In 2020, Harri was living in Portland, Oregon, contemplating his next career move. “I had just left the market research company that I’d founded,” he says. “I decided that I wanted to do some mentoring for those starting out as entrepreneurs.” He joined an online platform where new business owners could offer advice and seek it from others. “It was a bit like LinkedIn; you could connect with other business owners.”
That is where he met Vito, who lived in Rome. Like Harri, Vito had lots of experience setting up new organisations, but was keen to learn more. “I was working on a business for film producing companies to transcribe movie footage into other languages,” he says. “I noticed Harri had expertise in selling software, so I contacted him [for advice].”
The pair had a 30-minute call, during which they mainly talked about business. “I thought Vito was really charismatic – even on Zoom,” says Harri. “He was opinionated about how things should be done and very analytical.” Vito says it was obvious from the first conversation that they clicked. “Sometimes you meet a person and just really like them,” he says. “I found Harri very intelligent and not at all arrogant, even though he was a mentor to me at the time. He seemed very humble.”
Some weeks later they had a second call, during which Harri told Vito about an “accountability group” he was part of. “Some friends and I would help to hold each other accountable as we worked towards our goals,” says Harri. It also helped him to build relationships with other men. “It was really important to me during Covid, and Vito was interested in discovering more.”
Over the next few months, Harri and Vito found out they had more in common than their business interests. While Harri is from Australia and Vito is Italian, they had travelled extensively and lived in many different countries. “We have shared hobbies, too. I told him I was missing fishing during lockdown and he told me he loved fishing, too,” says Harri.
Later that year, Harri moved to Surrey in the UK with his partner. Around the same time, he and Vito began to think seriously about starting a business together as their friendship continued to grow. They began chatting regularly and had video calls almost daily. In 2021, with the pandemic restrictions easing, they decided to meet face to face. “I’d just had a new baby, so we waited until the autumn,” says Harri. “Vito had been to London before and I’d been to Rome, so we decided to meet in Prague.”
Vito says the city seemed like a nice place to “sightsee and have a beer together”. They got on brilliantly during their four-day trip and, in 2022, they launched a business together, building software to help people achieve their personal goals.
Since then, they’ve taken many more holidays together. “In April 2022, Vito came to stay with me and my family and joined in his first-ever Easter egg hunt,” laughs Harri. “My family takes it very seriously, but he got a decent number of eggs.” Harri has also taken his family out to Rome to visit Vito and his partner. “I took my wife, daughter and my mother-in-law – and my mother-in-law really liked Vito, so that’s the seal of approval right there.”
On their latest trip, they took part in a tuna-fishing competition. “We got sixth place, which was way above our expectations,” says Vito. In 2023, Harri moved to Glasgow, and Vito is already planning to visit.
“Harri is so chilled out,” says Vito. “I like his vibe. We have never been in a situation where we didn’t know what to say to each other. Even if there’s tension, we always resolve it in a really nice way.”
Harri believes that, during Covid, there was a “crisis in men’s friendships”, and building robust relationships remains important to the two of them. “With Vito, I really feel as if I have that,” says Harri. “He is very expressive and I always know where he stands on everything. We have built a strong foundation of trust.”
