# Transcript: How to build a dream

## Description

We will talk about how to build a global company from the very ground up, how to establish corporate culture from the start, what comes before the product begins to sell, and how the leader and founder fit into it all. And since the story doesn’t end with the sale of Ytica and Květa and her husband are building their second dream together, it will surely be an interesting conversation full of practical experience.



Who is Květa Vostrá



Květa Vostrá is an IT entrepreneur with vision and determination who isn’t afraid to swim against the current. Together with her husband Šimon, she created and sold the startup Ytica to the American tech giant Twilio after just 18 months. She now leads her new company Salted CX, which helps businesses better understand their customers’ needs. Květa is a woman who isn’t afraid to learn, whether at Harvard Business School or every morning in the pool. Her approach to life and business is inspired by sports, where every step, even the painful ones, has meaning. She is a mother of two daughters. Her story is not about repeating success but about continuously improving herself and surpassing her own goals.

## Transcript

**[00:00:00]** Subtitles created by JohnyX http://johnyxcz.blogspot.com

**[00:00:30]** Hello, I greet everyone who made the trip to the Magenta Experience Center

**[00:00:40]** and also everyone watching us live,

**[00:00:45]** whether you're at school, in the library, at home, or at work.

**[00:00:51]** Today, a special hello to Plzeň, where a big experiment is happening

**[00:00:58]** and the Plzeň Innovation Center organized a great event with Brain&Breakfast,

**[00:01:03]** so greetings to Plzeň.

**[00:01:05]** And the Brain&Breakfast, like every month for eleven years,

**[00:01:11]** is interactive, so if I may ask,

**[00:01:15]** please take your mobile phones in hand,

**[00:01:18]** and they will serve you, or rather the slide app,

**[00:01:22]** will serve you to ask our guest today questions.

**[00:01:27]** And I will try it out myself in a moment.

**[00:01:32]** That means, go to www.slajdu.com and enter the hashtag Brain.

**[00:01:38]** Those of you watching us live,

**[00:01:40]** can ask questions right here under this live stream.

**[00:01:45]** And I already have the first question for you now,

**[00:01:49]** which is the traditional one, whether this is your first time having breakfast with us

**[00:01:55]** or if you have attended before.

**[00:01:57]** So try the poll, press something there,

**[00:02:02]** that will activate your mobile phone.

**[00:02:06]** Well, and I must also thank the Magenta Experience Center,

**[00:02:12]** which I mentioned, so thanks for hosting us here.

**[00:02:17]** For those watching us live,

**[00:02:20]** this QR code sometimes flashes here,

**[00:02:24]** which will take you to our Red Button network newsletter,

**[00:02:29]** called Shortcut, so you don't miss Brain & Breakfast,

**[00:02:34]** and many other interesting events we organize.

**[00:02:38]** The ad window is now over.

**[00:02:40]** And now the important part, because today is not about me,

**[00:02:46]** but about our guest, guest, whichever you prefer.

**[00:02:53]** It's May, so let's welcome Květa Ostrá.

**[00:02:56]** Květo, come join us, hi.

**[00:02:58]** Good morning.

**[00:03:06]** I won't introduce you because everyone knows why they came,

**[00:03:10]** why they came to your lectures, how to build a dream.

**[00:03:12]** Here, I hand you the imaginary baton and look forward to your talk. Enjoy it.

**[00:03:16]** Sure, thank you very much. Good morning.

**[00:03:20]** I'll introduce myself because I believe that in the audience,

**[00:03:24]** those watching us from different places, there might be people from bubbles,

**[00:03:28]** to which I don't belong, and that really interests and excites me.

**[00:03:33]** So my name is Květá, and today I'll share my experience,

**[00:03:40]** my journey, my story, but I think those who know me and are in the bubble,

**[00:03:46]** which I am in, called technological startups,

**[00:03:49]** have maybe read some interview with me or listened to a podcast

**[00:03:54]** or have already heard about some sphere that I either built

**[00:04:00]** or am building with my husband.

**[00:04:02]** So I thought I'd talk about things

**[00:04:07]** that journalists often don't ask about in interviews.

**[00:04:12]** And at the same time, I thought it would be great if I tried to make it so that each of you,

**[00:04:18]** even if you're not in the startup or tech world at all,

**[00:04:21]** might find something inspiring or maybe,

**[00:04:26]** take away something you can use this afternoon or tomorrow morning

**[00:04:32]** and say, 'That was actually one thing I use.'

**[00:04:35]** Because that's the way I operate and develop myself

**[00:04:40]** and how I try to inspire people around me, people in the company, in the team.

**[00:04:45]** And at the same time, that's the path I set out on and that I

**[00:04:50]** really enjoy.

**[00:04:52]** So many thanks to Honza for reaching out to me a few months ago,

**[00:04:57]** it took him a while to convince me about this format,

**[00:05:01]** and I'm really glad to be here today.

**[00:05:05]** I'll start with something we didn't have on slides, but what is one thing you did today

**[00:05:13]** after you woke up to make sure you will be

**[00:05:19]** relevant in five or ten years to your surroundings, your company,

**[00:05:25]** your family, your network.

**[00:05:28]** For example, I went swimming this morning and had a really tough workout.

**[00:05:33]** Honza didn't know because he didn't know the color of my swimsuit,

**[00:05:36]** but I spent an hour and 20 minutes in the pool, 20 minutes warming up,

**[00:05:41]** then I swam all four strokes for an hour,

**[00:05:44]** and at the end I jumped into the pool and my coach timed me.

**[00:05:49]** I was really happy that my times were better than last time,

**[00:05:53]** even if just by a little bit.

**[00:05:54]** Maybe we'll get back to that after this hour,

**[00:05:58]** and I'm really curious what you did,

**[00:06:00]** and I'll also be interested in what you might do differently tomorrow morning,

**[00:06:03]** compared to today.

**[00:06:04]** Because I truly believe, and this is my life philosophy,

**[00:06:08]** and the philosophy I run in the company,

**[00:06:10]** that none of us is perfect and the goal isn't to be perfect.

**[00:06:15]** The goal is to get a little closer every day to that,

**[00:06:19]** that we are getting better and better.

**[00:06:22]** And sometimes it doesn't work.

**[00:06:24]** Sometimes you just have a bad day and the environment and all those situations,

**[00:06:30]** where you come from, will tell you that you're not better.

**[00:06:34]** But I try to be at my best every day,

**[00:06:39]** so I feel like I've moved forward.

**[00:06:41]** That I'm not going backwards.

**[00:06:43]** And sometimes going backwards means you didn't make as many sales,

**[00:06:48]** you lost a customer, an employee quit.

**[00:06:53]** But what matters is that the next morning I stand up and say,

**[00:06:56]** ok, today I'm a little better.

**[00:06:59]** Or if I go back, I tell myself, today I managed

**[00:07:02]** to get a little closer to the customer,

**[00:07:05]** we improved this in the product.

**[00:07:07]** That's the feeling, that's one of the things

**[00:07:10]** I want to add for you,

**[00:07:14]** because for example, in our company there are 16 of us now,

**[00:07:17]** soon to be 17, and that really resonates with people.

**[00:07:20]** It's like when you have people around you

**[00:07:22]** who try to understand that

**[00:07:26]** we can't always be better and better,

**[00:07:28]** that it doesn't go up continuously, that the curve is like this,

**[00:07:31]** the path is thorny, but the mindset is about

**[00:07:35]** what actually went well for me.

**[00:07:38]** Because that helps us make incremental growth

**[00:07:41]** in the company, in our lives, in our surroundings,

**[00:07:44]** in communication with our family, with our friends.

**[00:07:47]** Can I click somehow, right?

**[00:07:50]** I also prepared...

**[00:07:55]** I made very minimalist slides.

**[00:08:02]** I think they are talking points,

**[00:08:05]** which I will divide and guide you through,

**[00:08:08]** about what I want to talk about for the whole hour and 56 minutes.

**[00:08:12]** And why me and why now.

**[00:08:16]** I'm a girl from Chomutov,

**[00:08:20]** I lived in a housing estate, just yesterday I looked,

**[00:08:23]** the elementary school I went to,

**[00:08:26]** has already been demolished and basically my world until about 18 years old

**[00:08:30]** was white panel buildings and for me Prague was,

**[00:08:36]** the big world I wanted to get to, where I wanted to be.

**[00:08:40]** Because I lived in a smaller town

**[00:08:43]** and for me, actually until I was 18 and got into school,

**[00:08:48]** the critical thing was to keep learning.

**[00:08:53]** I was interested in languages and was great at math,

**[00:08:57]** but I still didn't really know what I wanted.

**[00:09:00]** I often talk with younger people and they tell me,

**[00:09:03]** that your husband Šimon knew at 13

**[00:09:06]** that he wanted to have a global software company, and you didn't.

**[00:09:10]** You kept moving around, liking languages,

**[00:09:13]** liking math, and getting good grades,

**[00:09:16]** but you didn't really know what you wanted.

**[00:09:19]** At the end of first grade,

**[00:09:21]** we filled out a card where you glued a photo

**[00:09:24]** and had to write what you wished for, what profession

**[00:09:28]** you wanted to be.

**[00:09:30]** People wrote they wanted to be astronauts, garbage collectors, or tram drivers.

**[00:09:34]** I wrote that I wanted to be a teacher,

**[00:09:36]** but I think that came from the fact

**[00:09:38]** that I was a child of two teachers and my world,

**[00:09:41]** even during school,

**[00:09:44]** was that I spent a lot of time with my parents

**[00:09:47]** at after-school activities and clubs they organized.

**[00:09:52]** So I basically grew up at school.

**[00:09:55]** That's one thing I notice with my daughters too.

**[00:09:58]** They were soon five

**[00:10:00]** and 14, and the environment they grow up in is very important to introduce to them

**[00:10:06]** and also to let them see other environments, like your friends, or our friends,

**[00:10:13]** or coworkers, to show them a broader perspective beyond just their sector.

**[00:10:22]** So I try with my daughters, when we know lawyers,

**[00:10:27]** to have them explain and introduce what that work involves.

**[00:10:31]** For example, my younger daughter has wanted to be a doctor since she was little, but I see

**[00:10:35]** that she liked her own doctor, so she visited her and created that world,

**[00:10:41]** the ideal world of wanting to be a doctor.

**[00:10:44]** And this is very important in upbringing, to include this, to broaden horizons as much as possible.

**[00:10:50]** Because even as adults, we often have very distorted ideas about what some professions involve.

**[00:10:57]** So moving on, I went to university in Prague, already in the big world,

**[00:11:04]** and studied at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, specializing in software engineering,

**[00:11:10]** and from 18 I was involved in the IT world.

**[00:11:13]** That was the year 2000, and looking back 24 years,

**[00:11:19]** I was in a world that is, from a certain perspective, very attractive to me,

**[00:11:24]** because technology has advanced a lot since 2000,

**[00:11:28]** but it's actually very uncomfortable,

**[00:11:31]** because it's improving, but there are very few girls in the field.

**[00:11:37]** So, for example, and I will give a lot of examples,

**[00:11:40]** in my company, and I know it's a big challenge for me,

**[00:11:45]** I have 16 people hired or working for us, and they are all guys.

**[00:11:51]** So, for example, if you follow me on social media,

**[00:11:54]** I posted a photo last week that I am actually very ashamed of,

**[00:11:57]** because I was the only girl.

**[00:11:59]** On the other hand, although I feel that diversity is very important,

**[00:12:04]** I wouldn't want people in the team who don't belong there.

**[00:12:08]** And I don't care if it's a boy or a girl, if it's a foreigner,

**[00:12:11]** if they speak Czech or some other language,

**[00:12:13]** but we decided that we want to build a team and a company

**[00:12:18]** that upholds certain values, where people want to work together,

**[00:12:24]** and basically, I wouldn't want to have a girl there just because she's a girl,

**[00:12:29]** just so I wouldn't be alone.

**[00:12:31]** At the same time, I don't want to fall into stereotypes, like knowing that receptionists are often girls,

**[00:12:36]** or office managers are girls.

**[00:12:38]** That's something I don't accept, if that's my belief.

**[00:12:42]** So why am I talking about this?

**[00:12:44]** I met my current husband Šimon in 2000,

**[00:12:48]** and at the end of 2017, we founded a company together called Vytika.

**[00:12:56]** Terrible name, and if I could give advice,

**[00:12:59]** try to come up with a name that everyone can pronounce.

**[00:13:04]** Even today, many people can't pronounce it, even though the company no longer exists,

**[00:13:08]** but it was a labor of love.

**[00:13:10]** I was going through my phone and found that sometime in 2013,

**[00:13:14]** I already had this name thought up,

**[00:13:16]** and my younger, then older, daughter, who was about 4 or 5 years old then,

**[00:13:20]** was actually creating a logo for it.

**[00:13:22]** So it was in my head, I was just convinced,

**[00:13:25]** because I'm stubborn, that this is the name we would use.

**[00:13:29]** We decided to enter a market

**[00:13:33]** that we knew intimately well,

**[00:13:35]** and at that time, there was a big boom in clouds.

**[00:13:38]** And for those who aren't familiar, cloud means that

**[00:13:44]** the server isn't somewhere in a building, like your building,

**[00:13:48]** but the program is stored somewhere in a central storage.

**[00:13:52]** We actually created a tool for contact centers,

**[00:13:57]** which allowed them to create reports,

**[00:14:00]** analytics, evaluate agents,

**[00:14:03]** kind of track the performance of individual agents.

**[00:14:07]** And it was an amazing ride,

**[00:14:11]** we really enjoyed it,

**[00:14:14]** because our daughter was older at the time,

**[00:14:16]** so she could stay with my parents when we traveled.

**[00:14:19]** We really set a goal for ourselves,

**[00:14:21]** that we wanted to be the disruptors in the industry.

**[00:14:25]** And we actually succeeded a bit.

**[00:14:28]** Only we succeeded sooner than we thought.

**[00:14:30]** We thought we would do it for five years,

**[00:14:32]** and then see what happens,

**[00:14:33]** but after eighteen months

**[00:14:35]** we very successfully ended up in the arms of

**[00:14:38]** the huge tech company Twilio in Silicon Valley.

**[00:14:41]** So that dream that a person imagines,

**[00:14:44]** that one day they want to succeed,

**[00:14:46]** happened extremely quickly.

**[00:14:49]** And actually, that was the first moment

**[00:14:53]** when the surroundings, and I mean not only Czech media,

**[00:14:58]** but abroad, in the industry,

**[00:15:00]** we suddenly went from being Central Europeans

**[00:15:03]** trying to do something in the industry here,

**[00:15:06]** to suddenly being on the map with it,

**[00:15:09]** and they thought we were doing something interesting,

**[00:15:11]** and we were doing it from Karlín,

**[00:15:12]** and we were doing it from a rented office,

**[00:15:14]** and we didn't even have our own restrooms.

**[00:15:17]** And there were only about 15 of us at the time.

**[00:15:20]** So on one hand,

**[00:15:23]** it was a professional satisfaction,

**[00:15:25]** that we had probably found a gap in the market

**[00:15:27]** and created something that someone was willing

**[00:15:30]** to pay a significant amount for,

**[00:15:32]** and actually take us,

**[00:15:33]** even though we weren't an American company,

**[00:15:35]** under their wings.

**[00:15:37]** And at that time, my husband and I were very proud

**[00:15:39]** that we brought it to the Czech Republic and Prague

**[00:15:41]** they brought a company the size of Twilio,

**[00:15:44]** which in Silicon Valley at that time Twilio

**[00:15:47]** was really seen as on the level

**[00:15:50]** like Google, Facebook,

**[00:15:52]** and then there was Twilio and similar companies.

**[00:15:55]** Because in that sector it was a huge boom,

**[00:15:59]** and Twilio was growing and had enormous value.

**[00:16:02]** And people even from Silicon Valley

**[00:16:04]** wanted to work at Twilio.

**[00:16:06]** At that time, it was amazing.

**[00:16:11]** Only at that time, I,

**[00:16:14]** speaking now for myself,

**[00:16:16]** didn't realize

**[00:16:18]** everything that had happened

**[00:16:19]** and what it would bring to my life.

**[00:16:21]** We promised

**[00:16:23]** that we would actually stay there for many years,

**[00:16:26]** because the company was growing,

**[00:16:28]** and we were committed to

**[00:16:32]** that Twilio wanted,

**[00:16:34]** and we would integrate it

**[00:16:36]** into the entire product ecosystem.

**[00:16:38]** And I have to admit,

**[00:16:40]** that at that time an existential crisis began for me.

**[00:16:44]** Because something I saw as

**[00:16:47]** a long journey,

**[00:16:50]** that would really excite me,

**[00:16:52]** suddenly,

**[00:16:53]** even though it ended in a successful phase,

**[00:16:56]** and I, as Kveta,

**[00:16:57]** who enjoys creating things,

**[00:16:59]** who enjoys motivating people in her team more,

**[00:17:02]** suddenly became

**[00:17:04]** an employee under the HR list,

**[00:17:07]** and actually because

**[00:17:09]** my whole life,

**[00:17:11]** I was never a programmer,

**[00:17:13]** and I was never a business salesperson,

**[00:17:15]** and a business person

**[00:17:16]** and I perceived my value

**[00:17:18]** as at the intersection of business and tech

**[00:17:20]** and the opportunity to talk to customers

**[00:17:22]** and create a new product.

**[00:17:23]** And suddenly, in this huge company,

**[00:17:26]** which was logically divided

**[00:17:28]** into business and tech,

**[00:17:31]** I actually didn't see my value.

**[00:17:34]** Or I saw it,

**[00:17:35]** but the company didn't see it there,

**[00:17:37]** and for me it became

**[00:17:39]** an extremely challenging period

**[00:17:41]** of searching for my own identity, a crisis,

**[00:17:43]** etc.

**[00:17:45]** Well, that was a few months

**[00:17:47]** after the acquisition,

**[00:17:49]** when Czech journalists came

**[00:17:51]** and started knocking on my door saying,

**[00:17:53]** it's an amazing success,

**[00:17:55]** we want to write about it.

**[00:17:57]** And I remember,

**[00:17:59]** when Šimon and I made it

**[00:18:01]** to the cover of Forbes,

**[00:18:03]** that was a few months after the acquisition,

**[00:18:05]** thank you.

**[00:18:09]** So actually,

**[00:18:11]** I used to go look

**[00:18:13]** at the Prague highway,

**[00:18:15]** where it was on a huge billboard,

**[00:18:17]** and actually,

**[00:18:19]** I told myself then,

**[00:18:21]** that it was really terribly

**[00:18:23]** crazy,

**[00:18:25]** that I no longer felt that way,

**[00:18:27]** that I actually didn't feel on top,

**[00:18:29]** that I felt really low,

**[00:18:31]** and actually, that life is,

**[00:18:33]** to connect to Jakub's lecture,

**[00:18:35]** Jakub didn't hold back,

**[00:18:37]** that at one point

**[00:18:39]** completely pathetically

**[00:18:41]** one part of the world

**[00:18:43]** thinks something is amazing

**[00:18:45]** and actually you know,

**[00:18:47]** that maybe it’s not amazing,

**[00:18:49]** because you don’t feel it and you can’t

**[00:18:51]** connect with it at all.

**[00:18:53]** So that’s my kind of

**[00:18:55]** takeaway from it,

**[00:18:57]** that sometimes things can look from the outside

**[00:18:59]** like this,

**[00:19:01]** like a Forbes cover,

**[00:19:03]** which for many startup founders

**[00:19:05]** or anyone

**[00:19:07]** who starts building their business and believes in it,

**[00:19:09]** can be one of the ultimate goals,

**[00:19:11]** but actually

**[00:19:13]** you might already be

**[00:19:15]** somewhere else, or at that moment

**[00:19:17]** you can feel completely differently.

**[00:19:19]** So this was really

**[00:19:21]** hard for me to perceive.

**[00:19:23]** And I also

**[00:19:25]** added a slide,

**[00:19:27]** the red t-shirts,

**[00:19:29]** that’s the company Vytica,

**[00:19:31]** where there were fifteen of us

**[00:19:33]** and actually it was just a few days

**[00:19:35]** before the acquisition,

**[00:19:37]** and in those photos

**[00:19:39]** it’s not quite clear,

**[00:19:41]** but many of the people

**[00:19:43]** who were with us at Vytica,

**[00:19:45]** are now with us in the current company,

**[00:19:47]** called Salted,

**[00:19:49]** and that is one of the things

**[00:19:51]** that is very important to me,

**[00:19:53]** because I think,

**[00:19:55]** when you are a leader

**[00:19:57]** and the people around you stay

**[00:19:59]** and they want to work with you.

**[00:20:00]** it means you probably bring something that gives them value, maybe far more than financial reward.

**[00:20:06]** and the things we accomplish from that engagement with you.

**[00:20:13]** And now we're more colorful, I just said we won't all have the same colorful shirts,

**[00:20:18]** I actually create the shirts myself and let everyone choose the color they want.

**[00:20:24]** That's my progress.

**[00:20:26]** I want to divide the remaining time we have into four parts.

**[00:20:37]** and those are product, customers, team, and my own leadership that I lead.

**[00:20:45]** And when I say my, I'll be speaking for myself here, but we actually share a lot of things

**[00:20:50]** with Šimon, my husband, and I think this is amazing when you have someone beside you,

**[00:20:56]** where you put all your energy exactly into the things I just mentioned,

**[00:21:02]** and you don't have to deal with interpersonal fights, power struggles, or who decides.

**[00:21:11]** We build the company on the idea that the company is ours and that all final decisions

**[00:21:19]** are made together, and our approach is that we often have different opinions,

**[00:21:27]** but after each of us has space to explain why we hold our view,

**[00:21:33]** the final solution or decision

**[00:21:39]** is owned by both of us and we move forward with it.

**[00:21:42]** And if the decision wasn't good or didn't work out, which can often happen,

**[00:21:47]** neither of us—and we apply this to the company, especially in top management or between us—

**[00:21:56]** it's not about 'that was your idea, so it's your fault'.

**[00:22:01]** So that's one of the fundamental things people often ask me about,

**[00:22:05]** how we handle it so that once we decide to take a step forward in some direction,

**[00:22:11]** we both own it and don't turn back, and if we need to fix something

**[00:22:16]** or revisit something, we do it with the mindset that it was a decision made by both of us.

**[00:22:22]** And I think that's really important.

**[00:22:25]** At this stage, we've never had any rift, and I believe

**[00:22:30]** that's one of the main reasons why it works for us

**[00:22:36]** and why the team perceives us as extremely united.

**[00:22:42]** When we founded Salted, the company I'm in,

**[00:22:46]** we founded it in November 2022, and we said,

**[00:22:51]** OK, we have some background, we understand an industry,

**[00:22:55]** and sometimes when you understand something too well and know all its ins and outs,

**[00:22:59]** you think, I don't enjoy this, I want to do something else,

**[00:23:02]** let's find another industry to enter

**[00:23:04]** where we can create a software product.

**[00:23:06]** And we realized we couldn't get inspired by anything else,

**[00:23:09]** and at that time, going back to 2022,

**[00:23:13]** technological advances, algorithms that the public probably knows best

**[00:23:19]** through chat GPT, but the whole progress related to large language models,

**[00:23:24]** started to bubble up, and we said,

**[00:23:29]** that it's actually super exciting for us,

**[00:23:32]** that we are really passionate and have a true passion for this industry,

**[00:23:36]** and at the same time we think that the technological advances,

**[00:23:40]** that have happened in the last 6-7 years,

**[00:23:44]** actually allow us to realize things,

**[00:23:46]** that we weren't able to do in the previous company.

**[00:23:50]** So the first thing was, why did we actually start building the company,

**[00:23:54]** it was the passion to create something, to build something,

**[00:23:57]** and we basically said, ok, what are we going to build?

**[00:24:01]** Are we going to build something that doesn't exist, that we want,

**[00:24:05]** or that we think our customers want?

**[00:24:08]** I want to build a company, or I want to be in a company every day,

**[00:24:11]** that has a right to exist.

**[00:24:13]** And that's something when different startups come to me and say,

**[00:24:16]** yeah, we want to do this here.

**[00:24:17]** But like, what is it that you can answer every day in the mirror

**[00:24:22]** to the question, does my company have a right to exist,

**[00:24:26]** does it have a relevant product, does it have customers,

**[00:24:29]** who like to use that product, do I have a team I can rely on,

**[00:24:35]** that pulls with me, shares the vision with me,

**[00:24:39]** that respects me and understands where the vision is going,

**[00:24:46]** and what all the steps are that need to happen.

**[00:24:51]** And all of that, as a leader, I have to oversee,

**[00:24:57]** of course I have great support from my husband,

**[00:25:00]** but I have to wake up every day and maybe go to the pool,

**[00:25:04]** swim there, push myself, then go to the company and create,

**[00:25:09]** and be there for the people.

**[00:25:11]** I had a great study program,

**[00:25:16]** and my professor told me, Kveto, you have to get through this,

**[00:25:20]** I'll also translate it from English,

**[00:25:22]** you have to get through the fact that you are excellent,

**[00:25:26]** but you are there for the people and you are there to,

**[00:25:29]** enable them to create an environment,

**[00:25:32]** where they can be excellent and where they can move forward.

**[00:25:36]** So that's kind of the thing, I'll come back to it,

**[00:25:40]** in the last part, how I have to push myself every day

**[00:25:44]** to be there for the people,

**[00:25:47]** and to be a great partner to Šimon, with whom I am building this company.

**[00:25:52]** I'll move it forward myself, yeah, right now.

**[00:25:55]** So, actually, when we were deciding what it would be,

**[00:26:01]** It's not about the industry, but about the specific thing

**[00:26:04]** that we will create, and I think this is applicable

**[00:26:07]** to any product for any person,

**[00:26:10]** who wants to build their company,

**[00:26:12]** so the fundamental question is why should anyone care at all.

**[00:26:18]** You are doing something, want to do something, and in English they say

**[00:26:21]** why should someone care?

**[00:26:23]** Like, what is the thing, why should someone actually use it,

**[00:26:28]** why should they even take the first call with you,

**[00:26:31]** or have the meeting, considering you,

**[00:26:34]** and what is the thing, what would happen if you took the product

**[00:26:38]** you create away from them, what would they miss?

**[00:26:41]** And I think this is very crucial,

**[00:26:44]** because often products are created from a serious,

**[00:26:47]** important hobby, which is a great part,

**[00:26:51]** but the relevant question is what value am I creating

**[00:26:57]** when the customer uses the product,

**[00:27:00]** what does it enable the user to achieve,

**[00:27:03]** how do I make their daily work easier, for example in their job.

**[00:27:09]** And that is something very clear,

**[00:27:15]** and when I mentor someone, they say,

**[00:27:19]** sure, I've read that a million times,

**[00:27:21]** but actually going to that elementary phase,

**[00:27:24]** to answer for yourself what value you create.

**[00:27:28]** Because value, we often talk about values in various interviews and books,

**[00:27:34]** values are listed on our personal and company pages,

**[00:27:38]** and what our culture is.

**[00:27:40]** I think in the Czech ecosystem it is often forgotten

**[00:27:46]** that value is created by the product,

**[00:27:49]** and it is very closely connected to pricing

**[00:27:55]** and the long-term relationship with the customer.

**[00:28:00]** Because often you can create a product

**[00:28:04]** that brings extremely high value,

**[00:28:07]** but you price it very low, so you sell it cheaply.

**[00:28:11]** On the other hand, someone can set a high price,

**[00:28:18]** and it still sells,

**[00:28:21]** but over time more competitors may appear around you,

**[00:28:28]** and the customer realizes they don't have to pay that much,

**[00:28:31]** so they will go somewhere else.

**[00:28:33]** It's extremely critical to answer that question,

**[00:28:36]** what value I create.

**[00:28:38]** What I create so uniquely,

**[00:28:41]** that the customer who bought the product from me,

**[00:28:45]** won't find it so easy to leave me.

**[00:28:48]** Because I help them be more successful in their work.

**[00:28:52]** To that one main user,

**[00:28:55]** the person who decides

**[00:28:57]** whether my product will be bought by the company or not,

**[00:29:00]** I enable them to be more successful in their job.

**[00:29:03]** So their team is more successful.

**[00:29:05]** So they can be more successful in their company and maybe get promoted.

**[00:29:09]** So these are things I believe

**[00:29:11]** work not only for software companies,

**[00:29:14]** but actually for any product,

**[00:29:16]** when you think about bringing it to market.

**[00:29:19]** At the same time, every day,

**[00:29:22]** and I really like iterative changes

**[00:29:27]** and answering these questions almost daily,

**[00:29:30]** we actually address a problem

**[00:29:32]** that is big enough for the customer.

**[00:29:35]** It's something that if we solve or help solve,

**[00:29:40]** or move in the direction that allows solving the problem,

**[00:29:42]** it brings them value,

**[00:29:45]** but at the same time the problem I solve

**[00:29:48]** is persistent, because you can have a product you invent

**[00:29:51]** and the customer installs it,

**[00:29:55]** for example, runs some analytics and now sees

**[00:29:58]** the errors and fixes them, but then they don't need you anymore.

**[00:30:00]** So when building the product, think about

**[00:30:04]** how you can add more functionality,

**[00:30:07]** or simply expand it in the portfolio,

**[00:30:10]** or go deeper vertically,

**[00:30:13]** or enter some major specializations.

**[00:30:16]** But basically think, I want to solve a challenging problem

**[00:30:18]** for the customer, I want the problem

**[00:30:22]** to make them want to keep using me.

**[00:30:25]** That means I have to keep solving it,

**[00:30:27]** the problem must be continuous.

**[00:30:31]** Because, of course, we are a business,

**[00:30:37]** That means we need the customer to pay.

**[00:30:41]** For example, SAS services are paid monthly, quarterly, or yearly,

**[00:30:45]** so you need to create continuity.

**[00:30:47]** And you don't want the customer to say after a year,

**[00:30:50]** I don't need you anymore, I've solved all my problems.

**[00:30:53]** At the same time, you need the customer to be willing to pay.

**[00:30:57]** Sometimes you can come up with something,

**[00:30:59]** and we've gone through this too,

**[00:31:01]** and you can say, as we go through it,

**[00:31:03]** that you actually create a solution for a big problem,

**[00:31:05]** which is persistent.

**[00:31:11]** And now it might be,

**[00:31:13]** that the customer is not willing to pay for it.

**[00:31:15]** Or specifically the person you communicate with in the company,

**[00:31:17]** is not willing to pay because they don't have the budget.

**[00:31:20]** Or it's some kind of cross-department

**[00:31:21]** between different departments' tools,

**[00:31:23]** which could be used.

**[00:31:26]** And these are things you need to focus on.

**[00:31:29]** Because just solving a problem,

**[00:31:30]** which is persistent,

**[00:31:33]** but also very important,

**[00:31:35]** that the customer is willing to pay continuously.

**[00:31:37]** Because you create value for them,

**[00:31:39]** and they feel that value continuously with you.

**[00:31:42]** What was a big surprise for me already in Vajtice,

**[00:31:45]** was in the previous company,

**[00:31:49]** that often your biggest competition

**[00:31:54]** is not your competition, like another company.

**[00:31:56]** In that industry or niche where you operate.

**[00:31:59]** But often it's tools like pen and paper,

**[00:32:02]** Excel spreadsheets, nowadays Google Sheets.

**[00:32:07]** And some companies are excellent at how huge companies can manage with Google Sheets,

**[00:32:10]** and Google Forms.

**[00:32:13]** So it's not that I don't care about competition,

**[00:32:17]** or companies around us.

**[00:32:31]** But what we most often encounter is that

**[00:32:34]** these are tools you would hardly think of.

**[00:32:37]** They are some internally created helper tools.

**[00:32:41]** That's also a big thing,

**[00:32:43]** when you come in and start building something,

**[00:32:46]** you think, sure, here are five competitors,

**[00:32:49]** I'll check their websites, ask if anyone knows them,

**[00:32:52]** many things can be found online, some reviews.

**[00:32:55]** But actually, when you go into the conversation with those customers,

**[00:32:59]** you find out they actually use tools

**[00:33:03]** you don't know about and barely understand how they work.

**[00:33:06]** And often they themselves don't even know how they work anymore,

**[00:33:09]** because they were built by people who are no longer in those big companies.

**[00:33:14]** What was really amazing for me was that

**[00:33:19]** I had no foundation in product management or product creation from university.

**[00:33:25]** I think we had one semester

**[00:33:28]** with a subject that dealt with it,

**[00:33:31]** but I basically learned everything from scratch.

**[00:33:34]** What helped us, and there are many frameworks,

**[00:33:37]** was that the people around it,

**[00:33:40]** who were creating the product, found a framework

**[00:33:43]** that suited us.

**[00:33:47]** We used the Pragmatic product management framework

**[00:33:49]** and we were all on the same page,

**[00:33:53]** all using the same technology,

**[00:33:57]** still using the same terminology,

**[00:33:59]** knowing why some things are important,

**[00:34:01]** knowing why some phases are important,

**[00:34:03]** why something has to happen.

**[00:34:05]** So that's something I think was extremely visible in that startup,

**[00:34:08]** that we were very unified

**[00:34:11]** and had an incredible focus on the product.

**[00:34:13]** So you can choose other frameworks

**[00:34:15]** and go through other schools or courses,

**[00:34:17]** but I think if you don't go to the course alone,

**[00:34:21]** but several people go,

**[00:34:25]** it really clarifies things for you,

**[00:34:28]** so you don't return to the company

**[00:34:31]** and find that no one really knows what's going on,

**[00:34:35]** where you have progressed to

**[00:34:37]** and the other things already seem irrelevant to you

**[00:34:39]** and you try to fight for it,

**[00:34:41]** to get something through.

**[00:34:43]** So that's my kind of approach,

**[00:34:45]** for example, when you go to do,

**[00:34:47]** when you go to learn something,

**[00:34:49]** there should be more people from the company involved.

**[00:34:51]** And actually, what is for me,

**[00:34:53]** like the alpha and omega,

**[00:34:55]** everyone who knows me,

**[00:34:57]** I never forget to mention it.

**[00:34:59]** In English, it's called

**[00:35:01]** and it means

**[00:35:03]** nothing important happens in the office.

**[00:35:05]** Nothing important happens in the office.

**[00:35:07]** And I'll tell you from experience.

**[00:35:09]** A very recent one,

**[00:35:11]** when I went

**[00:35:13]** to a contact center

**[00:35:15]** remote in another country,

**[00:35:17]** and I was there

**[00:35:19]** and shadowed

**[00:35:21]** the individual roles in that contact center.

**[00:35:23]** And I have to admit,

**[00:35:25]** that this is something I think

**[00:35:27]** should already be mandatory

**[00:35:29]** for every person trying

**[00:35:31]** to build a company, if someone

**[00:35:33]** from your network

**[00:35:35]** lets you, even if it’s not

**[00:35:37]** your customer, to

**[00:35:39]** observe the work

**[00:35:41]** of those users

**[00:35:43]** or the work in general, how it works.

**[00:35:45]** And not just assume, but actually

**[00:35:47]** see it, take notes,

**[00:35:49]** and ask questions.

**[00:35:51]** So we, because we

**[00:35:53]** operate in the area of contact centers,

**[00:35:55]** so for us

**[00:35:57]** it's not a hobby, but a duty

**[00:35:59]** to visit contact centers that

**[00:36:01]** use different technologies, so we

**[00:36:03]** go see and ask,

**[00:36:05]** what troubles them, how they operate,

**[00:36:07]** what their day looks like,

**[00:36:09]** what they deal with and what their

**[00:36:11]** priorities are. So again, I would recommend shifting that

**[00:36:13]** into your own area

**[00:36:15]** of influence and not relying

**[00:36:17]** on assumptions, but actually

**[00:36:19]** starting from hearing and experiencing it. Because

**[00:36:21]** otherwise it's all just kind of on a cloud

**[00:36:23]** and

**[00:36:25]** not tangible,

**[00:36:27]** and you can often be mistaken

**[00:36:29]** in judging

**[00:36:31]** what is actually important

**[00:36:33]** to that customer.

**[00:36:35]** I

**[00:36:37]** really enjoy going to study

**[00:36:39]** at Harvard Business School and

**[00:36:41]** I will also try to talk about it at the end

**[00:36:43]** of the last part, but

**[00:36:45]** Harvard Business School

**[00:36:47]** and other schools have amazing online

**[00:36:49]** courses, and one online course

**[00:36:51]** that I highly recommend

**[00:36:53]** is about Disruptive Innovation.

**[00:36:55]** Disruptive Innovation is an icon

**[00:36:57]** named Clayton Christensen, who unfortunately

**[00:36:59]** has passed away, he wrote several books,

**[00:37:01]** has online videos, but

**[00:37:03]** for example, HBS has an amazing

**[00:37:05]** and truly transformative

**[00:37:15]** online course

**[00:37:17]** several weeks long,

**[00:37:19]** which is about

**[00:37:21]** JobStudy.run

**[00:37:23]** and this connects exactly to the fact that

**[00:37:25]** you observe your

**[00:37:27]** user, that product

**[00:37:29]** on very basic levels

**[00:37:31]** and that allows you

**[00:37:33]** to create a product that

**[00:37:35]** fits them.

**[00:37:37]** So that's kind of

**[00:37:39]** a recommendation from the perspective

**[00:37:41]** of the product.

**[00:37:43]** Otherwise,

**[00:37:45]** I really

**[00:37:47]** love creating,

**[00:37:49]** solving challenging

**[00:37:51]** problems in the product,

**[00:37:53]** in the company, and why

**[00:37:55]** challenging? Because you can

**[00:37:57]** learn a lot from it.

**[00:37:59]** And that continuous

**[00:38:01]** learning enables

**[00:38:03]** innovation,

**[00:38:05]** and I remember a few years ago I thought

**[00:38:07]** that innovation means that someone

**[00:38:09]** has to invent a new light bulb

**[00:38:11]** or something like a light bulb, but actually

**[00:38:13]** the greatest power of innovation

**[00:38:15]** comes from very small

**[00:38:17]** rudimentary circles.

**[00:38:19]** And even I,

**[00:38:21]** as a founder

**[00:38:23]** of the company,

**[00:38:25]** don't delegate certain things

**[00:38:27]** that concern the very latest innovation

**[00:38:29]** to someone else,

**[00:38:31]** but I am part of it, because I believe

**[00:38:33]** that this is exactly what defines

**[00:38:35]** creates that value and delivers that value

**[00:38:37]** right at the earliest stage

**[00:38:39]** and

**[00:38:41]** understanding how certain

**[00:38:43]** new technologies work allows you

**[00:38:45]** when you present the product

**[00:38:47]** to potential

**[00:38:49]** customers, to understand

**[00:38:51]** the technology in such

**[00:38:53]** detail that you can actually

**[00:38:55]** communicate excellently,

**[00:38:57]** have conversations with the customer

**[00:38:59]** and when the customer

**[00:39:01]** says, for example,

**[00:39:03]** the competition can do this, you

**[00:39:05]** know exactly whether the competition

**[00:39:07]** can or cannot do it.

**[00:39:09]** To get intimately familiar

**[00:39:11]** with various existing technologies

**[00:39:13]** takes

**[00:39:15]** a huge amount of time, but I think

**[00:39:17]** it brings extreme value,

**[00:39:19]** for which someone is

**[00:39:21]** willing to pay later.

**[00:39:23]** Let's move on.

**[00:39:25]** Customers. What have you

**[00:39:27]** done today to get closer

**[00:39:29]** to your customers?

**[00:39:31]** I first heard this question

**[00:39:33]** from a sales manager

**[00:39:35]** at a company

**[00:39:37]** and actually this question

**[00:39:39]** is extremely important

**[00:39:41]** for any role

**[00:39:43]** for anyone working in your company.

**[00:39:45]** At the same time,

**[00:39:47]** you can,

**[00:39:49]** if you change the last word,

**[00:39:51]** you can

**[00:39:53]** apply it to your personal life as well

**[00:39:55]** and actually the

**[00:39:57]** intimate knowledge of customers' needs

**[00:39:59]** and the fact that the customer is not a certainty.

**[00:40:00]** The fact that you have some customers now

**[00:40:05]** and that you are doing something unique now,

**[00:40:08]** something someone is willing to pay for,

**[00:40:11]** it has to be unique, let's be honest,

**[00:40:14]** the customer can next month, next week, tomorrow go somewhere else

**[00:40:17]** and you can lose them extremely quickly.

**[00:40:23]** At the same time, you might not even know why you lost them.

**[00:40:27]** Around this, we build our current product,

**[00:40:31]** so the extremely great value

**[00:40:37]** that exists and has always existed for businesses

**[00:40:40]** is to understand and connect the entire customer journey completely.

**[00:40:44]** That means if the customer has a problem

**[00:40:51]** or wants to ask you something or wants to buy something new,

**[00:40:55]** and it doesn't have to be from the side that you want to sell them something new,

**[00:40:58]** but they turn to you with trust because they paid you for a product or service,

**[00:41:02]** then you are able to provide them with extremely good care

**[00:41:07]** and keep them and build a relationship with them,

**[00:41:13]** which often becomes extremely strong even in difficult situations.

**[00:41:17]** What people often don't realize,

**[00:41:21]** is that when a customer has a problem with your product,

**[00:41:23]** the initial reaction is very important,

**[00:41:26]** how you treat the customer and what you do for them,

**[00:41:29]** because you can create, even if something went wrong on your side

**[00:41:33]** and the customer contacts you because of it,

**[00:41:37]** an extremely strong connection that easily and cheaply translates

**[00:41:39]** into loyalty and further relationship the customer has with you.

**[00:41:47]** So many businesses, I see it in private life,

**[00:41:52]** think that if I bought something, they will definitely buy from us next time,

**[00:41:58]** but that's not a given.

**[00:42:03]** And I think that when a person who owns a company

**[00:42:05]** respects this and constantly thinks about it,

**[00:42:08]** that the customer can leave,

**[00:42:12]** then understanding the whole customer journey,

**[00:42:14]** what troubles that person, how many times they contacted us

**[00:42:18]** and we were unable to answer them,

**[00:42:22]** and so they contacted us again.

**[00:42:26]** And what the customer is talking about actually provides me with value.

**[00:42:32]** I am sometimes shocked when I talk to huge companies,

**[00:42:36]** that ask their customers what they can improve,

**[00:42:40]** or to rate them on a scale from x to x,

**[00:42:43]** and then write to them about what they could improve.

**[00:42:47]** And those companies actually don't read it.

**[00:42:50]** It's even terrible when you actually read it,

**[00:42:56]** and when you give it your time,

**[00:42:59]** you realize that not only is it,

**[00:43:02]** like a completely free summary created in human language,

**[00:43:07]** of previous conversations that the customer had with you,

**[00:43:11]** or with individual people from your company,

**[00:43:14]** but at the same time, the customer took the time,

**[00:43:18]** to write what they think you could improve.

**[00:43:22]** If someone ignores this, I think,

**[00:43:24]** then why do companies even ask,

**[00:43:27]** when they collect tens of thousands of such answers every day,

**[00:43:31]** and no one cares.

**[00:43:34]** So I would recommend, if someone collects something like this,

**[00:43:38]** to read it and draw some conclusions from it.

**[00:43:43]** And it's totally OK to say, I know about this problem,

**[00:43:47]** maybe we will solve it or maybe we won't,

**[00:43:49]** but to actually engage and maybe contact those customers back,

**[00:43:54]** and if you implement something new that they suggested,

**[00:43:58]** then maybe thank them.

**[00:44:01]** I think it's very important to take care of the fact

**[00:44:06]** that the customer took the time to write to you,

**[00:44:10]** and that you are worth it to them.

**[00:44:12]** And I see that as extremely important.

**[00:44:18]** One thing I think relates to those small increments

**[00:44:24]** that I keep mentioning here is an agile approach.

**[00:44:29]** I won't deliberately say agile, because agile is a technical term

**[00:44:33]** for a certain way of software development.

**[00:44:37]** But the mindset, the thinking in agility,

**[00:44:42]** that I can deliver small things to the customer,

**[00:44:46]** that bring value and you don't have to wait until the end of the month,

**[00:44:51]** or quarter, or year.

**[00:44:53]** And, dear customer, we will give you this only next year.

**[00:44:56]** So constantly thinking about how I can break down the request

**[00:45:00]** into small pieces and maybe deliver something now.

**[00:45:11]** When I get to the part about our team,

**[00:45:15]** it's about the company culture and values we have.

**[00:45:20]** And every day I really face this and ask,

**[00:45:24]** why does someone want to work for me.

**[00:45:28]** Sometimes someone will say they want a raise and will leave

**[00:45:33]** if you don't give it to them.

**[00:45:35]** Sometimes someone says that because you don't send them to some training

**[00:45:39]** or conference, they feel sad and angry

**[00:45:43]** and will look elsewhere.

**[00:45:46]** And sometimes it happens that you actually find out

**[00:45:50]** that the person you hired

**[00:45:54]** and spent a lot of time with, not just you,

**[00:45:56]** but also the hiring team and everyone from that team,

**[00:45:59]** actually isn't the perfect fit.

**[00:46:02]** And even if it seems so, they actually don't deliver

**[00:46:05]** or have the attitude that if their pencil drops at five o'clock,

**[00:46:09]** no matter what happens, they just stop communicating with you.

**[00:46:15]** But I try to work with this as well,

**[00:46:20]** and every time I try to learn something from it.

**[00:46:23]** And I have to admit that it helps me

**[00:46:26]** to have a partner next to me with whom I can talk about this.

**[00:46:29]** And I think the company culture that develops

**[00:46:33]** obviously comes from the founders, from the leaders,

**[00:46:37]** but at the same time, it's not like Šimon and I

**[00:46:40]** came up with it and said, here are our company values,

**[00:46:43]** and whoever fits in, fits in.

**[00:46:46]** You decide who fits or not.

**[00:46:48]** At Saltit, we really started from the basics.

**[00:46:51]** There were two of us and at the beginning we reached out to two people

**[00:46:55]** we knew from previous companies,

**[00:46:59]** Vajtyka and Twilio.

**[00:47:02]** And those guys, even without fully knowing yet

**[00:47:06]** what product we would create, joined us.

**[00:47:10]** Then more and more people joined.

**[00:47:13]** And very early on, step by step,

**[00:47:17]** we really crystallized on a daily basis

**[00:47:21]** the things, the values, because of which we think and feel

**[00:47:26]** and at the same time others feel why they are with us.

**[00:47:29]** And after my experience from the corporate world,

**[00:47:33]** as I mentioned at the beginning,

**[00:47:36]** that I didn't see my own value there,

**[00:47:38]** so I thought a lot about it.

**[00:47:42]** And I came to realize that I actually don't function in an environment

**[00:47:45]** where I can't. Where I can't realize myself.

**[00:47:49]** Where I can't help someone.

**[00:47:51]** Where I can't start doing something that makes sense to me.

**[00:47:55]** And this was absolutely critical for me,

**[00:47:58]** when I said to myself, I want to build a company

**[00:48:01]** where people can realize themselves.

**[00:48:04]** And my role there is to create the environment

**[00:48:07]** where they can realize themselves.

**[00:48:10]** And we actually build everything around that.

**[00:48:13]** At the same time, my style is that I want to lead by example.

**[00:48:18]** And that means I want to realize myself too.

**[00:48:21]** And they see that. They see how I learn.

**[00:48:24]** They see how I solve some things.

**[00:48:26]** They see that I tell them, I don't know.

**[00:48:28]** And that it's totally OK.

**[00:48:30]** And I tell them when something doesn't work out,

**[00:48:32]** or I don't know, or I need some help.

**[00:48:34]** And in this way, we started

**[00:48:37]** to create the culture and the company values.

**[00:48:41]** And I admit, to this day we don't have them written anywhere on the wall.

**[00:48:45]** And actually, that's not a problem at all.

**[00:48:48]** And when we hire new people,

**[00:48:50]** we have quite a demanding four-stage selection process.

**[00:48:55]** Where we have a trial with Vlad Šimon,

**[00:49:00]** with that person, the candidate.

**[00:49:02]** Then there are two technical rounds.

**[00:49:05]** And then one more, where anyone from the company,

**[00:49:08]** if they want, can meet with the candidate.

**[00:49:11]** And basically, we're all on the same page.

**[00:49:14]** So I don't think it's necessary

**[00:49:16]** to have it written somewhere on the wall.

**[00:49:18]** We'll probably get to that point,

**[00:49:21]** because that's how it's done and it's nice

**[00:49:23]** and you can write it down in letters.

**[00:49:27]** But I think that the approach,

**[00:49:31]** that it came from us

**[00:49:33]** and that it gradually developed within the team

**[00:49:35]** and that we are very honestly talking about it.

**[00:49:38]** And after every recruitment process

**[00:49:40]** or after each round,

**[00:49:41]** we all sit together

**[00:49:43]** and actually do a round,

**[00:49:45]** where everyone says whether they think

**[00:49:47]** we should hire that person,

**[00:49:49]** or not hire, make an offer, or not.

**[00:49:52]** And everyone very transparently says

**[00:49:57]** why yes and why no.

**[00:49:58]** And no one is afraid to say something

**[00:50:00]** because it might be different from what someone else says.

**[00:50:03]** And these are long debates.

**[00:50:05]** I have to admit, sometimes I wonder how much money those debates cost us.

**[00:50:08]** But they are extremely important,

**[00:50:11]** because through them, the team defines what it considers important.

**[00:50:16]** We were 15 now, soon to be 17.

**[00:50:20]** And we all believe that small teams can create extremely high value.

**[00:50:28]** Especially in software companies, in software startups.

**[00:50:32]** If you look at certain well-known startups,

**[00:50:38]** like Instagram, how many people were there when it was bought and so on,

**[00:50:42]** you find out it’s not thousands of people.

**[00:50:45]** They are really small teams that managed to do amazing things.

**[00:50:52]** They were very united and definitely put all their energy

**[00:50:55]** into creating products and taking care of customers.

**[00:50:59]** And at the same time, they didn’t tolerate anyone not fitting in or underperforming.

**[00:51:07]** And that’s something we are now promoting.

**[00:51:10]** I think that if we reach 25 people by the end of the year,

**[00:51:15]** that’s a number where you’re capable enough in such a small group

**[00:51:21]** to create almost the value delivered by companies

**[00:51:24]** that have two hundred or five hundred people.

**[00:51:27]** When Twilio bought us, they couldn’t believe

**[00:51:30]** how few people we had doing it.

**[00:51:32]** It was just me and Šimon,

**[00:51:35]** then the thirteen people who were all programming.

**[00:51:39]** And on the other side of the table were the teams of individuals

**[00:51:43]** who were taking over the competencies we developed at ITC.

**[00:51:48]** Sometimes it felt uncomfortable,

**[00:51:53]** like there were so many people sitting there

**[00:51:57]** and yet we were only adding a few things to them.

**[00:52:01]** One of the things I do,

**[00:52:05]** and I think I do it much more often and much more gladly at Salty now,

**[00:52:09]** is to talk on a personal level with individual teams,

**[00:52:16]** to talk with the company as a whole,

**[00:52:20]** but also with individual teams,

**[00:52:24]** because we have four teams,

**[00:52:28]** we have the team around Šimon and me,

**[00:52:32]** the product team and kind of explorers.

**[00:52:36]** Then we have the team of front-end engineers,

**[00:52:40]** back-end engineers, and machine learning engineers.

**[00:52:44]** That's the overall company, but each has its own rules.

**[00:52:48]** I have to admit, this is something I didn't do before,

**[00:52:52]** but I see extreme value in participating

**[00:52:56]** in their meetings, talking with them about their specific needs,

**[00:53:00]** because I found out over time,

**[00:53:04]** that in company-wide meetings, some teams

**[00:53:08]** might be a bit more senior or have different experience

**[00:53:12]** which actually shapes what is needed.

**[00:53:14]** So communicating in small groups,

**[00:53:18]** both company-wide and with individual teams,

**[00:53:22]** and of course also with individual people.

**[00:53:24]** At the same time, and I told everyone this,

**[00:53:28]** I don't have the energy to have lunch with everyone once a month.

**[00:53:34]** Also, I'm not really a fan of solving work issues over lunch,

**[00:53:38]** but I think that when each person feels

**[00:53:42]** that you give them time, and that time means they got up in the morning,

**[00:53:47]** came to work,

**[00:53:49]** that is extremely important.

**[00:53:52]** Also, one thing I used to think was,

**[00:53:55]** nothing happens in the office,

**[00:53:57]** so here I would say one thing.

**[00:53:59]** I believe that everyone who works for you

**[00:54:02]** gets up in the morning wanting to do great work.

**[00:54:06]** I think this is very important,

**[00:54:08]** because often with certain problems,

**[00:54:11]** or in operations, we might say,

**[00:54:14]** this person keeps doing this wrong.

**[00:54:17]** But if they are doing it wrong, it means I didn't pay attention to them,

**[00:54:20]** I didn't talk to them about it,

**[00:54:22]** I didn't enable them to gain knowledge and experience,

**[00:54:26]** so they can do it well.

**[00:54:28]** And I think this is really important as a leader's position.

**[00:54:31]** I first heard this many years ago

**[00:54:34]** from some people who create fruit and vegetable boxes.

**[00:54:38]** And it still really resonates with me after all these years.

**[00:54:41]** That every person who works for you

**[00:54:44]** gets up in the morning wanting to do great work.

**[00:54:49]** Well, we have ten minutes left.

**[00:54:52]** Timing, please.

**[00:54:55]** And that's my leadership, my role.

**[00:54:59]** What did I learn today,

**[00:55:02]** to get closer to my dreams?

**[00:55:05]** Now it will probably shift into a mix

**[00:55:08]** of work and private life.

**[00:55:11]** Although I don't distinguish between the two at all.

**[00:55:14]** And I don't distinguish them anymore because

**[00:55:17]** I believe I can balance them internally.

**[00:55:20]** And I no longer feel bad when on a Wednesday during the day

**[00:55:24]** I do something I would normally do on the weekend.

**[00:55:27]** Because I know I'll do it on Saturday,

**[00:55:30]** when I'll be more mentally prepared.

**[00:55:33]** And that's something I learned.

**[00:55:36]** A few years ago, I was afraid to leave

**[00:55:39]** at three in the afternoon to pick up my daughter from kindergarten,

**[00:55:42]** because it was necessary.

**[00:55:45]** So this is something I'd recommend especially to girls, mothers, and women,

**[00:55:48]** not to feel that

**[00:55:51]** there's work and then there are children.

**[00:55:54]** But actually try, if you can in your business,

**[00:55:57]** to balance this.

**[00:56:00]** Because then, both at work and with the kids,

**[00:56:03]** you always feel like you're neglecting something.

**[00:56:06]** I think only the woman feels this,

**[00:56:09]** and the surroundings actually don't.

**[00:56:12]** And we create this burden ourselves.

**[00:56:15]** And we create the stress ourselves.

**[00:56:18]** And under stress, a person can't think,

**[00:56:21]** think of new things, build relationships,

**[00:56:24]** play with kids, build Lego.

**[00:56:27]** So keep working on yourself,

**[00:56:30]** but at the same time for me personally,

**[00:56:33]** both work and private life,

**[00:56:36]** I uphold the same values

**[00:56:39]** and I think it shows in my work

**[00:56:42]** and it also shows in my private life.

**[00:56:45]** I believe that for both life,

**[00:56:48]** and building that dream,

**[00:56:51]** I haven't even said the word dream from the start,

**[00:56:54]** it's extremely important to have direction

**[00:56:57]** and determination.

**[00:57:00]** And to have people around you

**[00:57:03]** and to build a network of people around you

**[00:57:06]** who support you in this

**[00:57:09]** and who stand with you.

**[00:57:12]** And that really applies to the company,

**[00:57:15]** and to private life.

**[00:57:18]** And at the same time, a few guys at our company,

**[00:57:21]** the people who work for us,

**[00:57:27]** that you swam 16 kilometers

**[00:57:30]** and that you go swimming in the morning.

**[00:57:33]** And actually it's great

**[00:57:36]** that I talk about these things publicly,

**[00:57:39]** talk with the team,

**[00:57:42]** that we strongly support people doing sports,

**[00:57:45]** so when someone tells me they're going cycling Friday afternoon,

**[00:57:48]** because they're training for Čekmen for our relay,

**[00:57:51]** that's absolutely OK.

**[00:57:54]** Because creating an environment

**[00:57:57]** that supports determination,

**[00:58:00]** that I want to achieve something here,

**[00:58:03]** and that supports resilience, both physical and mental,

**[00:58:06]** really reflects in the work results.

**[00:58:09]** And, going back to the fact that someone might,

**[00:58:12]** actually that person feels fulfilled

**[00:58:15]** and that person wants to work for you,

**[00:58:18]** wants to work for you and stay with you long-term,

**[00:58:21]** and then financial reward comes,

**[00:58:24]** not as the first and foremost priority.

**[00:58:31]** And as I mentioned, I like to go for education

**[00:58:34]** and for me, it's a period,

**[00:58:37]** I am from the Květý, who leads the company,

**[00:58:40]** a mom of two little girls, a wife, daughter, friend,

**[00:58:45]** so actually, in that different environment,

**[00:58:49]** I am very quickly able to

**[00:58:52]** basically shed all these roles from myself,

**[00:58:55]** and actually start discovering in the sense,

**[00:58:58]** what are the things I want to change,

**[00:59:01]** what are the things I want to start doing differently,

**[00:59:04]** what are the things I want to learn,

**[00:59:07]** what are the things that actually excite me.

**[00:59:10]** And I think even here, it's not necessary

**[00:59:13]** to go somewhere on the other side of the world.

**[00:59:16]** I think it's totally OK,

**[00:59:19]** and again, we are all set up differently,

**[00:59:22]** but part of what works for me is,

**[00:59:25]** to say OK, maybe it helps me,

**[00:59:28]** when I listen to music in the morning and create a playlist,

**[00:59:31]** some routine, some rituals.

**[00:59:34]** I enjoy when I eat well,

**[00:59:37]** and actually when I plan a day,

**[00:59:40]** I say OK, I know what works for me.

**[00:59:43]** And that self-awareness is really important,

**[00:59:46]** or at least for me, that you actually know,

**[00:59:49]** how you like your eggs boiled.

**[00:59:52]** That was in some movie I remember.

**[00:59:55]** That you know yourself and I think,

**[00:59:58]** you can create that.

**[01:00:00]** It really radiates from a person when they know what helps them.

**[01:00:04]** And these little tricks, for example, I write down and in those weaker moments,

**[01:00:11]** or even during the day, when you need a boost and you have a tough meeting coming up,

**[01:00:17]** or a difficult appointment, it's good to have that place, whether it's on your phone or in a notebook,

**[01:00:22]** or it can be, for example, you can watch, or I sometimes watch some inspiring talks,

**[01:00:29]** when I need to get into a state where I either have to create something or focus on something.

**[01:00:35]** I think it's just about knowing yourself and being willing to constantly discover,

**[01:00:42]** what works for you and what doesn't.

**[01:00:44]** For example, I learned all my life by copying everything.

**[01:00:48]** That doesn't work for me anymore.

**[01:00:50]** I need to listen to things and maybe say them again,

**[01:00:54]** and only then do I remember and feel them.

**[01:00:56]** And I actually realized that all my life I've thought that some things work on me in a certain way,

**[01:01:01]** but actually, they don't.

**[01:01:03]** And it was nice to hear that from a professor recently when I was in Bosnia,

**[01:01:09]** she said that we often talk about ourselves the way someone told us in the past what we are like.

**[01:01:16]** And investing in yourself to understand who you are and how you change

**[01:01:25]** is extremely important, both personally and professionally.

**[01:01:31]** I would add one more thing I had to learn, but I had to discover it

**[01:01:41]** and get used to it, and that is that I want to do things that bring me joy.

**[01:01:47]** And sure, it might sound like, well, she built a company

**[01:01:51]** and now she can do things that bring her joy.

**[01:01:54]** I really think I work a lot, study a lot, and exercise a lot,

**[01:01:59]** and my dream isn't just to lie around and do nothing,

**[01:02:04]** but to do things where I can find joy.

**[01:02:09]** And when building a company, there are many things I don't enjoy.

**[01:02:15]** But I know they have to happen and they allow me to get to the things

**[01:02:19]** that bring me joy, value, and fulfillment.

**[01:02:24]** But it's not just about doing things you enjoy.

**[01:02:27]** That I would do things I like from morning till night, and somehow it happened.

**[01:02:31]** Nothing happens by itself.

**[01:02:33]** Which reminds me that in my previous company we had one person

**[01:02:36]** who was responsible for 'seto' vision,

**[01:02:38]** because he always took care of those things,

**[01:02:40]** when it was said, this will happen with 'seto'.

**[01:02:44]** Now we don't have that, and 'seto' just has to happen.

**[01:02:52]** And these are things a person might not enjoy,

**[01:02:54]** but knows they have to happen

**[01:02:56]** and that they will allow them to do things that bring much greater joy.

**[01:03:02]** And I haven't mentioned flow yet.

**[01:03:07]** And flow, I know you talked about it.

**[01:03:11]** Since I was little, I probably couldn't name it,

**[01:03:18]** but studying new things really brought me into a state of flow.

**[01:03:23]** I didn't program, but I taught myself languages,

**[01:03:26]** and I was able to spend a lot of time on it.

**[01:03:30]** For example, when I prepare for individual courses

**[01:03:36]** or school programs,

**[01:03:39]** I also find that I really enjoy it.

**[01:03:41]** And the biggest confirmation for me was

**[01:03:45]** when I was just after the acquisition,

**[01:03:48]** and my daughter was born, and when she was 8 months old,

**[01:03:51]** covid started and I was actually home with her,

**[01:03:56]** The whole family was home with him.

**[01:03:58]** And now I was going through that mental crisis.

**[01:04:01]** Then a young woman approached me and asked,

**[01:04:06]** if I could mentor her.

**[01:04:07]** She was also interested in going to some program in Bosnia.

**[01:04:11]** And again, with an open mind, I thought,

**[01:04:16]** sure, I'll do it, and back then I had no idea

**[01:04:20]** that exactly this, learning and helping someone,

**[01:04:24]** to learn certain things,

**[01:04:26]** and helping someone to be more satisfied and fulfilled,

**[01:04:30]** is something that actually fulfills me

**[01:04:32]** and something I can spend hours and hours doing.

**[01:04:35]** And I am very grateful for that.

**[01:04:42]** Thank you.

**[01:04:43]** Thank you.

**[01:04:51]** Now I'll come over to you.

**[01:04:53]** Can I? Am I here?

**[01:04:54]** Sure, sure.

**[01:04:55]** Thanks a lot for your talk.

**[01:05:00]** It made me think of a thousand things.

**[01:05:03]** And you wrote them down, I hope.

**[01:05:04]** I did.

**[01:05:06]** First, Kveta and I have actually known each other for a very long time.

**[01:05:11]** You probably don't know, but Kveta and I,

**[01:05:13]** both swim every day,

**[01:05:15]** and Kveta also swims every day,

**[01:05:17]** so we used to pass each other at the pool,

**[01:05:19]** and now we know that Kveta is there and Honza is there,

**[01:05:22]** and that's really nice.

**[01:05:24]** But when she suddenly unloaded all that on me,

**[01:05:28]** I was dealing with raising my boys,

**[01:05:33]** giving them the example of performance,

**[01:05:37]** always going, always pushing, always this and that.

**[01:05:41]** I wonder how you actually rest.

**[01:05:46]** I sleep a lot.

**[01:05:50]** I rest, I make blocks of time.

**[01:05:52]** I actually work a lot with energy management.

**[01:05:56]** Energy management or something like that.

**[01:05:58]** I'm trying, and it's still an exploration,

**[01:06:02]** to know that this is a good time,

**[01:06:06]** to do this specific style of work

**[01:06:10]** and this is a good time for me to read

**[01:06:13]** and this is a good time for me to exercise.

**[01:06:18]** So it's about working directly with those blocks

**[01:06:20]** and now the blocks can be various sizes.

**[01:06:22]** Sometimes the morning or afternoon is a very large block,

**[01:06:26]** that a person works with,

**[01:06:28]** but sometimes, from my experience, rest

**[01:06:31]** is not about quantity, but about quality.

**[01:06:34]** And for example, very recently, I started

**[01:06:38]** just during the workday,

**[01:06:40]** to put headphones in my ears

**[01:06:42]** and walk around the block here in Karlín

**[01:06:44]** and leave the office, leave work

**[01:06:47]** and just listen to whatever I want to listen to

**[01:06:49]** and after 10-15 minutes I come back

**[01:06:51]** and suddenly I feel refreshed

**[01:06:54]** and I can continue on.

**[01:06:56]** Which lately has been my big

**[01:06:58]** challenge,

**[01:07:00]** that I was going from morning until evening

**[01:07:03]** and I was in the flow, enjoying talking with people

**[01:07:06]** and we were dealing with things I really enjoyed

**[01:07:08]** and then I realized I was completely exhausted in the evening

**[01:07:12]** and doing this continuously is very demanding.

**[01:07:17]** Especially when it happens at 4:50.

**[01:07:21]** Maybe I'll say another thing we have in common,

**[01:07:26]** Květa and I,

**[01:07:28]** that we like Abežali Barnardová.

**[01:07:30]** I don't know who hasn't seen the talk about

**[01:07:32]** what a person is capable of,

**[01:07:34]** so definitely watch that talk.

**[01:07:36]** Květa was just at the 6-hour swim in Zlín,

**[01:07:39]** which Abežali organizes

**[01:07:41]** and that's the 16.1 kilometers

**[01:07:43]** she swam in those 6 hours.

**[01:07:45]** So we can all just take our hats off.

**[01:07:48]** 3rd place in the category.

**[01:07:50]** But you led me to think that

**[01:07:52]** I kind of feel from that,

**[01:07:55]** as you call those blocks,

**[01:07:57]** now, what you said about studying at Harvard,

**[01:08:00]** so you have there,

**[01:08:02]** that you focus exactly on this

**[01:08:04]** and that you are able to put aside

**[01:08:06]** all the other obligations.

**[01:08:08]** When you described your performance,

**[01:08:10]** you also said

**[01:08:12]** that you didn’t want to focus on anything else.

**[01:08:14]** Yes, that focus, I mentioned it

**[01:08:16]** when creating that product,

**[01:08:18]** but I do have that focus,

**[01:08:20]** and sport really teaches me that,

**[01:08:22]** because I’m not a sporty person.

**[01:08:24]** I was always one of those

**[01:08:26]** in elementary and high school,

**[01:08:28]** the last or second to last

**[01:08:30]** picked for the team,

**[01:08:32]** the one who would play dodgeball with them.

**[01:08:34]** I was never very good at anything.

**[01:08:36]** And I wouldn’t say about myself

**[01:08:39]** that I would run a marathon,

**[01:08:41]** or even less,

**[01:08:43]** that I would swim for 6 hours in a pool.

**[01:08:45]** So in that focus,

**[01:08:47]** the concentration on

**[01:08:49]** actually managing my pace in the pool,

**[01:08:52]** that helps me not only to get back

**[01:08:56]** to the role of a student

**[01:08:58]** and listening to my coach

**[01:09:01]** and just thinking about it,

**[01:09:03]** but actually not thinking about it,

**[01:09:06]** and now I’ll do those five paces wrong,

**[01:09:08]** and then I’ll do them right.

**[01:09:10]** Which is often the case at work,

**[01:09:12]** outside of sport,

**[01:09:15]** where I do something now,

**[01:09:17]** and then I’ll do it properly.

**[01:09:19]** Which in sport,

**[01:09:21]** when you run a marathon,

**[01:09:23]** or you just swim that hour in the morning,

**[01:09:25]** it doesn't work.

**[01:09:27]** Because you did this,

**[01:09:29]** you went to the pool,

**[01:09:31]** you are in the pool,

**[01:09:33]** everything has to be right for you,

**[01:09:35]** so you can be in the pool and swim.

**[01:09:37]** So it's also some kind of responsibility,

**[01:09:39]** but at the same time,

**[01:09:41]** I clear my head perfectly,

**[01:09:44]** and I actually didn't think about anything.

**[01:09:46]** It was great for me.

**[01:09:48]** But it's the focus on every pace,

**[01:09:50]** not every breath,

**[01:09:52]** that you want to do as best as you can at that moment.

**[01:09:54]** we didn't discuss when we talked and prepared those things together.

**[01:10:00]** And you broke my toys in one thing, which is that when you say

**[01:10:04]** a billion-dollar company, I imagine a huge number of people.

**[01:10:10]** Something gigantic. And you talked about it today, that actually a small team

**[01:10:17]** can do gigantic things. So that's something that, in my opinion, is a bit of

**[01:10:23]** a paradigm shift. So I don't know if I'm alone, maybe

**[01:10:27]** I could do a poll now, but I also feel that a small team of people,

**[01:10:31]** who are properly selected, properly motivated, and so on,

**[01:10:37]** can achieve huge things. So just, did you come to this somehow

**[01:10:40]** on your own path, or have you had it like this from the start,

**[01:10:44]** or is it IT that kind of leads to this?

**[01:10:46]** Honestly, my experience is only from IT, so I can't,

**[01:10:49]** it would be great to hear from other people, but I think I came to it

**[01:10:54]** through a contrast that was extremely painful, but for which I am

**[01:10:58]** very grateful, that we went from a very high-performing small company,

**[01:11:03]** from that small number of people, to a huge company where there were resources,

**[01:11:09]** incredibly smart people, money, tools, technology, and suddenly

**[01:11:15]** I saw how things in those huge companies,

**[01:11:22]** even though many people want to, happen so slowly that actually,

**[01:11:26]** if you compare it to how technology develops,

**[01:11:32]** and how, so basically, the big company has a lot of work

**[01:11:36]** just to move and deliver value to the customer.

**[01:11:42]** So actually, when you have smaller teams, you can create that value

**[01:11:46]** much faster and more focused.

**[01:11:56]** I'm now moving on to your questions, and of course there are a ton of them.

**[01:12:01]** How did you get past that unpleasant feeling,

**[01:12:05]** which was also on the Fox cover at the same time?

**[01:12:13]** Well, what helped me back then was exactly that I started preparing that girl for the program.

**[01:12:19]** I began looking for things that gave me some energy.

**[01:12:23]** I really went down to the basics, and I clearly remember,

**[01:12:28]** writing down what gave me energy and what didn’t.

**[01:12:33]** It was a great self-discovery,

**[01:12:37]** but I want to be very honest, for me,

**[01:12:41]** being on the cover and then people writing to me saying they saw me

**[01:12:46]** on the highway or somewhere else was nice, but it also made me realize,

**[01:12:51]** especially in relation to my parents, that girl who left university before graduation,

**[01:12:55]** and didn’t finish her engineering degree,

**[01:13:00]** I thought, OK, maybe I could have done more than just having some success.

**[01:13:03]** So I’m definitely grateful for that,

**[01:13:09]** and I thank Irena and Michal who did the interview with us for Forbes,

**[01:13:15]** and gave us that opportunity, but I wasn’t in a great place back then.

**[01:13:24]** What was your biggest fuck-up and what did you learn from it?

**[01:13:30]** I think my biggest fuck-up happened in relationships with people,

**[01:13:36]** who worked in my team at the time, and either I pushed them so hard

**[01:13:41]** that they didn’t burn out but worked a lot and realized

**[01:13:47]** they couldn’t keep up that pace,

**[01:13:51]** like I could, and I basically ignored it unconsciously

**[01:13:58]** or just didn’t address it, so I think I ignored it,

**[01:14:01]** and those people were really on the verge of collapse.

**[01:14:05]** So I think many of the things I failed at were in relation to the people in my team.

**[01:14:14]** Silva asks, what risks do you think family businesses carry?

**[01:14:18]** Did you have any crisis stemming from this blending of worlds?

**[01:14:27]** I think we had only one crisis after the acquisition by the big company,

**[01:14:34]** when Šimon saw it as the peak of his 18 years building a software company,

**[01:14:40]** and I saw it as after 18 months.

**[01:14:46]** So I think each of us approached Twilio with a different mindset,

**[01:14:50]** but I believe we were able to,

**[01:14:55]** communicate very transparently,

**[01:14:58]** and we managed to talk it through.

**[01:15:01]** He kept telling me, 'give them the benefit of the doubt,'

**[01:15:04]** which means, in Czech, something like, give them a chance to prove themselves,

**[01:15:08]** and I was saying, no, there’s no chance.

**[01:15:15]** So that's roughly how it went.

**[01:15:20]** So you were the one who actually wanted Salted?

**[01:15:24]** Yeah, even before the acquisition,

**[01:15:27]** or when we signed with Twilio,

**[01:15:30]** I actually asked Šimon,

**[01:15:33]** if we could agree to start another company together.

**[01:15:36]** And that's how it happened.

**[01:15:39]** But I don't know, if we hadn't done this,

**[01:15:42]** whether he would have gone that way or not,

**[01:15:45]** but I believe we'd have to ask him,

**[01:15:48]** and he'd be glad this happened.

**[01:15:51]** My wife just had a baby,

**[01:15:55]** so I gave her vouchers for seven days of childcare.

**[01:15:58]** So if you had a voucher like that,

**[01:16:02]** to start a company together once more.

**[01:16:05]** Here's the voucher.

**[01:16:08]** I think we never wrote it down.

**[01:16:11]** I don't know if our older daughter documented it somewhere,

**[01:16:14]** because she documents a lot of things now.

**[01:16:17]** But it was extremely important to me,

**[01:16:20]** because it felt very sci-fi,

**[01:16:23]** since until the last moment you don't know

**[01:16:26]** if the transaction will actually happen or not.

**[01:16:29]** The transaction was irresistible,

**[01:16:32]** it made absolute financial and business sense.

**[01:16:35]** We were also really happy

**[01:16:38]** that the team of people who worked with us,

**[01:16:41]** would have the chance to work for a company like that,

**[01:16:44]** like from Vílio, they were.

**[01:16:47]** I really lived two lives there.

**[01:16:50]** During the day, we prepared the acquisition,

**[01:16:53]** which means thousands and thousands of documents to print,

**[01:16:56]** that the other side demands from you.

**[01:16:59]** And then you have to somehow defend and communicate it.

**[01:17:02]** And then I would come home for a few hours at night,

**[01:17:05]** and cry into the computer because I didn't want it.

**[01:17:08]** And I remember very fondly the moment

**[01:17:11]** when we told our older daughter,

**[01:17:14]** and we both ended up crying.

**[01:17:20]** And Šimon said, so what am I supposed to do here with you?

**[01:17:23]** But we only said that after it happened,

**[01:17:26]** because it was a really tough period.

**[01:17:29]** And until the last moment, you don't know if it will happen.

**[01:17:32]** Maybe I take it for granted,

**[01:17:35]** but here's also the question, what exactly did ITK do?

**[01:17:40]** Try to describe it a bit.

**[01:17:43]** We probably had the most crucial product,

**[01:17:47]** which was analytics over data from the contact center.

**[01:17:50]** And when you say there's an industry involved,

**[01:17:53]** meaning contact centers and so on,

**[01:17:56]** so Solty does that?

**[01:17:59]** We have been operating all along in creating

**[01:18:02]** software tools for managing contact centers

**[01:18:05]** and providing customer care.

**[01:18:08]** If I'm a grandma now, what should I imagine by that?

**[01:18:11]** You have a center in India, which if someone calls?

**[01:18:15]** Hello, my name is Rajesh.

**[01:18:18]** It's nice to be in Chicago.

**[01:18:44]** It's nice to be in Chicago.

**[01:18:47]** It's nice to be in Chicago.

**[01:18:50]** It's nice to be in Chicago.

**[01:18:53]** It's nice to be in Chicago.

**[01:18:56]** It's nice to be in Chicago.

**[01:18:59]** It's nice to be in Chicago.

**[01:19:02]** It's nice to be in Chicago.

**[01:19:05]** It's nice to be in Chicago.

**[01:19:08]** It's nice to be in Chicago.

**[01:19:11]** It's nice to be in Chicago.

**[01:19:14]** It's nice to be in Chicago.

**[01:19:17]** It's nice to be in Chicago.

**[01:19:20]** It's nice to be in Chicago.

**[01:19:23]** It's nice to be in Chicago.

**[01:19:26]** It's nice to be in Chicago.

**[01:19:29]** It's nice to be in Chicago.

**[01:19:32]** It's nice to be in Chicago.

**[01:19:35]** It's nice to be in Chicago.

**[01:19:38]** It's nice to be in Chicago.

**[01:19:41]** It's nice to be in Chicago.

**[01:19:44]** It's nice to be in Chicago.

**[01:19:47]** It's nice to be in Chicago.

**[01:19:50]** It's nice to be in Chicago.

**[01:19:53]** It's nice to be in Chicago.

**[01:19:56]** It's nice to be in Chicago.

**[01:19:59]** It's nice to be in Chicago.

**[01:20:02]** It's nice to be in Chicago.

**[01:20:00]** actually by getting familiar and experimenting, testing with real data

**[01:20:11]** and using tools, not just chatGPT, but other algorithms,

**[01:20:17]** that appeared before those two years and keep coming and improving,

**[01:20:25]** so basically, to understand it enough to be able to create a product

**[01:20:30]** and design a product and solutions for those customers.

**[01:20:33]** Because it's like, I still don't know how to cook very well,

**[01:20:39]** so I went to Ambiente, which is a chain, and they had like 60 hours in the kitchen,

**[01:20:44]** to actually teach you how to cook.

**[01:20:46]** And it was great, I don't know if I learned to cook,

**[01:20:50]** but I looked at the profession from a completely different perspective

**[01:20:55]** and when I prepared for it, I thought about it,

**[01:20:59]** that when a chef tries to create a new dish from various ingredients,

**[01:21:06]** it's not like he has a team of people tasting the individual herbs,

**[01:21:12]** meat, and vegetables for him.

**[01:21:15]** But he has to understand and feel what each ingredient brings

**[01:21:22]** and how, when combined, they create value for the customer

**[01:21:26]** on that plate.

**[01:21:28]** So that's really what it is.

**[01:21:31]** You need to understand it, not just for product creation,

**[01:21:35]** I mentioned it a bit in the talk,

**[01:21:37]** so you can have quality discussions even with potential customers,

**[01:21:43]** about what's possible and what's not.

**[01:21:45]** Because transparency is very important to us.

**[01:21:48]** Not promising something that simply can't be done or we don't know how to do.

**[01:21:53]** And it's totally OK, though many people don't admit it,

**[01:21:57]** or many businesses don't admit it, but it's totally OK to say,

**[01:22:00]** I don't know how to do it today, but I'll do my best to learn it,

**[01:22:03]** as technology advances or our product evolves.

**[01:22:08]** Because our customers are big companies,

**[01:22:11]** with large departments here for care,

**[01:22:14]** and even companies, when the customer is educated,

**[01:22:18]** they understand that there are no miracles.

**[01:22:22]** One aspect, I came across in innovation, is something

**[01:22:27]** that means organizational learning and continuous,

**[01:22:29]** That's education, and it's really important.

**[01:22:32]** And there's actually one element: it's team learning.

**[01:22:35]** And we use the chef analogy there.

**[01:22:38]** The moment you both understand the craft,

**[01:22:41]** the know-how transfers very easily,

**[01:22:44]** because you just say, 'Hey, take this coriander and throw it in,'

**[01:22:47]** and the other person already knows exactly what that does.

**[01:22:49]** And this is actually a very important essence.

**[01:22:52]** So this leads me back to a question,

**[01:22:56]** if I stay with innovations.

**[01:22:59]** I'm not very deep into these models and such,

**[01:23:03]** but I feel the market is really going to change.

**[01:23:06]** And I kind of wonder if we're riding a dead horse,

**[01:23:10]** because we're doing education within edu,

**[01:23:13]** just helping companies move forward.

**[01:23:15]** And I feel, and we talked about this this morning,

**[01:23:18]** that the internet world will be heavily reshaped by

**[01:23:21]** how assistants will work

**[01:23:24]** and what all these big companies will be able to provide us.

**[01:23:29]** How do you avoid riding a dead horse?

**[01:23:34]** How do you keep building what will remain relevant?

**[01:23:39]** That's a big question.

**[01:23:41]** I still believe people will be willing to pay for authenticity.

**[01:23:47]** And authenticity might seem questionable when written by ChatGPT,

**[01:23:54]** but when it comes to communication, or even for us,

**[01:24:01]** I think many things can be automated.

**[01:24:05]** And that's totally OK.

**[01:24:07]** It's good for those things to be automated,

**[01:24:09]** because, for example, in contact centers or communication,

**[01:24:13]** basic tasks that can be automated,

**[01:24:16]** or that a person can learn on their own,

**[01:24:19]** before they reach the stage of talking to a live person,

**[01:24:23]** I completely agree with that.

**[01:24:26]** But the phase of authenticity and experience sharing,

**[01:24:31]** just like we're discussing here,

**[01:24:33]** I think will remain very unique.

**[01:24:39]** I'm excited about everything ChatGPT can do,

**[01:24:43]** or even those visual large language models,

**[01:24:47]** and all that can be created,

**[01:24:51]** but I think people will stop writing books,

**[01:24:54]** I think people will stop making TED Talks,

**[01:24:57]** my thirteen-year-old daughter spent half a year,

**[01:25:00]** preparing TED Talks.

**[01:25:03]** And it will be replaced, like you'll watch AI-generated TED Talks,

**[01:25:07]** I think there's the human element, one thing is technology,

**[01:25:11]** but the other is the heart, the humanity, the authenticity,

**[01:25:15]** which for everyday things,

**[01:25:19]** sure, many things will be replaced,

**[01:25:23]** but for this level, I don't think so.

**[01:25:27]** I'll make a little teaser.

**[01:25:29]** I just talked yesterday with Michal Pěchouček,

**[01:25:32]** a true expert,

**[01:25:35]** so I think we'll see him soon.

**[01:25:39]** So we'll definitely talk about this.

**[01:25:44]** But also, I’ll say, it’s possible that next time grandma calls

**[01:25:48]** the contact center, she won’t talk to a live agent.

**[01:25:51]** That’s totally fine.

**[01:25:53]** And maybe it will be nicer than a live agent.

**[01:25:56]** And grandma, well, depending on legislation,

**[01:26:00]** she might not even need to know, but I believe

**[01:26:03]** legislation will evolve here,

**[01:26:05]** so users should know when they’re talking to a live person

**[01:26:09]** and when they’re not.

**[01:26:11]** That’s my personal view.

**[01:26:13]** But I think that when she calls,

**[01:26:16]** ideally grandma will always call,

**[01:26:19]** but if you have a problem with something,

**[01:26:21]** you’ll just click through self-service,

**[01:26:23]** because that’s what you want.

**[01:26:26]** Last time we drove on the highway with the kids,

**[01:26:30]** we played Dungeons & Dragons for three hours,

**[01:26:34]** generated by GPT.

**[01:26:36]** And that’s when I realized it’s really serious.

**[01:26:39]** It was really good.

**[01:26:41]** It was awesome.

**[01:26:43]** And we were just playing Dungeons & Dragons.

**[01:26:46]** It’s great. It’s amazing, mind-blowing.

**[01:26:49]** It’s really great, and that makes it harder

**[01:26:52]** to be in the role and figure out how you can use this

**[01:26:57]** and not have it used against you.

**[01:27:00]** Yeah, yeah, yeah.

**[01:27:03]** Well, that's a topic in itself.

**[01:27:05]** So I'll move on to the next question, a great and lovely one from Láďa.

**[01:27:08]** What's the biggest difference between Květou today and Květou ten years ago?

**[01:27:13]** Láďa knows me.

**[01:27:16]** I don't know, maybe Láďa could say that.

**[01:27:19]** We'll probably leave that for later.

**[01:27:22]** I think it's probably self-confidence.

**[01:27:26]** Yeah, I guessed it.

**[01:27:28]** Láďa was my coach.

**[01:27:30]** That's a nice question.

**[01:27:32]** How is it possible to maintain personal contact and build culture in a hybrid online environment,

**[01:27:37]** when people don't want to return to the offices?

**[01:27:40]** It's hard.

**[01:27:42]** It is hard.

**[01:27:44]** I have to admit, we actually built Vytiku around one table

**[01:27:48]** or in one room.

**[01:27:49]** After COVID, I couldn't even imagine

**[01:27:52]** that we would build the company remotely or in a hybrid way.

**[01:27:55]** But it works, and maybe it connects to a different part,

**[01:28:00]** that we talked about today, which is that

**[01:28:02]** I created blocks in the workweek or week,

**[01:28:07]** where we meet at least twice a week in the office.

**[01:28:12]** Anyone can come whenever they want, but those two days are key.

**[01:28:17]** We have Tuesdays and Thursdays.

**[01:28:20]** But ad hoc, or as we agree depending on

**[01:28:23]** who I’m working more with in the teams,

**[01:28:27]** we meet on other days too.

**[01:28:29]** I have to admit, a few weeks ago I worked five days straight from morning till evening,

**[01:28:34]** and I was really drained energy-wise.

**[01:28:38]** But it works on trust.

**[01:28:40]** It's simply about trust.

**[01:28:42]** It's about knowing that even if someone wakes up in the morning

**[01:28:45]** and is somewhere completely different and doesn't come to the office that day,

**[01:28:48]** I know they got up because they want to do good work

**[01:28:51]** and want to work at Saltit and will do just as good work

**[01:28:55]** in the office as they do at home.

**[01:28:58]** But what is extremely important,

**[01:29:01]** and I think it has to come from managers, leaders, from the leadership,

**[01:29:06]** is that the conversations that happen in the office,

**[01:29:11]** It still needs to be maintained.

**[01:29:13]** Sometimes I think,

**[01:29:15]** if I were in the office, I would say something,

**[01:29:17]** but I don't feel like writing it in Slack.

**[01:29:19]** We do call each other a lot, that's kind of,

**[01:29:21]** like originally, as my husband said,

**[01:29:24]** I don't call anyone, if there's a need to call somewhere,

**[01:29:26]** he has to call, but I've learned to call with the team myself,

**[01:29:29]** so I don't write it down.

**[01:29:33]** Well, thank you.

**[01:29:35]** Thank you.

**[01:29:36]** Thank you very much.

**[01:29:37]** Beautiful.

**[01:29:38]** At least tomorrow morning you'll say,

**[01:29:40]** what you did better.

**[01:29:44]** Thank you. Five-star.

**[01:29:53]** So, friends, I would like to ask you.

**[01:29:58]** We read feedback.

**[01:30:00]** So please, give us the usual rating, we'll switch it over soon.

**[01:30:09]** Stars, and if any interesting word comes to mind related to today's breakfast,

**[01:30:16]** please add it too, we'd really appreciate it, that's one thing.

**[01:30:22]** The second thing I want to ask is, from an educational perspective,

**[01:30:29]** it works very well if you don't just listen and then quickly go back to your desk

**[01:30:35]** to do other routine tasks.

**[01:30:38]** Please try to pause a little, we have a simple form on our website,

**[01:30:45]** and if you're watching us live, you can easily find it there.

**[01:30:51]** The form asks simple questions like what was your aha moment,

**[01:30:56]** what surprised you, and so on. Try discussing it with your colleagues,

**[01:30:59]** with people close to you, just talk it over, because reflection definitely increases

**[01:31:06]** how much you retain, and also, what I recommend, is to choose at least one

**[01:31:13]** basic action to introduce into your life, so this is the cycle.

**[01:31:19]** Of course, we want to help you with that, so as usual,

**[01:31:26]** we'll have Brain and Breakfast Digestive lunch on June 5th together with Kveta and other guests,

**[01:31:33]** already confirmed is Peťa Skonderáně from Kokuma,

**[01:31:35]** we'll talk about company culture and more,

**[01:31:39]** so if you'd like to make time and want to go deeper,

**[01:31:43]** you can join us on June 5th from 12 noon without any problem.

**[01:31:48]** So that's the Digestive.

**[01:31:50]** Behind the Red Button network, there are really many products and projects,

**[01:31:56]** one of them is the Book of the Month, so here are the current books,

**[01:32:01]** Everything important from the great Hanka and Davan, who are in charge of this project,

**[01:32:06]** can be found at www.rbkniha.cz.

**[01:32:08]** I'm very happy about the floral book that was selected, so this is another thing.

**[01:32:14]** Follow us on redbutton.edu, we have expert communities, now six of them.

**[01:32:22]** Thanks to Dominika Kadeřávková here, we also opened a community focused on L&D education,

**[01:32:27]** so if you're interested in education, join us, we'd be very glad.

**[01:32:32]** We also have a CEO community led by Michal Šrajer,

**[01:32:35]** so I guess that's the end of the promotional segment.

**[01:32:41]** And what you can look forward to in June,

**[01:32:47]** is an invitation accepted by a person who has become very interesting to me,

**[01:32:52]** who appeared in my life in the last year, named Dodo Dobrýk.

**[01:32:56]** Definitely google that name if you're curious.

**[01:33:01]** Trust me, that breakfast, even if you don't know the person, will be extremely interesting,

**[01:33:07]** and trust me, some of the projects this designer carries out

**[01:33:10]** have already entered your life, at least in our bubble,

**[01:33:14]** which is Brain&Breakfast.

**[01:33:16]** So on the 26th from 8:30, we'll either meet here at Majdžanta

**[01:33:20]** or via live stream at the next Brain&Breakfast.

**[01:33:22]** Thank you for your attention and support.

**[01:33:25]** Have a great time, thanks, goodbye and hi.

**[01:33:30]** Great!