Martti Vallila

Russia may be the last untapped source of potentially disruptive technologies. Its history as a closed, alternate society, in the days of the Cold War, fed an insular culture. Soviet science proved its capabilities, dramatically, with the launch of sputnik. Sakharov developed an original design for his Hydrogen bomb. That alternate universe no longer exists. The world is, instead, connecting, thanks to a web whose origins can be traced to Silicon Valley. When Russia opened in 1991 the only alternative available to Russians interested in launching their ideas into the global village was to immigrate. Many did. Transformational technologies often emerge from fresh perspectives. There are probably more untapped "fresh perspectives" hidden in Russia then anywhere else. Why? Russians have access to the world's technologies, thanks to the West's openness. They are up to date, yet many do not trust their own government to protect their interests, and thus keep brilliant ideas to themselves. Soviet society did not recognize private property. Intellectual property protection is fundamental to value creation and innovation. I first visited Russia in 1991, just as she was opening, and was struck by the unharnessed energy of her people. My background, born in Prague, son of a Finnish diplomat (who participated in post-war reparation negotiations between Finland and Russia) gave me a perspective on what was possible. The book tells of how this optimist was educated in the world of "hard knocks". When I left IBM on my "leap of faith" into Russia I followed what I believed to be a calling. Experiences described in the book forged a business model that I believe addresses the unique challenges and opportunities of the moment. The book tells how I founded companies based on potentially transformational technologies. One offers a treatment and possible prevention of Alzheimer's (Buddha Biopharma OY), another promises an extension of Moore's Law on silicon (Fuzzy Chip). These are not small ideas. My original idea about Finland as a gateway out for Russian ideas was discouraged. Singapore emerged as an alternate location, one respecting IP protection and the "rule of law", while not having any Russia "complex". I take the reader to the far corners of the largest country on earth, during a period in which it experienced great change. Chapters describe numerous locations and technologies discovered there. I have made nothing up. It is my hope the story will develop an image of Russia as a possible source of ""big things" that can be commercialized when combined with the resources of trusted Western partners. I takes the reader through steps needed to build a business, specifying relevant "business lessons" at the conclusion of every chapter. The book may be seen as a teaching tool, a provider of case studies, presented with humor.

This "Bannana book" (that awaits a final chapter) brings the reader up to date on efforts to find investors needed to launch a promising Alzheimer's treatment with Russian roots into the Western world. It includes legal briefs making the case for an equity investor, and includes, in the appendix, issued US Patents covering the invention. The book also tells of projects that promise to contribute to the economic development of Mindanao, the large southern Philippine Island that offered me a home as I awaited the arrival of justice and vindication. It includes numerous black and white photographs.

I discovered Mindanao in 1971, sent as a volunteer teacher by Stanford's Volunteers in Asia program to Mindanao State University in Marawi City. The story of my eighteen months there is told in "Bannana's Near Death Experiences". Circumstances prompted my returned to Mindanao in 2017 with martial law in operation after the siege of Marawi by terrorists that grabbed the world's headlines. I decided to try to apply lessons I had learned in the "school of hard knocks" to the reconstruction of Marawi and the modernization of the telecommunications infrastructure of what I consider Asia's sleeping giant, an English-speaking nation of over 7,100 islands lacking effective connectivity to the rest of the world, a situation about to change because of technologies that are available, but have not yet been implemented. The book includes many photographs and is filled with practical advice for anyone considering travel or retirement in a place currently considered dangerous but offering some of the world's most beautiful geography and welcoming hospitality. This book has text identical to "Bannana Returns to Mindanao" but the numerous photographs are in color.

I discovered Mindanao in 1971, sent as a volunteer teacher by Stanford's Volunteers in Asia program to Mindanao State University in Marawi City. The story of my eighteen months there is told in "Bannana's Near Death Experiences". Circumstances prompted my returned to Mindanao in 2017 with martial law in operation after the siege of Marawi by terrorists that grabbed the world's headlines. I decided to try to apply lessons I had learned in the "school of hard knocks" to the reconstruction of Marawi and the modernization of the telecommunications infrastructure of what I consider Asia's sleeping giant, an English-speaking nation of over 7,100 islands lacking effective connectivity to the rest of the world, a situation about to change because of technologies that are available, but have not yet been implemented. The book includes many photographs and is filled with practical advice for anyone considering travel or retirement in a place currently considered dangerous but offering some of the world's most beautiful geography and welcoming hospitality. This book includes numerous black and white photographs. (A sister book and the Kindle version feature color photographs.)

Suddenly I became a "double grandfather" as each of my two daughters produced a member of the next generation, within a month of one-another. These events opened a new chapter in my life and prompted reflections on the wonders of this period of life that I share with the reader. This unfinished work is filled with black and white photos and tips on child rearing.

This "Bannana book" speaks about Finland, my father's country, and how I was treated there as an outsider, not speaking the language of a court system that does not put its best foot forward in these pages. I was forced into defending myself, after forming a company, Buddha Biopharma OY, with two Russian partners and running it for over three years. The company promised a treatment for Alzheimer's, and other age-related neurological ailments, and was hopeful of obtaining funding from TEKES, the Finnish government agency responsible for supporting start-ups with promising technologies. When no funding was provided, I was fired, illegally, prompting the initiation of first an arbitration, and then civil and criminal cases, in the District Court of Helsinki. The book details the nightmare experienced in a judicial system where only Finnish, a language I do not speak (in spite of my Finnish name) is recognized. Shady court procedures and broken promises are exposed. I explain Finland"s potential as a positive force in Russia's modernization, and frustration at seeing how existing attitudes by Finns fall short of addressing this potential. The appendix of the book includes business plans describing the promising Alzheimer prevention technology and absurd legal decisions. I was assisted by Finnish lawyers, some acting against my interests, others abandoning me at crucial moments, forcing me to proceed with only the aid of translators. The picture it paints of Finland, a country with a reputation of openness and fair play, is not a pretty one.

Letters to my mother written from Mindanao. the Philippines, during my 18 months as a volunteer teacher at Mindanao State University, are testimonials of a young optimist's ignorance of "near death experiences" of the physical variety. Other tales from a life lived on the edge, financially and physically, are told from a perspective of survival in this "Bannana book".Photographs illustrate scenes described in my journals and letters. My time among Moslems in Mindanao, presented in "real time", may be considered field work relevant to a discussion of today's threat of Islamic terror, which threatens western civilization with a "near death experience". My return to the Philippines, after 45 years away, (catalogued in "Bannana Returns to Mindanao") anticipates a reconnection of dots not imaginable when I wrote this book.Skiing on snow provided "near death experiences" of the physical variety while real estate moves and confrontations with "public servants" and judges in Finland caused "near death" financial and legal adventures.

Russia may be the last untapped source of potentially disruptive technologies. Its history as a closed, alternate society, in the days of the Cold War, fed an insular culture. Soviet science proved its capabilities, dramatically, with the launch of sputnik. Sakharov developed an original design for his Hydrogen bomb. That alternate universe no longer exists. The world is, instead, connecting, thanks to a web whose origins can be traced to Silicon Valley. When Russia opened in 1991 the only alternative available to Russians interested in launching their ideas into the global village was to immigrate. Many did. Transformational technologies often emerge from fresh perspectives. There are probably more untapped "fresh perspectives" hidden in Russia then anywhere else. Why? Russians have access to the world's technologies, thanks to the West's openness. They are up to date, yet many do not trust their own government to protect their interests, and thus keep brilliant ideas to themselves. Soviet society did not recognize private property. Intellectual property protection is fundamental to value creation and innovation. I first visited Russia in 1991, just as she was opening, and was struck by the unharnessed energy of her people. My background, born in Prague, son of a Finnish diplomat (who participated in post-war reparation negotiations between Finland and Russia) gave me a perspective on what was possible. The book tells of how this optimist was educated in the world of "hard knocks". When I left IBM on my "leap of faith" into Russia I followed what I believed to be a calling. Experiences described in the book forged a business model that I believe addresses the unique challenges and opportunities of the moment. The book tells how I founded companies based on potentially transformational technologies. One offers a treatment and possible prevention of Alzheimer's (Buddha Biopharma OY), another promises an extension of Moore's Law on silicon (Fuzzy Chip). These are not small ideas. My original idea about Finland as a gateway out for Russian ideas was discouraged. Singapore emerged as an alternate location, one respecting IP protection and the "rule of law", while not having any Russia "complex". I take the reader to the far corners of the largest country on earth, during a period in which it experienced great change. Chapters describe numerous locations and technologies discovered there. I have made nothing up. It is my hope the story will develop an image of Russia as a possible source of ""big things" that can be commercialized when combined with the resources of trusted Western partners. I takes the reader through steps needed to build a business, specifying relevant "business lessons" at the conclusion of every chapter. The book may be seen as a teaching tool, a provider of case studies, presented with humor. This book features color photographs.

A tipping point on the road I hoped would transform an outsider into a millionaire occurred at a lunch in a restaurant on the Boston waterfront silhouetted in the cover photo. A member of Boston's oldest Intellectual property firm was introducing me to investors in a position to support the commercialization of disruptive technologies (described in the appendix). I hurried to the surprise meeting from a grand jury room where I was serving on the "right side" of US law, benefitting from my experience as a convicted criminal in Finland, my father's country. Having arrived in Boston shortly before the Marathon bombing, it took forever to fund companies I had formed based on technologies I had found in Russia, while I continued legal battles in Finland.This "Bannana book" tells the story of how I reached numerous "tipping points", and fortune. It includes reflections on the deterioration of US-Russian relations from the moment Yeltsin literally put his heart into the hands of American surgeons, and provides thoughts on how relations between the two countries may be improved by "bottom-up" collaborations on technology commercialization, for which Boston is in a position of "comparative advantage".The book ends in Washington DC, outside the Trump White House, in a scene worthy of a movie that proves that truth is, indeed, stranger than fiction, and that no good deed goes unpunished.

This "Bannana book" describes my experiences in the legal systems of Silicon Valley and Finland, initiated by good faith efforts to commercialize potentially transformational technologies from Russian inventors. The Russian inventor's non-compliance with obligations, stipulated in signed agreements, forced the initiation of arbitrations and court cases, where I found myself opposed by top notch legal talent, sometimes representing myself. In Silicon Valley the scientist was Dr. Vladimir Poponin, his technology, the direct optical detection of DNA (promising the immediate reading of the human genome, the gateway to personalized medicine), my opponent, the high-profile billionaire Vinod Khosla (who wished to remain anonymous). In Finland the scientist was Dr. Igor Pomytkin, his technology, the prevention of Alzheimer's and all age-related neurological ailments, my adversary, top Helsinki law firm Juridia, representing the other side, and my own lawyer I discuss parallels between the two experiences. The first exposed hard ball legal tactics employed by Fenwick & West, in the service of investor Khosla, whose deeds were in conflict with a carefully crafted public persona. The appendix of the book includes a transcript of the five-day arbitration hearing, providing the reader a comprehensive look at the process and a perspective from which to judge the truthfulness of representations I make in my text. My California experience provided important lessons when I was confronted, years later, with behavior in Finland forcing me to initiate legal action against my co-founders in Buddha Biopharma OY.