A CEO Perspective on Structured Market Expansion

Keto Software, a growing Finnish software company, needed a suitable partner to support its expansion into new markets, particularly in the UK and DACH regions. To succeed, it needed to enhance its brand visibility beyond Finland and connect with key decision-makers in large companies.

For Keto Software, engaging with Aurora Live was a leadership-level decision aligned with the company’s broader growth ambitions. Rather than viewing executive meetings as a tactical sales activity, the initiative reflected a strategic approach to structured market engagement.

“We can skip five stages in our sales process and save a lot of time and nerves because it’s tough trying to get to the right people.” - Veijo Hytti, CEO at Keto Software

About Keto Software

Our home market is Finland, but we decided to expand the business abroad. We decided to invest in Aurora Live in two markets, the UK and DACH. Then COVID hit right around when our new product was launched. We started to build our product 8 years ago, which is a strategic portfolio management software that helps big organizations measure objectives and strategies with their investments. That's what we provide for our customers, it's AI-boosted and we have amazing UX.

The Solution

Partnership Supporting Innovation Aurora Live is by far our most important partner. We have done 332 meetings in five countries. I have done 95 myself. For me, it's not about lead generation. When we started Keto Software 8 years ago, I said that in B2B sales, cold calling would be forbidden forever. If you put your business in a pyramid, on the lowest level, you have these lead generation companies, and they will be dead because no one will answer the phone anymore. Aurora Live and the Aurora Live Network are at the top.

Targeting the Right Decision-Makers

When you don’t know a prospect’s company, you have to investigate the background quite well because titles don't tell much. It's hard trying to find the right companies and decision-makers on LinkedIn alone. For example, the CIO may not be the right person as responsibilities differ from company to company. You
have done a lot of pre-work because most of the contacts are relevant.

Meeting Quality in UK and DACH

I loved the meetings. Aurora Live was not in the UK before, or they were some years ago. As I live in Switzerland, I started attending many meetings with Swiss members in the Aurora Live Network. Out of the 95 meetings I’ve attended, 70 to 80 were in Switzerland. I had a 50% conversion, meaning that after the 15-
minute meeting, I booked a demo meeting.

“It's amazing because the time I'm using is 100% useful. Even if decision-makers are not interested right now, it’s a good way to build our brand.”

Success Stories and Results

For example, the first big event we invested in with Aurora Live was just before COVID. Our platform was just about ready. It was the Automotive Strategy Forum in Germany with 200 C-level decision-makers in attendance. We were a Platinum Partner and had 35 personal meetings at the event.

We had one proof of concept from the event with the IT Director from a large automotive company in Germany. But he changed positions, and we lost contact. However, I found him through the Network and had a meeting with him in June. After 5 years of no contact, we made a deal with him recently!

We started having meetings with UK decision-makers this year. You’ve been successfully building the UK network and there are better and better decision-makers each time. Our Business Development Director had 69 meetings in the UK, and we closed a deal in just 3 months. We had our first meeting with Pladis International in March and signed a contract with them in June.

Looking Ahead

We signed a 3-year deal with Aurora Live last year. There is good potential for both of us in the future. This is the reality of B2B sales with big companies. What is the probability of signing a deal? I don’t have an answer because it's zero or one. Most of our new business comes from what we call “on-hold status.” Prospects will approach us with an urgent need for our service and partnership.

We don't need to sign 1,000 new customers because out of these 332 meetings that we have done, our recurring revenue is on average €100,000, and because we are selling software, our margin is 85%. So, if we do 100 meetings with a €100,000 investment, closing one deal is enough. If the conversion rate in 12 months is 1%, we are safe.

“We have already closed 3 deals so far, but our target is to close 4 more by the end of the year.”

Key Takeaways & Next Steps

Why Keto Software Chose Aurora Live: