Mihkel Stamm.Let’s talk
Mihkel Stamm, Estonian DefenceTech founder and former fintech CEO

DefenceTech founder · Operator · Systems builder

I build high-stakes
companies.
And the systems
behind them.

My primary focus is building DefenceTech ventures in stealth. Alongside that work, I’m developing an AI-enabled Leadership OS and selectively helping leaders turn strategy into disciplined execution.

Explore the Leadership OS Discuss working together
MIHKEL STAMMTallinn, Estonia · Building with purpose
Human-led. Evidence-grounded. Built to execute.
15+Years of operating experience
12Countries operated across
4xRevenue scaled to profitability
€900M+Funded volume facilitated
Former fintech CEO & board memberAngel investor & EstBAN memberEstonian Defence Forces Reserve Officer
01The current chapter

Building for
what must hold.

Today, I’m building DefenceTech ventures in stealth.

My current founder work is focused on critical infrastructure protection, airspace resilience and counter-UAS. The ventures remain in stealth while products, partnerships and delivery capability are being built.

01Critical infrastructure protection
02Airspace resilience
03Counter-UAS
Active founder work. Intentionally confidential.
02A working system, not a software promise

AI Leadership OS.

From important knowledge
to accountable action.

A leadership operating system built from 15 years of scaling regulated companies across Europe and from active founder work. It helps leaders navigate the organisational transition into AI by connecting strategic context, decisions, ownership and recurring workflows into governed, human-led systems.

Human-led · AI-enabled · Execution-focused
THE LEADERSHIP LOOPSYSTEM / 01
Context & memory
Evidence & AI agents
Governance & review
Workflows & cadence
Evaluation & memory
Learning returns to direction
01 / DIRECTION

Strategic context, goals and constraints create a shared view of what matters and what does not.

H

Human judgment is the governing layer. Decision rights, consequential approvals and accountability stay with people.

Actively built. Used in practice. Continuously developed.Explore an OS for your organisation
03From experience to method

Not a theory.
An operating habit.

The system came from the work.

International scale made context essential. Regulation made governance non-negotiable. A shift toward profitability sharpened priorities. Board responsibility made visibility matter. Founder work brought it all together.

Grounded in disciplined execution frameworks including Lean, Agile Scrum product ownership and the 4DX execution cadence, the Leadership OS turns those lessons into reusable organisational capability: shared memory, explicit decisions, clear ownership and an execution rhythm that learns.

SYSTEM FOUNDATIONS
International scaleRegulation & governanceProfitabilityExecution frameworksFounder execution
04Selected operating work

Experience, in practice.

Evidence over claims.
01 / SCALE & REGULATION

From a small team to a
pan-European platform.

As a fintech COO, CEO and board member, I helped scale a regulated European platform from 2 to 9 countries, growing the team from approximately 6 to more than 130 people, €900M+ in funded volume and an investor community of 160,000+.

  • Built ~€200M annual financing operating architecture
  • Multi-country leadership across product, risk, tech, compliance and sales
  • Transitioned from startup to regulated pan-European platform
  • Scaled revenue 4x while shifting focus to sustainable profitability
Operations · Governance · International scale
02 / ONGOING FOUNDER ADVISORY

From ambition to an
executable operating model.

In an ongoing engagement with an early-stage B2B founder entering a complex international market, I helped narrow a broad plan into two operating priorities: sales and financing.

  • GTM and investor assumptions pressure-tested
  • Financial model, runway and fundraising path aligned to measurable milestones
  • Weekly decision and accountability rhythm installed
  • Founder bottlenecks translated into clearer ownership and delegation
Founder advisory · GTM · Fundraising readiness
Anonymised ongoing engagement.

Selected work reflects operating experience and ongoing engagements, not a promise of outcomes.

05Selective engagements

Serious work.
The right fit.

I’m building my own ventures. Alongside that, I work selectively with founders and leadership teams making the organisational shift into AI, as an operating advisor and, where there is strong mutual conviction, as an angel investor and EstBAN member.

Fractional or board-level leadership is considered selectively, where mandate, responsibility and capacity align.

06How I work

Clear thinking.
Real ownership.
Forward motion.

01

Start with reality.

Separate facts, assumptions, risks and preferences before deciding.

02

Make ownership explicit.

Important outcomes need clear decision rights, accountable owners and evidence gates.

03

Turn ambiguity into movement.

Find the next action that creates information, proof or momentum.

04

Build systems that remove work.

A process, workflow or AI agent should improve judgment or eliminate repeated effort, not create administrative machinery.

05

Keep humans accountable.

AI can prepare, analyse and monitor. People retain judgment, responsibility and the final decision.

07Essays & reflections

Thinking in the open.

Three selected ideas, written from the work
FIELD JOURNAL

Shorter, ongoing reflections from building companies and leadership systems, published here as the thinking develops.

Portrait of Mihkel StammTALLINN, ESTONIA
08A little context

From operating systems
to building my own.

I’m Mihkel. A founder and builder with an operator’s understanding of what it takes to make things work.

My path has taken me from banking, product and process improvement to COO, board and CEO leadership, scaling a regulated fintech platform internationally and leading through a shift toward profitability.

Today, that experience informs my DefenceTech founder work, the Leadership OS I’m developing, and the founders and leadership teams I selectively advise.

I am also an angel investor and EstBAN member, with experience assessing and supporting early-stage companies across fintech, proptech, AI and DefenceTech. My background includes an M.A. in Psychology, with early work in clinical psychology and neuroscience, alongside service as an Estonian Defence Forces Reserve Officer.

Full career history on LinkedIn

Meaningful problems. Lasting capability. Human accountability.
09The next conversation

Building something
that matters?

For focused conversations, relevant partnerships and work where there’s a real fit.

01DefenceTech & strategic partnerships02Leadership OS & organisational AI03Advisory & board conversations04Founder pitches & angel investment
mihkel.stamm@gmail.com Tallinn, Estonia · International perspective