If you enjoy building relationships, learning quickly, and taking ownership and responsibility, it's a really exciting opportunity. You also need to be comfortable asking questions and not having all the answers from day one. I've learned a lot simply by listening to dealers, prospects and our amazing team.
Quickfire
Week one included a rally race. You beat last place by four seconds. Walk us through the strategy.
The strategy was simple. Don't crash. Don't finish last. Success.
Most Finnish thing about this company so far?
The love of rally and sauna is obvious. But the clearest thing is the Just Do It attitude with which every challenge and opportunity is faced.
(Seven years at Nike, and the slogan came with him. Ed.)
Month one in three words?
Motivating, opportunity, team. Or: future looks bright.
Buying blind is now a choice
Zoom out from Teo's month and every answer points at the same picture. Dealers in Sweden and Denmark want to reduce risk when they buy. Their processes differ, but the raw situation does not: a large share of used cars are still bought on the seller's story, the papers in the glovebox, and a walk-around. The information that would change the decision exists, somewhere. It is just not in the room.
For a long time that was simply how the trade worked, because there was no other way. That excuse is gone. In Finland, some of the market's largest dealers are making the data check a standard step in the buying process, not a spot check when something feels off. Rinta-Jouppi's stated goal is to check every incoming vehicle: the picture arriving before the decision, car by car. That is the model we announced this week we are bringing to Sweden.
This is the part that should make the industry slightly uncomfortable: once leading with data is possible, not doing it stops being neutral. A dealer who buys without the record is not unlucky, they are choosing to buy blind, and they are competing against houses that no longer do. In a market where margins live and die on what you did not know at intake, that is not a style difference. It is necessary infrastructure, the same way no one prices a loan without a credit check.
Teo said it better than we can, one month in: access to information and actually being able to use it in the right moment are two very different things. The dealers who close that gap buy better cars, price them tighter, and hand fewer surprises to the next owner.
The part where we hire
That last question was not hypothetical. We have opened the same role for the DACH market: the first person on the ground, building business development the way Teo is building it in Sweden and Denmark. If his month sounds like your kind of month, we want to hear from you at good2know.co/careers.