# Transcript: On the purpose of business, philanthropy, and responsibility for today’s world

## Description

The first maps his fascinating business growth from the beginnings in the 1990s to a historic milestone – taking the company public on the London Stock Exchange. The second story focuses on philanthropy and the belief that business success is inseparable from serving society and connecting human consciousness. In the final part, Martin offers his perspective on geopolitical developments in the USA, Russia, and Europe. The common thread across all topics is integration – the ability to connect seemingly unrelated flows of goods, people, and ideas into a meaningful whole that helps us better grasp the current reality and actively contribute to something good.



Who is Martin Vohánka



Martin Vohánka started his entrepreneurial journey in high school. Shortly after graduating, he founded W.A.G. in 1995, known under the brand name Eurowag. He gradually expanded it from a payment solution to an integrated platform for the commercial road transport sector.Eurowag is currently a technology leader ambitiously transforming the entire industry and employs 2,000 professionals across 28 European countries. It is the only Czech company whose shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange.



Martin Vohánka holds an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh, completed the OPM program at Harvard, and lectures at the University of Economics in Prague. He is one of the largest Czech philanthropists. He is the founder of the Blížksobě foundation, which primarily supports the development of democratic values and the transformation of educational systems. He is the initiator and signatory of the Second economic transformation appeal.

## Transcript

**[00:00:00]** How could I help?

**[00:00:01]** No one is right about everything, but everyone is right about something.

**[00:00:04]** Today, 21% of trucks on the roads are empty.

**[00:00:08]** One very simple rule that will solve 80% of your problems.

**[00:00:14]** My story is interesting on two levels.

**[00:00:17]** First, I am an entrepreneur who is truly the only one in the Czech Republic

**[00:00:23]** and probably one of a handful in Central and Eastern Europe.

**[00:00:28]** I have experienced entrepreneurship from a sole trader all the way to a large prestigious global stock exchange.

**[00:00:35]** After all, even the gentlemen from Avast, whom I greatly admire and who have achieved fantastic things,

**[00:00:41]** still at a certain stage hired CEOs and professionals,

**[00:00:45]** while I have truly remained in the role of an active CEO to this day.

**[00:00:50]** And that makes the story unique, because I wrote it, so to speak, from A to Z.

**[00:00:54]** And we will definitely talk about that.

**[00:00:56]** The second level of my story is the so-called philanthropic life and my activities.

**[00:01:03]** And again, I hope we will spend enough time on that, where I will tell you what I do, what motivates me,

**[00:01:11]** and how I hope to inspire you.

**[00:01:16]** So that's a little about me, but I would like to go straight to the point at the start

**[00:01:23]** and give you a deeper insight into who I am, what motivates me,

**[00:01:29]** where I am heading, and what my worldview is.

**[00:01:35]** At the beginning, I would like to use something I presented last week

**[00:01:44]** at the Impact Poznań conference. If you don't know it, please check out Impact Poznań.

**[00:01:48]** It is by far the largest conference in Central and Eastern Europe.

**[00:01:53]** It manages to invite world leaders. Obama, Justin Trudeau attend,

**[00:01:58]** Nobel laureates, global celebrities. Recently Amal and George Clooney were there, among others.

**[00:02:03]** I spoke there because I received a philanthropic award

**[00:02:07]** and had the opportunity to speak at the gala that opens the entire event.

**[00:02:12]** I was given the chance to speak before the Polish elite,

**[00:02:16]** including two of the ten Nobel laureates.

**[00:02:20]** And I would like to share with you the story I told the Poles,

**[00:02:24]** which is universal.

**[00:02:28]** It is a story about builders and consumers.

**[00:02:34]** What I perceive is that we in Europe, we Europeans, are primarily consumers.

**[00:02:40]** Consumers of democracy. Consumers of liberal democracy,

**[00:02:44]** which especially in the Czech Republic, but also in Poland,

**[00:02:48]** and other countries in this region, was launched by the Velvet Revolution.

**[00:02:54]** We enjoy what Francis Fukuyama named,

**[00:03:00]** what we wanted to believe: that the world is now on a positive trajectory,

**[00:03:04]** that liberal democracy, freedom, rules, respect for individuals,

**[00:03:10]** is the winning formula and that history ends there.

**[00:03:14]** And we have really enjoyed it. We built businesses, lived our lives,

**[00:03:18]** We prospered, we grew, especially here in Central and Eastern Europe.

**[00:03:22]** The difference in quality of life is huge for everyone.

**[00:03:26]** But what we are realizing today is that there are not only consumers here

**[00:03:32]** and not just us who support this worldview,

**[00:03:36]** but there are others. And I would call them builders.

**[00:03:41]** These builders are also in Europe, but where we see them in a stronger form,

**[00:03:49]** is in other places on the planet. And I'll start with one we know very well

**[00:03:56]** and are experiencing intensely now because of the war in Ukraine, which is Russia.

**[00:04:00]** Russia is building. It's top-down, forced from above,

**[00:04:06]** but still, what they are building is a certain ideology.

**[00:04:13]** It's an ideology covered by the legend of a distinct Russian nation

**[00:04:23]** and the legend that it is the civilization that will save the world.

**[00:04:29]** That it will save world civilization. But what it actually means is

**[00:04:34]** that a few elites, which has been true for centuries in Russia,

**[00:04:37]** actually oppress and exploit the vast masses of the Russian nation.

**[00:04:43]** This is one part of the world that builds, creates a certain dynamic,

**[00:04:50]** creates a certain heat, a certain charge, and causes something.

**[00:04:57]** Then let's look today at the other side of the Atlantic,

**[00:04:59]** something none of us expected, and similar things are happening there.

**[00:05:03]** But it's named differently. It has a different context.

**[00:05:06]** What is happening there? I'm specifically talking about Peter Thiel's movement,

**[00:05:10]** which you may have heard of, Dark Enlightenment.

**[00:05:14]** It's a movement that says the most important thing

**[00:05:20]** is technological progress, which will be controlled by a few elites.

**[00:05:24]** And it says that technological progress, scientific knowledge,

**[00:05:29]** are actually above humans. Meaning, it no longer holds true,

**[00:05:33]** what I think most of us believe, that humans are the most important.

**[00:05:37]** No, it's technological progress, and everything else must submit to it.

**[00:05:45]** This philosophy has almost technofascist, we can call it technofascism,

**[00:05:50]** and very radical consequences.

**[00:05:54]** This movement of the great, embraced by a few major

**[00:06:01]** tech entrepreneurs who are today legends in the United States,

**[00:06:05]** is in a pragmatic coalition with something represented by Mr. Trump,

**[00:06:09]** which means a populist, nationalist movement.

**[00:06:12]** Why did this arise? Because dark enlightenment,

**[00:06:16]** this technofascism definitely does not count on the masses benefiting,

**[00:06:20]** from technological progress.

**[00:06:23]** On the contrary, they will be used for it. Let's recall what

**[00:06:27]** Elon Musk told us, and I got chills listening to it,

**[00:06:31]** when it was an interview with Larry Fink at this year's Davos,

**[00:06:37]** When they asked him, Elon, how will artificial intelligence benefit ordinary people?

**[00:06:43]** And what he actually answered was,

**[00:06:46]** that artificial intelligence will be accessible to everyone. That was the whole answer.

**[00:06:54]** That's certainly not enough. And when you then look at Trump,

**[00:06:58]** you realize that Trump actually fits perfectly

**[00:07:01]** with this philosophy, because what Trump managed to do was convince the masses

**[00:07:05]** that they don't need a share of the wealth, of the enormous wealth

**[00:07:13]** accumulated through these technologies, but that Trump offered them

**[00:07:18]** at least a share in the national pride. That means we don't share

**[00:07:22]** what we gain from new technologies, but we give people at least the story

**[00:07:28]** that America is great and that we are the biggest and strongest nation.

**[00:07:33]** Again, it's a philosophy that creates momentum. It creates huge movement,

**[00:07:40]** and we see that we are all affected by it in some way.

**[00:07:43]** Why do I even mention these examples? Russia, the United States, but you will teach me,

**[00:07:48]** when it happens, and in a different form also in China, that if someone who consumes meets someone who builds,

**[00:07:53]** we can already imagine what happens.

**[00:07:57]** Let's imagine two physical bodies. I think physicists in schools

**[00:08:00]** would call it momentum. If one body is stationary,

**[00:08:04]** and the other has enormous momentum, multiplied by its mass,

**[00:08:09]** we will find that obviously, when these two civilizations collide,

**[00:08:14]** or these two bodies, especially Europe as a consumer,

**[00:08:19]** we have and will have a huge problem.

**[00:08:24]** And now what? I think in Europe we should stop being

**[00:08:29]** just consumers. And I think that kind of wake-up call,

**[00:08:33]** as they say in Britain, that alarm,

**[00:08:36]** we all increasingly feel today that something is wrong,

**[00:08:40]** that we should do something. But then the question, and many of you will ask,

**[00:08:44]** should I get involved and why should I get involved?

**[00:08:48]** Isn't it the job of institutions, isn't it the job of politicians?

**[00:08:52]** And I think there are three fundamental reasons that are extremely important

**[00:08:56]** for us to discuss together, to talk about on various forums.

**[00:09:00]** First, democracy and institutions are not owned by politicians.

**[00:09:06]** And sometimes in the Czech Republic, and we heard this a lot from Mr. Klauz,

**[00:09:10]** there is this counter-philosophy to Václav Havel, who spoke about civil society,

**[00:09:15]** that we should leave everything to politicians, but that's wrong.

**[00:09:21]** Institutions and politics are not owned by politicians. We all own democracy.

**[00:09:25]** That means we all have the sacred right to participate in building and improving it,

**[00:09:31]** and we all have a natural duty. After all, especially in the Czech constitution,

**[00:09:36]** if you look at the preambles, you don't have to read the whole thing,

**[00:09:41]** civil society is explicitly mentioned there.

**[00:09:45]** That's the first reason. And I think it's very compelling.

**[00:09:49]** The second reason applies to everyone, but especially to me as an entrepreneur,

**[00:09:54]** I am very aware of it intensely, because democracy...

**[00:10:00]** and we really just consumed it. We focused on our own companies and the system somehow kept running.

**[00:10:06]** But when democracy suddenly stops working, when the rules don't work, access to markets stops,

**[00:10:13]** or I have to grease someone's palm, like it happened in Hungary to do business, which lasted 16 years,

**[00:10:20]** then I suddenly realize my business is at risk. And what we realize is that even though liberal democracy

**[00:10:27]** wasn't on the balance sheet. Entrepreneurs work with a balance sheet, they have a profit and loss statement

**[00:10:35]** tracking profits and losses, and on the other side assets and liabilities. And nowhere do we have democracy listed.

**[00:10:40]** But it is absolutely a fundamental prerequisite for our companies to prosper.

**[00:10:46]** Which means, even if that item isn't in intangible assets, it actually is there.

**[00:10:52]** Because our business stands or falls with it. Which means, if many entrepreneurs today hesitate,

**[00:10:58]** should I get involved? I do business, politics is something else, civil society,

**[00:11:04]** institutions are something different, I shouldn't care about that, it's not just some luxury,

**[00:11:10]** some charity, but it's a completely pragmatic consideration that we must care about the environment

**[00:11:15]** in which our businesses and lives are rooted. So that's the second reason.

**[00:11:20]** It's not just a luxury, but an absolute condition for the survival of our businesses.

**[00:11:25]** And the third reason is the following. Especially, and this applies mainly in Central and Eastern Europe,

**[00:11:31]** what we are experiencing is a certain frustration. Frustration with institutions.

**[00:11:37]** That institutions don't deliver. And everyone will complain differently.

**[00:11:41]** Someone who doesn't get a building permit, it takes forever.

**[00:11:46]** In northern Bohemia, I'm from Most, they will complain that these regions are forgotten.

**[00:11:51]** And even though Prague is growing rapidly and is now at 180 percent of GDP,

**[00:11:56]** the Ústí region is steadily declining.

**[00:12:00]** Business may complain about lack of access to capital,

**[00:12:04]** that we are still in the Czech Republic and not contributing to deeper European integration.

**[00:12:11]** Everyone will surely find something we lack, something we don't get from institutions

**[00:12:15]** and don't hear from our politicians.

**[00:12:19]** So what about that? It's been 37 years since the Velvet Revolution.

**[00:12:23]** If we expect politicians to fix it,

**[00:12:27]** I think Einstein said that if you want a different result

**[00:12:31]** and keep doing the same things, you're basically crazy.

**[00:12:35]** So politics and the way we've been managing our society today simply aren't enough.

**[00:12:39]** What will the change be then?

**[00:12:43]** Yes, we must wish for it and ideally we should all vote

**[00:12:47]** and if possible bring the best politicians into politics.

**[00:12:51]** That still applies and always will.

**[00:12:55]** However, what I think is the only game changer,

**[00:12:59]** the catalyst for change, what can truly move our country forward,

**[00:13:07]** It is precisely civil society.

**[00:13:11]** In this regard, Václav Havel was a visionary.

**[00:13:15]** You know, he spoke about civil society.

**[00:13:19]** I return to him again. But he didn't see it just as our right,

**[00:13:23]** or as we sometimes see it, as some kind of watchdog,

**[00:13:27]** that reports when something is wrong and so on.

**[00:13:31]** It is a modernizing institutional element.

**[00:13:35]** What I am talking about are think tanks, non-profits,

**[00:13:39]** expert groups, associations that should work

**[00:13:43]** with institutions and help them

**[00:13:47]** to actually implement problems, challenges, changes, transformations.

**[00:13:51]** When we realize that institutions are not set up

**[00:13:55]** for major transformations or innovations. On the contrary, institutions are by definition built

**[00:13:59]** to deliver the same performance continuously,

**[00:14:03]** to prevent corruption, so that when you submit a request,

**[00:14:07]** the person or the system always produces the same expected result.

**[00:14:11]** But what is happening around us is a huge dynamic of change.

**[00:14:15]** Technological changes, geopolitical changes, biotechnology,

**[00:14:19]** climate change. Institutions simply can't handle that.

**[00:14:23]** And we have a dual task. We must catch up with the West institutionally,

**[00:14:27]** the institutional debt we inherited,

**[00:14:31]** which was created by 45 years of communist rule. And secondly,

**[00:14:35]** we must respond to new challenges that have emerged

**[00:14:39]** especially after the new millennium. This is a huge set of tasks,

**[00:14:43]** which institutions do not deliver.

**[00:14:47]** And this is something I do in my philanthropic life.

**[00:14:51]** Supporting the creation of such alliances.

**[00:14:55]** Creating specific alliances, specific projects,

**[00:14:59]** that address specific tasks and problems in society.

**[00:15:03]** Entrepreneurs definitely should not be the dominant element.

**[00:15:07]** As we saw during President Trump's second inauguration,

**[00:15:11]** it was really about fear. But what we as entrepreneurs

**[00:15:15]** can help with are, of course, resources. It's know-how.

**[00:15:19]** It's precisely the ability. What we do as entrepreneurs.

**[00:15:23]** Every day we manage change. Every day we transform our businesses.

**[00:15:27]** And precisely in this regard, with these competencies,

**[00:15:31]** helping state institutions. What it means to help, innovate,

**[00:15:35]** and enable the state to then scale us further.

**[00:15:47]** I just think that each of us has to get involved.

**[00:15:51]** There’s no time to just watch and bark from the pubs.

**[00:15:55]** We all have to get involved. We all have to become builders.

**[00:15:59]** So this is just an introduction,

**[00:16:03]** where I wanted to summarize,

**[00:16:07]** what I think about today’s world. To give a kind of taste.

**[00:16:11]** What I think the role of entrepreneurs is, what the role of donors and philanthropists is,

**[00:16:15]** what the role of civil society is, and what the role of each of us is.

**[00:16:21]** In the next part, I would like

**[00:16:25]** to dive into entrepreneurship.

**[00:16:29]** After entrepreneurship, we will talk again about philanthropy, a bit more.

**[00:16:33]** And then we will of course jump to your questions.

**[00:16:38]** Entrepreneurship.

**[00:16:42]** I started around the age of seventeen, selling insurance policies.

**[00:16:46]** I went door to door.

**[00:16:51]** A friend advised me on this.

**[00:16:55]** I started. After a few months, I realized I was very successful,

**[00:16:59]** earning more money than my parents combined.

**[00:17:03]** So I dropped out of university.

**[00:17:07]** That’s definitely not a recipe for you to drop out of university,

**[00:17:11]** because everything catches up with us in life, and I later

**[00:17:15]** finished something similar to university later on.

**[00:17:20]** When I finished high school,

**[00:17:24]** I no longer wanted to just go door to door,

**[00:17:28]** so I started a small office in Fůstí nad Labem.

**[00:17:32]** That was actually the biggest city that was manageable for me at the time.

**[00:17:36]** I was afraid of Prague and opened an insurance office.

**[00:17:40]** This business didn’t last long, about a year.

**[00:17:44]** After a year, I ended up again with zero in my bank account,

**[00:17:49]** and I already knew that choosing a partner just because

**[00:17:53]** he was your best friend and a great rogue,

**[00:17:57]** and that we had many good times together,

**[00:18:01]** is not the best formula for choosing a partner,

**[00:18:05]** and many other experiences.

**[00:18:09]** Again, I was sitting in my parents’ small room thinking,

**[00:18:13]** what I would do next. And again, someone advised me.

**[00:18:17]** You know there are those big mines that are now being flooded.

**[00:18:21]** Most and its surroundings will be beautiful again one day.

**[00:18:25]** But there’s also a big refinery. And he told me,

**[00:18:29]** what if you sold our products.

**[00:18:33]** And I said, why not.

**[00:18:37]** If there was the biggest screw factory or the biggest bakery in the country near the bridge,

**[00:18:41]** today I would be the largest fastener manufacturer in Europe.

**[00:18:46]** So I started selling products, refinery products.

**[00:18:50]** However, shortly after a few years, even though we were doing well,

**[00:18:54]** it was no longer just a regional business; we supplied the whole country,

**[00:18:58]** transport companies, farmers, logistics firms, etc.,

**[00:19:02]** I realized it was actually a commodity business.

**[00:19:06]** It’s a very simple business. On one hand, it’s exactly what we as entrepreneurs need when starting out.

**[00:19:10]** That allowed me to get started, but gradually I realized,

**[00:19:15]** the simpler it is, the easier it is to copy.

**[00:19:18]** You can’t just charge a natural value.

**[00:19:20]** We tried a lot. We introduced a line where people could call us for free.

**[00:19:22]** That was new. We were the first to introduce the internet

**[00:19:27]** for exchanging information with customers.

**[00:19:31]** So they knew orders, prices, etc.

**[00:19:33]** Today it’s funny, now it’s a given.

**[00:19:35]** But it simply wasn’t enough for this community business

**[00:19:37]** to be something where we could grow and gradually create something tangible.

**[00:19:39]** Then one thing happened. Again, a customer gave me some advice.

**[00:19:46]** He said, Martin, what if you supplied me not only with diesel

**[00:19:50]** in the big tanker to my site,

**[00:19:57]** where I have a tank, but I would really like to refuel my trucks at the border at similar prices.

**[00:20:00]** I left without saying anything to the customer and just thought about it.

**[00:20:10]** It occurred to me that he’s not the only carrier who would want to refuel at the German border,

**[00:20:15]** because prices in Germany were always higher, and this is true across Europe,

**[00:20:21]** there are price differences between countries due to tax policies.

**[00:20:25]** So I knew the demand was there, that he wouldn’t be the only one, that all carriers would want this.

**[00:20:29]** At the same time, I was already supplying gas stations at the borders.

**[00:20:34]** Those were my customers, where I supplied goods as well as to carriers.

**[00:20:38]** So I thought, here’s the demand and here are the places where I could satisfy it.

**[00:20:42]** These weren’t branded gas stations like Benzina or Shell that we know today, but private owners.

**[00:20:48]** And trucks just drove past those gas stations without stopping,

**[00:20:53]** because the trucks used certain cards, payment methods.

**[00:20:57]** You might have known or know CCS cards, but they used the cards of Shell, etc.

**[00:21:01]** And they bypassed the private stations.

**[00:21:06]** So it occurred to me during further thinking that it would be worth connecting this.

**[00:21:08]** We came up with two things.

**[00:21:13]** We had to use some technology to authorize the carrier when they showed up.

**[00:21:21]** So what did we do back then? I had no clue about technology. We had to think simply again.

**[00:21:25]** But at that time, the novelty was mobile phones that could send SMS messages.

**[00:21:30]** So we handed out phones at fourteen gas stations, which was basically the foundation of today's Eurovag,

**[00:21:35]** and whenever a driver showed up with a simple plastic card,

**[00:21:39]** it had no chip, no protection, it was just cheap plastic, so the attendant would always type three numbers,

**[00:21:44]** a space, the amount of liters, and send it to my desk where I had a computer with a list of active customers,

**[00:21:50]** and the software would just reply yes or no.

**[00:21:53]** And that's how refueling started.

**[00:21:56]** That was the technological beginning of a tech company that now has 2,000 employees and 800 engineers,

**[00:22:02]** that was the start of our technology.

**[00:22:04]** I had to come up with a current business model on how to deal with those gas stations,

**[00:22:10]** but in the end, it was very simple, and I was very proud of it because it was a new business model,

**[00:22:14]** then I found out the Brits had already invented it long ago.

**[00:22:17]** And the fact that I supply the gas station with the amount they sell to their customers,

**[00:22:22]** while they keep part of the goods in a kind of virtual warehouse, and when a driver arrives,

**[00:22:27]** they give it back to him, which means the gas station was detached from the trade,

**[00:22:32]** which they really liked because it didn't tie up their working capital,

**[00:22:35]** they had no risks associated with it, they just charged a storage fee.

**[00:22:39]** That was simply the beginning of Eurovag.

**[00:22:42]** I'll pause now to explain what these few stories and turning points actually meant.

**[00:22:49]** And this is something universal that I consider an absolutely key ingredient for entrepreneurship,

**[00:22:57]** but not only entrepreneurship, to generalize it to being enterprising in life.

**[00:23:01]** And these are two things, two universal traits.

**[00:23:04]** And when someone asks me at Martinet what my superpower is, I talk about these.

**[00:23:09]** The first is openness. Openness and the ability to learn.

**[00:23:14]** In the broadest sense of the word. You see, I said three times that someone advised me.

**[00:23:20]** I didn't invent it myself. I just listened.

**[00:23:23]** The problem when we listen is that we are selective.

**[00:23:28]** We attend lectures like this one.

**[00:23:31]** Or we read books by famous entrepreneurs, personalities, and so on.

**[00:23:35]** But when we meet in everyday contact among ourselves, we often have blinders on.

**[00:23:41]** And what I found out is that this is my superpower,

**[00:23:45]** that no matter who I met, I was open.

**[00:23:48]** What do they say? What can they teach me?

**[00:23:51]** And I heard a saying, I don't know who said it,

**[00:23:55]** some famous sage, that no one is right about everything, but everyone is right about something.

**[00:24:02]** In something they are unique. In something they are wise.

**[00:24:06]** In something they have something to share with us that enriches us.

**[00:24:12]** And that's what I've had my whole life and I hope it has lasted.

**[00:24:18]** And you know, it has one enormous power.

**[00:24:22]** Suddenly, meeting others is not just some meetings,

**[00:24:27]** but every meeting, every interaction with a person is something

**[00:24:32]** that enriches us, that informs us.

**[00:24:36]** And thanks to that, even though I started as an entrepreneur

**[00:24:39]** without business experience, back then there was no internet,

**[00:24:42]** we had no one to learn from, and so on,

**[00:24:44]** I built a fairly interesting company and I think I do

**[00:24:49]** interesting things, and it's precisely because of that openness

**[00:24:52]** and the ability to absorb. And then, of course, those little fragments,

**[00:24:55]** those little pearls that you can take from everyone,

**[00:24:59]** and put them into a meaningful whole.

**[00:25:01]** That, of course, is our task.

**[00:25:03]** So openness and the ability to learn.

**[00:25:06]** In the most diverse forms within meeting people,

**[00:25:10]** formally, informally, learning.

**[00:25:13]** Then, as I mentioned, I continued my education, it was no longer just universities,

**[00:25:17]** I did an MBA, studied for three months at Harvard, etc.

**[00:25:23]** The second quality, besides openness and the ability to learn,

**[00:25:27]** is ambition. I wouldn't just talk about courage,

**[00:25:33]** because courage is that initial movement,

**[00:25:36]** that I want to do something, that I have an active approach to life.

**[00:25:40]** But ambition is also that it is targeted,

**[00:25:43]** that it is not just empty energy.

**[00:25:46]** And if we go back to the stories I told

**[00:25:50]** at the beginning of my business, there were already several things.

**[00:25:54]** Ambition, for example, in the sense that when I finished school,

**[00:25:58]** I graduated and no longer had to go to school in the morning,

**[00:26:02]** so I opened an office in Ústí nad Labem.

**[00:26:05]** There was already ambition to advance, and in my world,

**[00:26:08]** which was small, I couldn't imagine working in Prague

**[00:26:13]** and going to Prague, but in my world in Ústí nad Labem,

**[00:26:16]** there was that golden grail, so I opened that office

**[00:26:20]** in the biggest city, where I naturally sometimes saw

**[00:26:23]** that there would be the greatest potential to sell insurance.

**[00:26:26]** And I didn't set it up somewhere on the outskirts of Ústí nad Labem,

**[00:26:29]** where no one passed by, but I made the office right

**[00:26:32]** I don't know if anyone is from Ústí or has ever been there,

**[00:26:35]** there is Mírové Square, which is the central square,

**[00:26:38]** and after two shops I put up the sign Pojišťovna Morava.

**[00:26:42]** Another example of such ambition, today Eurovac no longer operates here,

**[00:26:47]** but maybe some of you saw the first retail park in Průhonice near Prague,

**[00:26:51]** we opened the Tankengo gas station there.

**[00:26:54]** It was the first unmanned station in the Czech Republic and actually one of the first,

**[00:26:57]** if we exclude the Baltic states, it was actually the very first in Central

**[00:27:02]** and Eastern Europe. Why do I mention it, even though it's no longer our business,

**[00:27:07]** we sold it, but back then, when we were thinking about where to open the first gas station,

**[00:27:11]** yes, I could have done it in Most, because I like it there,

**[00:27:14]** because it's a safe, familiar environment, but I knew,

**[00:27:17]** that since I had capital for only one gas station,

**[00:27:20]** for God's sake, I would try to build it in the best possible location.

**[00:27:23]** I knew that Průhonice, the first retail park in the Czech Republic,

**[00:27:26]** was the best possible place in the Czech Republic. So again, in my own world,

**[00:27:36]** it was outside my world, so I built it in Průhonice

**[00:27:42]** and it was a huge success, a huge economic success.

**[00:27:46]** That gas station sold ten times more than regular branded gas stations.

**[00:27:52]** So ambition, which is the product of courage and at the same time some direction,

**[00:27:58]** pushes us in some direction.

**[00:28:02]** And I think that's also essential for our personal lives.

**[00:28:07]** Many times I hear that I can't change anything, it's not possible here,

**[00:28:12]** so we kind of give up on the rest of the world.

**[00:28:15]** But let's say that resignation is not something right.

**[00:28:22]** We intuitively feel it. We don't change the world, we're frustrated, we stand still

**[00:28:26]** and somehow it consumes us and pulls us down.

**[00:28:31]** But if we define the world as where I can reach,

**[00:28:35]** we change that perimeter of the big world

**[00:28:39]** and I won't try to influence the rainforests in Brazil,

**[00:28:42]** but I realize that my world is the one I directly interact with,

**[00:28:47]** my friends, my work, my community.

**[00:28:50]** If I define the world that way, I realize

**[00:28:54]** that I do have the power and ability to influence this world.

**[00:28:59]** And at that moment, from helplessness, I realize I can contribute,

**[00:29:03]** I can change the world and I can be active.

**[00:29:08]** The second thing in business I'd like to mention,

**[00:29:12]** and I'll make a big leap, is sometime in 2020.

**[00:29:18]** Eurovac was very successful at that time.

**[00:29:21]** We were already providing relatively sophisticated payment solutions.

**[00:29:25]** It was no longer just a simple plastic card,

**[00:29:28]** but it was done properly, with all the security.

**[00:29:34]** The network already then accepted cards,

**[00:29:37]** About 12,000 gas stations across Europe.

**[00:29:40]** We offered not only fuel and fuel payment but also toll payment.

**[00:29:44]** Carriers were happy; we already had offices throughout Central and Eastern Europe.

**[00:29:48]** Even in Spain and Portugal.

**[00:29:51]** We started entering Germany and Austria.

**[00:29:54]** More or less at that time, I thought,

**[00:29:57]** this is really all I can do.

**[00:30:00]** The maximum for Eurovac and for me personally as an entrepreneur.

**[00:30:05]** At that time, I intimately knew the issues of transport companies.

**[00:30:10]** We had stopped launching anything else; we focused,

**[00:30:14]** we concentrated on transport companies; we no longer did big trade,

**[00:30:18]** we didn’t supply transport companies or construction firms anymore.

**[00:30:22]** Yes, carriers were the main focus.

**[00:30:26]** Back then, we were thinking about what to do next.

**[00:30:30]** And precisely because of that intimate knowledge of transport companies,

**[00:30:34]** I knew they were facing huge problems.

**[00:30:38]** That it was one of the last industries that hadn’t undergone digitalization.

**[00:30:42]** And at the same time, it’s an industry running on diesel,

**[00:30:46]** and serious talks about decarbonization had already started at that time.

**[00:30:50]** So we thought, oh my god, the fuel card,

**[00:30:54]** what will happen? When I looked at other industries, we remember Kodak,

**[00:30:58]** we remember Nokia and what happened to them when they missed the trend,

**[00:31:02]** that was something I thought about

**[00:31:06]** and on one hand feared, but on the other hand,

**[00:31:10]** I saw a huge opportunity in it. The same with decarbonization.

**[00:31:14]** One day it became clear that pollution and road freight transport

**[00:31:18]** are responsible for 9% of emissions in Europe, which is a huge number.

**[00:31:22]** That one day this must be solved.

**[00:31:26]** That one day we have to try to reduce pollution of the planet.

**[00:31:30]** And that was the beginning of a kind of reflection,

**[00:31:34]** so we asked ourselves what we could do about it.

**[00:31:38]** How to use these changes we saw in other fields,

**[00:31:42]** how to apply them to Eurovac. And so we started defining a new vision.

**[00:31:46]** I have to say, the vision for Eurovac was initially

**[00:31:50]** very clear. No one had built it before us.

**[00:31:54]** It was a big fog. But we realized

**[00:31:58]** that all the key problems in transport stand or fall

**[00:32:02]** precisely because it’s an analog business.

**[00:32:06]** To introduce or explain what that means,

**[00:32:10]** today, when you visit a Czech carrier or even a Portuguese one,

**[00:32:14]** British or Romanian, it doesn't matter, you come into the office,

**[00:32:18]** where you see a kind of jungle. A jungle of different systems,

**[00:32:22]** that the carrier, the dispatcher, works with.

**[00:32:26]** These systems are not connected to each other. One is vehicle tracking,

**[00:32:30]** another is order tracking, a third is driver agenda tracking,

**[00:32:34]** then there's accounting, then navigation,

**[00:32:38]** then various portals where they get work, then portals

**[00:32:42]** where they get information about prices, tolls, etc.

**[00:32:46]** Carriers operate in this jungle. It's extremely demanding,

**[00:32:50]** because each system produces a huge amount of data 24/7.

**[00:32:54]** The systems don't communicate, which means in the middle there's a person,

**[00:32:58]** who tries to make sense of it all with an Excel sheet and copy-paste.

**[00:33:02]** One of the key problems this jungle of systems causes is that they can't scale,

**[00:33:06]** they can't grow. The average size of a transport company in Europe is 7 trucks.

**[00:33:10]** If you ask them why they don't have 15, 20, or 50 trucks,

**[00:33:14]** and why they haven't grown or scaled, they'll tell you,

**[00:33:18]** we tried to go to 15, but realized we couldn't manage it,

**[00:33:22]** so we went back to our ten. That's the usual answer.

**[00:33:26]** The second problem is that if you don't have data under control,

**[00:33:30]** you don't utilize vehicles properly. Today, 21% of trucks

**[00:33:34]** on the roads are empty, which means when you drive on the highway,

**[00:33:38]** it's obviously a waste. It causes traffic jams,

**[00:33:42]** unnecessarily burdens the environment, employs people unnecessarily.

**[00:33:46]** And a whole range of other problems with financing,

**[00:33:50]** reporting, and the decarbonization agenda.

**[00:33:54]** When you add that to the jungle, it's something insurmountable for them.

**[00:33:58]** When we saw all these problems and the opportunities

**[00:34:02]** that digitalization offers, we realized that if we connect all these systems

**[00:34:06]** into one ecosystem, meaning,

**[00:34:10]** the customer won't have 10 different systems but one application,

**[00:34:14]** we can solve all these problems.

**[00:34:18]** And that's what we started building in 2020,

**[00:34:22]** 2021. Today Eurovac

**[00:34:26]** is actually launching the platform. Meanwhile, we've invested 800 million euros.

**[00:34:30]** I totally changed the company, because until then I had one IT person,

**[00:34:34]** named Adam, like in the Bible,

**[00:34:38]** he was the first. Today there are 800 engineers,

**[00:34:42]** working on the platform, which today already

**[00:34:54]** this connects here. And if today we already understand what today's

**[00:34:58]** reality is, then the future is about having

**[00:35:02]** a real driver here, his application, where he finds everything.

**[00:35:06]** Where to drive, where to pick up the next order, where to stop,

**[00:35:10]** to meet legal rest requirements,

**[00:35:14]** where to refuel or recharge. And everything else,

**[00:35:18]** financing, payments, reporting, accounting runs in the background.

**[00:35:22]** That means the people in the back office,

**[00:35:26]** their demands are much smaller and they are people who rather

**[00:35:30]** optimize, calibrate the system and don't just

**[00:35:34]** transfer data manually from one side to the other.

**[00:35:38]** So this is already the reality at Eurovag today. We are launching this platform

**[00:35:42]** and we are the first and still the only ones in the world who had the courage

**[00:35:46]** to step out of one domain, from fuel cards,

**[00:35:50]** and sit on seven other chairs in banking,

**[00:35:54]** software, navigation, and other areas and bring it into one

**[00:35:58]** ecosystem. Sometimes people call us the Uber for trucks.

**[00:36:02]** Every analogy has its advantages and disadvantages,

**[00:36:06]** but in terms of simplicity, in the sense that an Uber

**[00:36:10]** or Lyft driver, when he sits down in the morning, doesn't think

**[00:36:14]** about where to get customers, what price to charge, compliance,

**[00:36:18]** marketing, and so on. He just has the app and just drives on.

**[00:36:22]** So in that way, it's actually similar.

**[00:36:26]** Why do I mention this part about entrepreneurship? There is again one

**[00:36:30]** important principle.

**[00:36:34]** That

**[00:36:38]** in the year 2000

**[00:36:42]** I saw that although I could have a very comfortable life,

**[00:36:46]** continue building the fuel card and it would probably still

**[00:36:50]** take some time, because the transition from diesel and those

**[00:36:54]** fossil fuels, although many of us wish it were much faster,

**[00:36:58]** than we manage to make the transition in an economical, reasonable

**[00:37:02]** way, I actually knew

**[00:37:06]** that for me it would be stagnation.

**[00:37:10]** That I would stop growing. And when I was doing the already

**[00:37:14]** mentioned Harvard, one professor told us one thing.

**[00:37:18]** If you want to develop, it definitely doesn't

**[00:37:22]** make sense to keep doing the same thing. You have to start

**[00:37:26]** doing something different.

**[00:37:30]** If it's just an extension of what you already do, then sure

**[00:37:34]** You accelerate your knowledge, your development, your growth as a professional,

**[00:37:38]** as a person. But the most intense way to develop is when you throw yourself into a complete experiment.

**[00:37:42]** Looking back to 2020, the company had maybe 400 employees,

**[00:37:46]** no technology at all, everything was outsourced,

**[00:37:50]** and I had no clue about technology, no stimulus at all.

**[00:37:54]** What does the challenge mean for me as an entrepreneur,

**[00:37:58]** as a person, to build a company

**[00:38:02]** that was purely commercial, focused on contracting carriers on one side,

**[00:38:06]** and on the other side contracting gas stations or toll operators,

**[00:38:10]** and suddenly turn it into a technology company operating in many industries at once,

**[00:38:14]** and put everything into one cloud, one ecosystem.

**[00:38:18]** That was a huge challenge.

**[00:38:22]** And I have to say, it was. Eurovac went through a massive transformation.

**[00:38:26]** I had to change management several times.

**[00:38:30]** We had a really turbulent time, even three or four years ago,

**[00:38:34]** when every fourth employee left, either because we no longer needed that competence,

**[00:38:38]** or we hired the wrong person and didn’t need them,

**[00:38:42]** or people just couldn’t handle it and left.

**[00:38:46]** Today the company is stable, in a completely different state,

**[00:38:50]** we have delivered a large part of the transformation.

**[00:38:54]** And I am extremely grateful because that intensity, that difference,

**[00:38:58]** especially for me, who is not a technologist, building and running

**[00:39:02]** a technology company was truly one of the biggest life challenges.

**[00:39:06]** So the acceleration of knowledge

**[00:39:10]** is the principle I wanted to show here,

**[00:39:14]** and that’s what I enjoy most about entrepreneurship today.

**[00:39:18]** People ask me, Marten, what drives you in business?

**[00:39:24]** Well, it’s no longer the money.

**[00:39:28]** But that business is a kind of life laboratory,

**[00:39:32]** a kind of life laboratory that we get in addition.

**[00:39:38]** Think about it: we have our own personal life,

**[00:39:44]** but a company is also an entity that is born, grows,

**[00:39:48]** develops, moves fast or sometimes slowly.

**[00:39:52]** What does the company environment allow us, unlike personal life, where there are fewer relationships.

**[00:39:56]** How many partners do we have in life? Four, five maybe. On average, I’m somewhere on a list.

**[00:40:00]** Some have more, many more. Some have one partner. We have a few friends, we can’t have hundreds of friends,

**[00:40:05]** even if social networks make it look like that, but in reality, there are only a few.

**[00:40:11]** But business is different. There we have hundreds of employees, possibly thousands of customers,

**[00:40:28]** Hundreds of partners. And as we already said, each partnership here is actually a kind of interaction,

**[00:40:34]** that changes us in some way, informs us. Sometimes we succeed in the relationship, both of us move forward,

**[00:40:40]** or on the contrary, in the relationship we just find out that we made some mistakes. And it moves us, it teaches us.

**[00:40:48]** And that's what I enjoy about entrepreneurship, that thanks to entrepreneurship, thanks to this laboratory,

**[00:40:54]** which I created on top of that, the interaction and the discovery of the world is much faster.

**[00:41:00]** And precisely the last phase of Eurowag, the transition from a commercial company to a technology company,

**[00:41:06]** was a highly accelerated laboratory that pushed me immensely.

**[00:41:14]** The second thing, the second principle I wanted to talk about and illustrate

**[00:41:21]** with the last five or six years, is the meaningfulness of entrepreneurship.

**[00:41:26]** What is actually the purpose of entrepreneurship? And what is the product of entrepreneurship?

**[00:41:33]** And of course, I asked myself that question back in 2000.

**[00:41:39]** Let's think about it together for a moment.

**[00:41:43]** Sure, if you ask at the University of Economics, the first thing they will tell you is,

**[00:41:47]** that it is a repeated activity aimed at making a profit. Sure.

**[00:41:53]** But that's definitely not all. Profit. What then? And please, feel free to jump in.

**[00:41:59]** I'll just warm up here and we'll always put it together with the audience.

**[00:42:03]** I won't help you. For example, the second thing is not just money, resources,

**[00:42:07]** but maybe taxes. This was much discussed here in the 90s

**[00:42:12]** and maybe in the 2000s, whether it is fair to pay taxes.

**[00:42:16]** However, well, yes, it is normal to pay taxes.

**[00:42:23]** Imagine when we go to the hospital, we want the best possible care.

**[00:42:27]** For ourselves or for grandma, who was recently taken there and needs some

**[00:42:31]** complex surgery. When we drive on the highway, we want it to be smooth,

**[00:42:35]** we used to say a German autobahn, today we might rather say Swiss.

**[00:42:39]** When we go to school, we want the teachers to be well paid,

**[00:42:43]** and the school to be as well equipped as possible, and so on. When we are consumers,

**[00:42:47]** we want the best. But then, when it comes to our share of that,

**[00:42:51]** that we live from all this, we use it all, to pay taxes, right?

**[00:42:57]** So taxes, that's the second thing. What is next?

**[00:43:01]** Help me, what is next?

**[00:43:05]** And I'll repeat it here so it can be heard. What is another product of entrepreneurship?

**[00:43:13]** Benefit to society. And what other benefit?

**[00:43:17]** Socially beneficial. Excellent.

**[00:43:21]** It's very broad, but I'll pick maybe what is closest to it,

**[00:43:25]** that business actually influences politics. I talked about that at the beginning,

**[00:43:29]** in the talk from Poznan that I shared here with you.

**[00:43:33]** Business influences politics. Believe what we all had in the 90s.

**[00:43:37]** A bit of a strange aftertaste of entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurial environment.

**[00:43:43]** If entrepreneurs went to politicians, to institutions, they usually wanted some contracts,

**[00:43:47]** they wanted to privatize something better, and so on. Not always, for God's sake.

**[00:43:51]** It was a dominant feeling we had at that time.

**[00:43:57]** Today, I think Czech business has matured. It now realizes

**[00:44:01]** that it is no longer dependent on the state. Many Czech businesses

**[00:44:07]** are expanding abroad because the Czech market is small.

**[00:44:11]** They don't need any advantages from the Czech government.

**[00:44:16]** What Czech business is increasingly defining today,

**[00:44:19]** is the economic transformation I helped co-found.

**[00:44:22]** It's a great example, but not just for that cause.

**[00:44:25]** On the contrary, it helps to shape it. It's a kind of think tank.

**[00:44:28]** It helps formulate the state's economic agenda,

**[00:44:32]** because our politicians are not very skilled at that.

**[00:44:35]** Their political apparatus lacks the expertise.

**[00:44:38]** That's why we help in this regard.

**[00:44:41]** So we influence the political environment.

**[00:44:44]** How we create demand. Whether we bribe,

**[00:44:48]** we help institutions through transparent, open dialogue

**[00:44:51]** to improve and have direction.

**[00:44:54]** What else is a product of business?

**[00:45:00]** Technological progress, which must have an impact,

**[00:45:03]** so we don't fall victim to Darken alignment,

**[00:45:06]** where progress is just for progress's sake.

**[00:45:09]** In the end, there must always be a person who benefits.

**[00:45:12]** So yes, technological progress.

**[00:45:15]** By the way, that's a very good question about no growth.

**[00:45:18]** Sometimes in connection with business and the economy,

**[00:45:21]** people talk about whether, due to pollution,

**[00:45:24]** resource depletion, etc., we should stop growing.

**[00:45:27]** Of course, if we had said that

**[00:45:30]** a few thousand years ago, we really

**[00:45:33]** wouldn't have left the caves yet.

**[00:45:36]** So I apologize for that.

**[00:45:39]** But it still applies today.

**[00:45:42]** If we only divided what already exists,

**[00:45:45]** that would be a very ugly fight.

**[00:45:48]** That's what Karl Marx based his ideas on.

**[00:45:51]** Karl Marx assumed that resources on the planet are fixed

**[00:45:54]** and it's about who grabs more.

**[00:45:57]** And some form of redistribution.

**[00:46:00]** That's exactly why we must grow.

**[00:46:03]** To give a vision to ourselves and our children,

**[00:46:06]** that they can have it better, that we can grow the pie.

**[00:46:09]** And when we define the surface,

**[00:46:12]** it shows in the last 200 years

**[00:46:15]** that we can grow economically without increasing the number of fields and forests,

**[00:46:18]** as was thought back then.

**[00:46:21]** Because we simply know how to create added value

**[00:46:24]** more and more in the intangible world.

**[00:46:27]** And we are becoming more and more efficient in using current resources.

**[00:46:30]** We are far from perfect at it.

**[00:46:33]** This is the subject of something we used to call the Green Deal.

**[00:46:36]** Reducing pollution of the planet.

**[00:46:39]** But that's exactly it.

**[00:46:42]** So yes, we have to grow so that the pie we have today

**[00:46:45]** simply gets bigger. And we can share more of it.

**[00:46:48]** And each of us has a little more.

**[00:46:51]** What else is the subject of business?

**[00:46:57]** Excellent. New job opportunities.

**[00:47:00]** I'll go back to Most.

**[00:47:03]** That's what it's about. Here in Prague, for example, we feel

**[00:47:06]** that there are enough job opportunities. But there are regions where there aren't

**[00:47:09]** job opportunities. And it's about what kind of job opportunities.

**[00:47:12]** I am proud, for example, that Eurovac, because

**[00:47:15]** it provides high value-added services,

**[00:47:18]** that we are not just an assembly plant, but we actually invent unique things,

**[00:47:21]** sell them under our own brand, so thanks to that we have

**[00:47:24]** high added value. What does that mean? Not only that

**[00:47:27]** there are much higher taxes than if I did something simple,

**[00:47:30]** than if I stayed in wholesale, but at the same time,

**[00:47:33]** and I am very proud of this, that we pay Eurovac employees

**[00:47:37]** several times the average salary. If I take the average wage

**[00:47:41]** at Eurovac, it is several times the Czech average wage.

**[00:47:46]** So it's about what kind of jobs we create

**[00:47:49]** and what kind of jobs we create. What else is the subject of business?

**[00:47:54]** Or the product of business?

**[00:48:01]** Is it, for example, the already mentioned relationship to the environment?

**[00:48:04]** Take Eurovac as a great example.

**[00:48:07]** Today we serve over 320,000 trucks,

**[00:48:10]** connected to our platform, driving all over Europe,

**[00:48:13]** and 99% of them run on diesel. They run on diesel.

**[00:48:16]** I can pretend that nothing is happening,

**[00:48:20]** that it doesn't concern me and wait for someone,

**[00:48:23]** whether from Brussels or Prague, to come and say,

**[00:48:26]** do it differently, or I will penalize you,

**[00:48:29]** and regulate it somehow.

**[00:48:32]** Or I accept that I am a technology leader in the industry,

**[00:48:35]** and as a leader, I have a natural duty

**[00:48:38]** to contribute to finding solutions,

**[00:48:41]** to limit pollution from transportation,

**[00:48:44]** which we all need.

**[00:48:47]** And that is the decision we made.

**[00:48:50]** As I already mentioned, for five or six years we have been investing

**[00:48:53]** in the electromobility department, in alternative fuels,

**[00:48:56]** synthetic fuels, bio LNG, and similar.

**[00:48:59]** It's a solution that is already...

**[00:49:02]** We are clear on how

**[00:49:05]** to decarbonize all those millions of trucks?

**[00:49:08]** No, we are not. But we are committed

**[00:49:11]** to experimenting, to searching for ways,

**[00:49:14]** and not waiting for officials to find the way for us,

**[00:49:17]** which is actually a wrong assumption from the start.

**[00:49:20]** Politicians should only set the direction, and business should find

**[00:49:23]** the most effective solutions. And that is what we proudly stand for

**[00:49:26]** as RB Leader and we are looking for those paths.

**[00:49:29]** So you see, an entrepreneur still has

**[00:49:32]** a big space to be passive, or even to torpedo changes,

**[00:49:36]** or on the contrary,

**[00:49:39]** to be active, to search and co-create.

**[00:49:43]** And one more thing, and this is my favorite,

**[00:49:46]** the product of business, and there are more things,

**[00:49:49]** but we don't have much time for that, it's a separate lecture,

**[00:49:52]** like company culture.

**[00:49:55]** About company culture, when you talk to many agencies,

**[00:49:58]** when you talk to many agencies,

**[00:50:01]** when you talk to many agencies,

**[00:50:04]** when you talk to many agencies,

**[00:50:07]** when you talk to many agencies,

**[00:50:00]** who actually help with company culture, they often talk about it as a kind of performance tool.

**[00:50:06]** If I have a good culture, people work more. That is obviously true.

**[00:50:11]** But consider, at Eurowag I employ 2,000 people in 18 offices across Europe,

**[00:50:19]** and I as the boss am the most responsible, the one responsible for the company culture.

**[00:50:29]** I set the tone. I demonstrate culture by how I behave myself,

**[00:50:36]** by who I hire, who I fire, who I reward. These are the strongest cultural signals.

**[00:50:42]** I am the one who intervenes and creates the environment for when something goes wrong,

**[00:50:48]** how we deal with those things, whether we act like detectives and track it down or just address the issues.

**[00:50:54]** So imagine this. People can go home from Eurovag either angry,

**[00:51:00]** thinking we’re doing nonsense, it makes no sense to me, I don’t see a future in it.

**[00:51:06]** Or on the other hand, I go home maybe tired because it was really tough,

**[00:51:10]** maybe I worked more that day than I should have, but I see meaning in it.

**[00:51:15]** I see that customers will benefit, that we’re finding ways to help,

**[00:51:23]** to live in harmony with the planet, that we behave fairly towards the state,

**[00:51:29]** that when something happens at work and after all we are human,

**[00:51:33]** we intervene, sometimes we accept someone who just doesn’t fit the team, etc.,

**[00:51:37]** the company steps in when something happens.

**[00:51:41]** And these are two completely different positions, two completely different emotional tones,

**[00:51:45]** with which two thousand people go home every day.

**[00:51:51]** And when you come home, you know it, with your mood, you influence your partners, your children.

**[00:51:57]** By the mood you bring. And that multiplies by three.

**[00:52:01]** So I can, as a company leader, on a daily basis

**[00:52:05]** influence the experience of six, seven thousand people. And I do.

**[00:52:11]** It’s not just the product itself, culture, all that we talked about,

**[00:52:15]** money, jobs, etc., but the emotions, the experience of six thousand people,

**[00:52:19]** emotions as something that translates the outside world to us,

**[00:52:23]** as the interface between the outside world and our inner self.

**[00:52:29]** So culture is a product in itself.

**[00:52:33]** So the purpose of business. That’s what I asked myself back in 2000.

**[00:52:39]** What is the real purpose? How can I contribute further?

**[00:52:43]** How can I deepen the meaningfulness of what I do?

**[00:52:47]** And at the same time grow, learn, and actually accelerate the laboratory of life.

**[00:52:51]** So that’s about business.

**[00:52:55]** About those significant milestones.

**[00:52:59]** And the principles of learning, openness, and ambition.

**[00:53:05]** And in the end, when I wanted to illustrate what I believe in,

**[00:53:11]** it’s that what we do should have a broader meaning.

**[00:53:17]** And we don’t have to run a business. Each of us has influence. Each of us creates many things.

**[00:53:23]** It’s just important to become aware.

**[00:53:27]** And then, when we become aware of all the values we influence around us,

**[00:53:31]** we named a few in business, only then,

**[00:53:35]** when each of those values we influence and shape,

**[00:53:39]** imagine as indicator lights, that each has a light.

**[00:53:43]** Only when they all shine green are we doing a good job.

**[00:53:47]** Okay, let's talk about philanthropy, about charity.

**[00:53:53]** I already touched on it when I argued that

**[00:53:57]** we all need to get involved, each of us in our unique way,

**[00:54:02]** contributing to the world in today's rapidly changing environment.

**[00:54:09]** I live this not only in my philanthropic work,

**[00:54:13]** but also in business. Journalists often ask me,

**[00:54:17]** Martina, what are your business principles?

**[00:54:21]** It would be strange if I behaved one way in charity and civic life,

**[00:54:25]** but acted like a shark in business, doing all sorts of negative things.

**[00:54:29]** That would be odd.

**[00:54:33]** There has to be clear consistency.

**[00:54:38]** When I once reflected on how I could help,

**[00:54:43]** the question was about the topics. What can I commit to?

**[00:54:49]** How can I help? And I want to remind you,

**[00:54:53]** this is universal, regardless of how many resources you have,

**[00:54:57]** or how much money you have. We all have some resources, we have time.

**[00:55:01]** We can commit that to others, we can help.

**[00:55:05]** So when we decide where to invest,

**[00:55:09]** I see three categories.

**[00:55:13]** When we go beyond personal relationships and start helping further.

**[00:55:17]** First, it can be a personal traumatic experience.

**[00:55:21]** Meaning we encounter some injustice.

**[00:55:25]** Or someone in the family gets seriously ill.

**[00:55:29]** There are no medicines, or insurance companies don't respond.

**[00:55:33]** Or someone is dying, and we realize they are dying in undignified conditions,

**[00:55:37]** lacking palliative care, etc.

**[00:55:41]** So that's one reason people typically start helping.

**[00:55:45]** The second is random.

**[00:55:49]** They simply don't know and try things out, experimenting.

**[00:55:53]** The third relates to me, which is that I felt,

**[00:55:57]** I suddenly began to realize,

**[00:56:01]** that even though at first I randomly sent resources

**[00:56:05]** to various organizations and tried it out,

**[00:56:09]** something started to emerge that I brought from my family.

**[00:56:13]** It's a kind of family agenda. Even though I grew up in a communist family,

**[00:56:17]** both my parents were active communists,

**[00:56:21]** gradually, when asked,

**[00:56:25]** Martina, you're actually your parents' enemy,

**[00:56:29]** I was able to go a bit deeper and realize something,

**[00:56:33]** something deeper there. My parents passed on two things to me in life.

**[00:56:37]** First, that they were truly the ones trying to search.

**[00:56:41]** And what we have in common is seeking some kind of harmony in society,

**[00:56:45]** shared prosperity. The second thing is that the ideology

**[00:56:49]** they promoted ultimately proved harmful and went exactly

**[00:56:53]** in the opposite direction, but I think the effort to help

**[00:56:57]** and be valuable and grow together in society is something

**[00:57:01]** I identify with. We have a lot in common with our parents.

**[00:57:05]** And the second, precisely because they were active communists,

**[00:57:09]** not just those who paid fees and became members,

**[00:57:13]** to avoid standing out, but they truly engaged in political processes,

**[00:57:17]** held positions, etc., so there is a natural tendency,

**[00:57:21]** that when I see something that should change, I take an active approach

**[00:57:25]** and do something about it. That’s the natural attitude here.

**[00:57:29]** I see a problem, I do something about it, and something actually happens.

**[00:57:33]** Today we might call that entrepreneurship, an active approach to life.

**[00:57:37]** And this gradually started to manifest more and more in me.

**[00:57:41]** That means I began to focus on two areas,

**[00:57:45]** supporting democracy, protecting democracy, and education.

**[00:57:49]** It’s something that is not only close to me,

**[00:57:53]** but I realize that when I did some kind of,

**[00:57:57]** as an entrepreneur, an analysis of what

**[00:58:01]** has the greatest effect, I thought,

**[00:58:05]** yes, we can address a number of symptoms

**[00:58:09]** caused by dysfunctional institutions, a dysfunctional system,

**[00:58:13]** a dysfunctional state.

**[00:58:18]** But it would probably be much more interesting to address the root causes.

**[00:58:22]** The things from which everything else arises.

**[00:58:26]** And that is democracy. How we are organized.

**[00:58:30]** The state. Not the state as an entity, but the state as an agreement

**[00:58:34]** between us on how we cooperate.

**[00:58:38]** And if we look at it in contrast,

**[00:58:42]** before 1989 we did not have democracy,

**[00:58:47]** and what did we see? Not only economic decline,

**[00:58:51]** which we all remember well, but let’s recall,

**[00:58:55]** there was environmental decline, social decline,

**[00:58:59]** cultural decline, and a decline in values.

**[00:59:03]** And I think this contrast, I experienced it,

**[00:59:07]** I remember it because I was 14 at the time of the Velvet Revolution,

**[00:59:11]** clearly explains that if the basic setup,

**[00:59:15]** if the fundamental program is wrong,

**[00:59:19]** then everything else is just as wrong.

**[00:59:23]** And that's exactly why they are called democracy, that's exactly why they are called education.

**[00:59:27]** Although they seem like two different areas, they actually lead to the same thing.

**[00:59:31]** Education is basically about how we prepare young people

**[00:59:35]** to become valid citizens, to be people

**[00:59:39]** who actively contribute to society.

**[00:59:43]** Who actively contribute to peaceful coexistence.

**[00:59:47]** And democracy is the tool that deals with the here and now.

**[00:59:51]** Education is a long-term investment.

**[01:00:00]** More so in ten, twenty years. Democracy is what happens right now.

**[01:00:04]** There are many such activities.

**[01:00:07]** Some of you have seen the film Waves.

**[01:00:11]** I'll take it from one side.

**[01:00:12]** I don't want to be a film producer. I was interested in the topic of 1968

**[01:00:18]** and how to provide young people, actually in the context of the Ukrainian war,

**[01:00:23]** with this topic here.

**[01:00:25]** Exactly what we waved about at the very beginning.

**[01:00:28]** This is the Russian destructive philosophy, which has manifested for centuries

**[01:00:32]** and oppresses other nations.

**[01:00:35]** And what we experienced here.

**[01:00:37]** And it is through the support of many organizations,

**[01:00:40]** think tanks that help with social issues,

**[01:00:43]** then research on topics

**[01:00:45]** how to improve state transparency,

**[01:00:49]** Alliance for a Modern State, through journalism.

**[01:00:52]** I co-founded the foundation forum for independent journalism

**[01:00:54]** and helped establish Deník N.

**[01:00:56]** and even supported the president in his campaign about four or five years ago.

**[01:01:05]** We can pause again.

**[01:01:08]** And this is the last thing I want to mention.

**[01:01:11]** We actually said this at the beginning. Why?

**[01:01:15]** We as entrepreneurs, as people, why do we have the right, the duty,

**[01:01:20]** and very pragmatic reasons to help and get involved in public processes.

**[01:01:24]** But what I would add is a kind of hygiene.

**[01:01:28]** When we do it, when we get into it

**[01:01:31]** and we need it more and more and will need it,

**[01:01:34]** there are certain hygiene rules.

**[01:01:39]** So we don't become those who secretly influence things behind the scenes,

**[01:01:43]** plot conspiracies and give rise to conspiracy theories.

**[01:01:48]** First, whether I work in education or in protecting democracy,

**[01:01:52]** So here are the four basic principles.

**[01:01:54]** We've touched on them a bit already. The first is transparency,

**[01:01:57]** which means nothing is hidden, we speak openly,

**[01:02:02]** we say what we fund, we publish it, we talk about it.

**[01:02:06]** So clearly, transparency.

**[01:02:08]** Secondly, and we probably don't need to discuss this much,

**[01:02:12]** no personal profit from it.

**[01:02:14]** No personal profit or even negative personal profit.

**[01:02:16]** I would illustrate this with one example.

**[01:02:19]** I believe we should adopt the euro

**[01:02:22]** in the Czech Republic not just as an economic tool,

**[01:02:26]** but primarily as a tool that brings us closer

**[01:02:30]** to other European countries and integrates us more.

**[01:02:33]** Because if we have a problem in Europe,

**[01:02:35]** it's still the division, the fragmentation of Europe.

**[01:02:40]** And as we know, that's one of the main problems

**[01:02:43]** we face with China and America, that we are not truly a unified market.

**[01:02:47]** But why do I mention the euro specifically?

**[01:02:48]** Because Eurovac profits from different currencies.

**[01:02:51]** Which means if the Czech Republic adopted the euro,

**[01:02:55]** Eurovac would lose several million euros.

**[01:02:58]** A really large amount.

**[01:02:59]** What is happening to us right now in Bulgaria,

**[01:03:01]** is that Bulgaria recently, I don't know if it already happened,

**[01:03:03]** or if it will happen on July 1st or January 1st,

**[01:03:06]** Bulgaria adopted the euro from their original currency, the lev.

**[01:03:10]** And because of that, we lost money.

**[01:03:13]** But still, because I am convinced

**[01:03:14]** that this is right for our society,

**[01:03:16]** and right for Europe, I speak loudly in favor of the euro.

**[01:03:20]** Just an example.

**[01:03:21]** What does the second principle mean, besides transparency?

**[01:03:24]** No personal profit.

**[01:03:27]** Next, inclusion.

**[01:03:30]** The widest possible alliance?

**[01:03:31]** An alliance of supporters,

**[01:03:33]** an alliance of organizations working on it,

**[01:03:37]** an alliance of politicians.

**[01:03:38]** This is again a luxury for us in business,

**[01:03:40]** that we don't have a political label.

**[01:03:43]** And for example, in the second economic transformation,

**[01:03:45]** programmatically, with a clear focus,

**[01:03:47]** we approach all political parties,

**[01:03:49]** when we bring an agenda,

**[01:03:51]** because we believe these are things

**[01:03:52]** that, whether you lean more left or right,

**[01:03:54]** are the right ones.

**[01:03:56]** And furthermore, we help create consensus

**[01:03:59]** across political parties

**[01:04:01]** so that one or the other doesn't torpedo it,

**[01:04:04]** but that we finally move forward with important

**[01:04:07]** transformational agendas of the states.

**[01:04:10]** So inclusion.

**[01:04:11]** Creating the broadest possible alliances?

**[01:04:14]** Thanks to that, we gain or distance ourselves from

**[01:04:18]** the suspicion that this is some personal interest.

**[01:04:20]** God knows what it is so far.

**[01:04:21]** That's what Martin Vohanka wants.

**[01:04:23]** No, we always create ecosystems,

**[01:04:26]** so we move forward together

**[01:04:28]** and are convinced about it together.

**[01:04:29]** And thanks to that, the legislation and change were durable

**[01:04:34]** and no one shot it down after two years, when the parliament changed.

**[01:04:38]** And the last ingredient is deep understanding.

**[01:04:41]** If I want to influence democracy, if I want to influence education,

**[01:04:45]** I have to damn well understand it.

**[01:04:46]** What does it mean when I want to help with certain things,

**[01:04:48]** so that it doesn't accidentally happen, and there's a saying that

**[01:04:52]** I don't know, they are paved or whatever it's called,

**[01:04:55]** with good intentions, but it ended very badly.

**[01:05:00]** What deep understanding of the topic means

**[01:05:02]** is actually the fourth ingredient.

**[01:05:04]** The fourth is a kind of hygiene factor when I get involved in something.

**[01:05:07]** Again, all these four principles here,

**[01:05:11]** inclusivity, transparency, no personal profit, and understanding the topic,

**[01:05:14]** apply whether I'm doing big philanthropy on a larger scale,

**[01:05:20]** or you get involved in some community projects,

**[01:05:23]** that you do locally, like building a playground or fixing something,

**[01:05:26]** or creating a local festival.

**[01:05:31]** So that's all from me, Honza.

**[01:05:43]** I'll take that chair over here.

**[01:05:48]** Actually, I was thinking, you had that beautiful presentation there.

**[01:05:51]** Oh gosh, I forgot about it.

**[01:05:53]** No, that's totally fine, that's totally fine, and we'll attach it to that.

**[01:05:56]** I might just show a few pictures,

**[01:05:59]** like this one here, for example.

**[01:06:03]** And there are plenty of interesting ones like this,

**[01:06:06]** so of course we'll make it available on the platform,

**[01:06:09]** so you know that what Martin said really happened.

**[01:06:12]** That it's not just something made up, that it really was a small thing,

**[01:06:16]** that grew.

**[01:06:19]** That probably needs no comment, judging by their faces,

**[01:06:22]** and their age, you can guess what stage the company was at.

**[01:06:25]** So I'll ask the production team to put the questions up,

**[01:06:28]** because there are really, really many.

**[01:06:32]** I actually wanted to thank you very much for the lecture.

**[01:06:34]** And not just for the lecture, but because I feel,

**[01:06:38]** that what you say, you actually live by.

**[01:06:41]** And that's actually the reason why you're here.

**[01:06:45]** How does such dedication, Martin, to business reflect in your personal life?

**[01:06:50]** How do you manage work-life balance?

**[01:06:52]** Great question.

**[01:06:54]** That's what I mentioned when we talked about products in business.

**[01:06:57]** One of the products of business is actually taking care of ourselves,

**[01:07:01]** how we as people thrive in it.

**[01:07:04]** Because you've probably heard of many cases of people,

**[01:07:08]** who were successful in business,

**[01:07:09]** but then suffered a stroke or something worse, right?

**[01:07:14]** Stress, cholesterol, weight, and I don't know what else.

**[01:07:17]** That means one of the warning lights that must be on the dashboard,

**[01:07:20]** if we really want to add something positive to the universe and the world,

**[01:07:24]** is, besides making profit,

**[01:07:27]** paying taxes, and so on, of course our personal sustainability.

**[01:07:30]** Both physical and relational.

**[01:07:33]** Many business stories where they were successful,

**[01:07:36]** but their family fell apart,

**[01:07:39]** children just scattered, angry, broken families,

**[01:07:42]** fourth, fifth, sixth spouse, and so on.

**[01:07:46]** So definitely this is something we have to take care of,

**[01:07:49]** and the only way I operate in this regard,

**[01:07:53]** First of all, I consider myself a man of order,

**[01:07:57]** which means sleeping regularly, going to bed, getting enough sleep,

**[01:08:00]** I'm increasingly aware of what 7.5 hours means,

**[01:08:02]** I really go to bed at 10, at the latest 10:30, and get up at 6,

**[01:08:06]** drink a lot, eat well, I started exercising, which I always hated,

**[01:08:11]** but men over 45 who have a drop in testosterone,

**[01:08:14]** and thus loss of muscle mass, so I had to start going to the gym,

**[01:08:17]** I've been doing it for a year and a half now and I even somewhat look forward to it,

**[01:08:19]** that's a great credit to my trainer.

**[01:08:22]** And then, of course, in the relationship and family sphere.

**[01:08:26]** My wife, people often ask me about her in this context,

**[01:08:30]** how she actually manages it all, and I have to say,

**[01:08:33]** on one hand, I'm grateful that she never reproached me,

**[01:08:36]** when I'm late, when I go somewhere, when I'm away, and so on,

**[01:08:40]** but at the same time, she knows she is number one for me.

**[01:08:43]** And I show that when I'm with her personally, how I treat her,

**[01:08:46]** the depth of our relationship.

**[01:08:48]** And because of that, she knows that me not being home as often,

**[01:08:53]** like maybe some others, doesn't mean I don't love her,

**[01:08:56]** but simply that something needs to be done, and so I do it.

**[01:09:01]** Again, I think many businessmen completely overlook the relationship aspect.

**[01:09:06]** It's great that you say this here, because that's the essence,

**[01:09:09]** I think, the core that is very important for long-term sustainability.

**[01:09:14]** Luboš asks, what are you, Martin,

**[01:09:18]** able to promote thanks to the economic transformation,

**[01:09:20]** to improve the business environment?

**[01:09:25]** I'll go back to that note.

**[01:09:28]** Is there something we can pass on to the Poles and what they can pass on to us?

**[01:09:35]** What we pass on to the Poles, and not only the Poles,

**[01:09:38]** but nowadays, when I travel, because we try to connect

**[01:09:40]** the civic sectors, the philanthropic sectors across Europe.

**[01:09:44]** I was in Belgium, recently in Poland,

**[01:09:46]** we've been going there for years, now I'm going to Bulgaria, I was in Austria.

**[01:09:50]** And what we can truly be proud of here in the Czech Republic,

**[01:09:53]** is the level, maturity, and sophistication of civil society.

**[01:09:58]** So here we have grassroots movements.

**[01:10:00]** These are a million moments of 'thank you, we can,' and many others.

**[01:10:03]** So here we have a whole range of think tanks that have deep expertise in various verticals,

**[01:10:08]** social issues, educational issues, tax issues, and so on.

**[01:10:12]** So here there is already a fairly large group of entrepreneurs,

**[01:10:16]** who don't just care about themselves, but care about society by supporting things

**[01:10:19]** and not just sending money, but actively investing their time.

**[01:10:24]** That's what I do in the second economic transformation.

**[01:10:26]** It's not about money there, it's about the time that those 40 leaders of Czech business actually dedicate to these things,

**[01:10:32]** they work on it themselves, communicate, meet politicians, work in various working groups.

**[01:10:39]** And that's something we really don't see in other countries. We can get to why.

**[01:10:43]** And that's what inspires the Poles today. And that's what we do.

**[01:10:49]** What we can take from the Poles on the other hand is ambition.

**[01:10:56]** I've already talked about it as a basic ingredient not only of business,

**[01:11:00]** but of an active approach to life in general.

**[01:11:03]** And I have to say, I was actually at that conference,

**[01:11:08]** because I sit in the audience, the finance minister is speaking.

**[01:11:12]** We are the sixth largest economy in Europe today and will be third in ten years.

**[01:11:16]** Then I sit with a group of entrepreneurs and they say,

**[01:11:18]** that in ten years we will be the third largest economy in Europe

**[01:11:21]** and during our lifetime we want to become the eighth largest economy in the world.

**[01:11:25]** They constantly talk about where they are heading. What does good mean?

**[01:11:31]** Consider what the discussion is like here.

**[01:11:36]** How to delay pension reform, how to cheat on defense spending,

**[01:11:42]** how to avoid decarbonization. That's the discourse here.

**[01:11:48]** And what is true? If we avoid the future, we won't be part of it.

**[01:11:55]** That's the fundamental problem.

**[01:11:57]** And I have to say, that's something I perceive,

**[01:12:00]** what the Poles can give us and we would like to ride more and more with the Poles

**[01:12:03]** and we hope that maybe at the next revision we manage to get someone

**[01:12:06]** from the Polish government, possibly the finance minister,

**[01:12:09]** to inspire us. And when I go back

**[01:12:13]** to the second economic transformation, we realized it right here.

**[01:12:16]** We started working on various measures in different areas

**[01:12:19]** and basically defining an economic agenda.

**[01:12:22]** But at one point we realized that we actually don't have a vision.

**[01:12:25]** We don't have a shared vision. Where is the Czech Republic actually going?

**[01:12:29]** It looks like when we all rush onto the platform at the station in the morning

**[01:12:33]** and scatter. Everyone takes a different train somewhere

**[01:12:36]** and then in the evening we all meet sweaty, having worked so hard

**[01:12:40]** and we don't even know where we were heading, why we did it,

**[01:12:44]** where it actually leads. And that's something we're working on right now

**[01:12:50]** with the second economic transformation, which means not only on specific

**[01:12:53]** measures, specific agendas that allow us to work better

**[01:12:56]** with our talent, which after all is our oil, our gold.

**[01:13:00]** Only talent, the talent of Czechs. How to improve transfer,

**[01:13:04]** how to improve innovation, transfer between universities and the economy.

**[01:13:08]** How to enable better access to capital, how to streamline institutions,

**[01:13:12]** and so on. So yes, all of that is good, but actually,

**[01:13:15]** what we are working on today in the second economic transformation,

**[01:13:17]** is to quantify and actually make us all aware of where we could be

**[01:13:22]** in ten years, which is not too long a horizon.

**[01:13:25]** Something tangible, where we can all still see ourselves

**[01:13:29]** and actually name what it means, and on the other hand,

**[01:13:33]** work on the story of the Czechs. Actually, who we are, not just what we have,

**[01:13:37]** but also who we Czechs are. That’s the second thing. We’re great at,

**[01:13:41]** admitting where we’re imperfect, we have great humor,

**[01:13:45]** great sarcasm, but to tell an aspirational story,

**[01:13:49]** an aspirational story about what is good in us, where we’re heading,

**[01:13:52]** what our national ambition is. Here, I think,

**[01:13:56]** we all struggle a lot, myself included.

**[01:14:00]** And that’s the second project. Maybe you’ve encountered it,

**[01:14:04]** Good Morning in Czechia, there were 15,000 respondents,

**[01:14:08]** a a whole series of facilitated discussions, civic meetings took place,

**[01:14:12]** from Ústí to Ostrava, and the project continues.

**[01:14:16]** The goal is exactly that story of the Czechs, who we are and where we’re going,

**[01:14:20]** where things have to meet somewhere. The economic ambition that enables everything else,

**[01:14:24]** armament, defense, education, social services, healthcare,

**[01:14:28]** and actually the story that gives us identity

**[01:14:32]** and helps us understand who we are and what we’re good at

**[01:14:36]** and what we should work on.

**[01:14:39]** I actually think it’s really great that you say that about think tanks

**[01:14:43]** and those organizations that help you, that you bring together.

**[01:14:48]** To have better ones, but also here, few people know about these organizations,

**[01:14:52]** but leadership needs to be built there too, corporate culture too,

**[01:14:56]** and so on, and we have been taking care of that for many years, so then research,

**[01:15:00]** teacher for life. Besides the people who speak here

**[01:15:04]** and have been at Brain&Breakfast many times, this is also our contribution,

**[01:15:08]** which we add to it. Martin, next question from Honza.

**[01:15:13]** Great question. It has two levels. First, when people ask me

**[01:15:17]** about managing people and relationships with people and ask me what my recipe is for,

**[01:15:21]** why people follow you, why they want to work for you,

**[01:15:25]** why you inspire them, and so on, there is one very simple rule,

**[01:15:29]** which solves 80% of your problems, which solves 80% of your problems,

**[01:15:33]** which solves 80% of your problems, which solves 80% of your problems,

**[01:15:37]** So here is a very simple rule that solves 80% of your problems.

**[01:15:41]** And it's not just about companies, it applies to smaller teams,

**[01:15:45]** like civic initiatives and so on.

**[01:15:49]** And the rule is one we all know,

**[01:15:53]** don't do to others, or rather treat others the way you would want to be treated.

**[01:15:57]** It sounds simple.

**[01:16:01]** The problem is, we don't do it, we lie to ourselves.

**[01:16:05]** When we're tired, when we're bosses, we think we can behave differently.

**[01:16:09]** When things go wrong, when someone offends us, we tend to retaliate.

**[01:16:13]** The whole trick is to be consistent.

**[01:16:17]** Even when I'm tired, even when I'm the boss, even when I have power,

**[01:16:21]** I still behave the same way, consistently following this rule.

**[01:16:25]** And that was basically, what I found out, of course I made mistakes,

**[01:16:29]** many times I acted in ways I’m ashamed of today,

**[01:16:33]** many times I lied to myself about this, but then I realized,

**[01:16:37]** that if I stick to this basic rule and really stay consistent,

**[01:16:41]** that's the formula that solves 80% of my problems,

**[01:16:45]** or 80% of the leadership and people relationship agenda.

**[01:16:51]** The second is about what kind of people to surround yourself with,

**[01:16:57]** two things apply here.

**[01:16:59]** First, we already emit a vibe that repels some and attracts others.

**[01:17:03]** Meaning, the quality we represent, the tone, the quality,

**[01:17:07]** really attracts or repels.

**[01:17:13]** That's the first thing.

**[01:17:16]** Second, I often encounter that

**[01:17:20]** people can't stand having better people around them than themselves.

**[01:17:26]** And we have to admit that the strength of the leader

**[01:17:30]** determines the strength of the organization.

**[01:17:32]** Where the leader is weak, the organization will be weak too.

**[01:17:36]** If I, as a leader, want to be the sultan,

**[01:17:42]** the exceptional one, and I only accept people

**[01:17:47]** who don't threaten me intellectually in any way,

**[01:17:51]** then of course that holds me back in my development.

**[01:17:55]** And logically, the whole organization stops,

**[01:17:58]** because the organization grows as we all grow.

**[01:18:01]** Me as a leader and everyone else with me.

**[01:18:04]** So, thank God, I never had a problem

**[01:18:07]** accepting people and I always tried.

**[01:18:10]** And again, it’s about ambition, remember that office.

**[01:18:13]** My world ended at the door, that was the best,

**[01:18:16]** So I just took it at face value.

**[01:18:19]** At that given time, in terms of money I could pay,

**[01:18:23]** in terms of the space I operate in,

**[01:18:26]** I simply take the best from the crow.

**[01:18:29]** So today and always, I've had the philosophy

**[01:18:32]** to rather pay more and not watch the money with people.

**[01:18:35]** Because I know that if I really choose well,

**[01:18:38]** that person will stick and bring many times that back.

**[01:18:41]** That's also why today EuroVac pays them what it pays.

**[01:18:44]** It is where it is.

**[01:18:46]** Today, the team is actually fully international.

**[01:18:49]** And today we hire people from America, from different continents of the world,

**[01:18:53]** because I didn't want to be closed off, to choose only from ten million talents,

**[01:18:57]** but from several billion talents.

**[01:19:00]** I think that's also the current situation,

**[01:19:03]** that you yourself move forward and actually push those people.

**[01:19:06]** But there was one interesting question,

**[01:19:09]** how the rocket growth of the company goes hand in hand

**[01:19:12]** with the transformation along with the company culture.

**[01:19:15]** Because it's very demanding and the crises,

**[01:19:18]** you of course called it, it was here...

**[01:19:21]** We talked about polycrises in previous breakfasts

**[01:19:24]** with David Navrátil, etc.

**[01:19:27]** So how do you handle this?

**[01:19:30]** Culture is something that on a daily basis

**[01:19:35]** is actually not visible at all.

**[01:19:38]** And that's the trick and the subtlety.

**[01:19:43]** That iconic marketing phrase that...

**[01:19:48]** And I think it's true.

**[01:19:51]** What actually helped EuroVac to get through the last six years,

**[01:19:54]** which were really very dramatic,

**[01:19:57]** were precisely the cultures.

**[01:20:00]** Culture means those underlying currents of how we behave, what we aspire to,

**[01:20:06]** what is important to us, what is less important. And I think the determination to really solve things,

**[01:20:14]** the determination, even when we make mistakes, even when things don't work out, to behave decently,

**[01:20:22]** to part decently with people, that's a huge problem. I constantly perceive around me,

**[01:20:26]** regardless of seniority, that we don't know how to say goodbye, we don't know how to end relationships, we see that after all

**[01:20:32]** even in our personal lives, that often we lie, break up with a partner and then don't talk

**[01:20:38]** for the rest of our lives, which I think is a big mistake. The same goes for employees. So precisely culture

**[01:20:45]** helps to overcome these things, even though the battle looks very dramatic, when there are

**[01:20:52]** Certain qualities, precisely the effort to improve, the effort to solve it, and under all circumstances actually maintain

**[01:20:59]** a certain level of decency, respect, etc., those were, I think, two basic ingredients.

**[01:21:06]** So people, even when they saw that we made mistakes, even when we disappointed people, even when people at some moments

**[01:21:12]** were frustrated, they saw that the intent was pure, that when we really messed something up,

**[01:21:19]** we faced it head-on, didn’t hide, we solved it, paid for it, compensated,

**[01:21:25]** gave people severance, and that there was a real effort not to repeat the mistake but to improve,

**[01:21:32]** so I think those were the basic ingredients that helped us overcome everything we experienced.

**[01:21:38]** There are two questions that are kind of competing now, so the first is, when will you step into politics?

**[01:21:46]** Yeah, when will I step into politics?

**[01:21:48]** Great question, people ask me that and I talk about it very openly.

**[01:21:52]** Sure, people ask if I should start a party and so on,

**[01:21:57]** because clearly, when you become a politician, your impact is by far the greatest,

**[01:22:02]** compared to just cooperating with institutions or managing them.

**[01:22:08]** I took a whole year to think about it.

**[01:22:13]** When I was 49, a close colleague told me,

**[01:22:17]** Martin, 49 is also, according to the Bible, 7x7, it’s that year

**[01:22:21]** when you should reflect on what you will do with the second half of your life.

**[01:22:24]** So I really talked to many people and tried to gather pearls of wisdom

**[01:22:29]** to help me clarify whether the role of entrepreneur and philanthropist

**[01:22:34]** is how I can contribute most to the world, or if it’s the role of a politician.

**[01:22:39]** And I really talked to whoever I could. For example, last year I had the chance to meet

**[01:22:42]** with President Obama for an hour, just the two of us,

**[01:22:45]** so I asked him this question. I also discussed it frankly

**[01:22:48]** with our president, talked with various people,

**[01:22:51]** and discussed it very deeply primarily with my wife,

**[01:22:54]** mostly with her, of course, first and foremost.

**[01:22:58]** And with many of my collaborators, I talk about it.

**[01:23:01]** But in the end, I came to the conclusion that I think today, as an entrepreneur,

**[01:23:06]** philanthropist, someone actively engaged in society,

**[01:23:09]** I can create—and please don’t hold me to the exact words—

**[01:23:12]** the most good for understanding, more than if I went into politics.

**[01:23:18]** First, that would put all the projects

**[01:23:22]** and activities I’ve supported so far into big trouble,

**[01:23:25]** because politically, I behave and politically all those organizations,

**[01:23:29]** so I would put them in big trouble.

**[01:23:31]** And at the same time, what is the likelihood I would succeed as an entrepreneur?

**[01:23:34]** What is the likelihood I would prosper as Martin?

**[01:23:37]** Could I function in that environment?

**[01:23:39]** And definitely what I don’t have is that savior feeling,

**[01:23:43]** that if I’m successful in business, I would be successful in politics.

**[01:23:47]** In short, politics is a craft that is unique,

**[01:23:50]** has its prerequisites, its dark sides, and let's say, positives as well.

**[01:23:56]** And I'm not convinced that the final effect

**[01:24:00]** would outweigh what I can do today.

**[01:24:03]** And as we said, I am deeply convinced

**[01:24:06]** that as citizens, as part of civil society,

**[01:24:09]** we can do a lot for this country.

**[01:24:14]** Probably the last question, Martin.

**[01:24:16]** From your experience and recent innovation growth, technology,

**[01:24:21]** what would you recommend people learn?

**[01:24:23]** Skills for the upcoming development to stay relevant.

**[01:24:27]** What skills should we learn now?

**[01:24:30]** Today, more young people are watching us than usual.

**[01:24:34]** So give it a try.

**[01:24:39]** You know, I think AI is truly gigantic,

**[01:24:43]** an absolutely fundamental change for us.

**[01:24:47]** And we all ask ourselves, will it serve us,

**[01:24:50]** or will it be a danger to us?

**[01:24:53]** And the answer is very simple.

**[01:24:55]** We can apply this to nuclear weapons, any technology, and so on.

**[01:25:00]** Or nuclear technology.

**[01:25:03]** We don't have to fear technology itself.

**[01:25:05]** We only have to fear people who misuse it.

**[01:25:08]** Who won't use it for the benefit of all of us.

**[01:25:15]** And that applies to AI as well.

**[01:25:17]** On one hand, taking a positive approach,

**[01:25:21]** AI and robotics in general can free humans from drudgery.

**[01:25:27]** From what Josef Čapek first named.

**[01:25:33]** And we can start focusing more on ourselves.

**[01:25:36]** On our own self-development. That's the positive side.

**[01:25:39]** Of course, the negative view is what I've already warned about.

**[01:25:43]** What is happening in America.

**[01:25:45]** Technofascism, Dark Enlightenment, Peter Thiel.

**[01:25:48]** And this whole philosophy.

**[01:25:50]** Together with the enormous power that financial and

**[01:25:54]** technological sectors have today. Consider that they enter wars.

**[01:25:57]** They enter legislation.

**[01:25:59]** The degree of power concentration and wealth is so huge,

**[01:26:05]** it is frightening.

**[01:26:07]** And from that, we can practically imagine it,

**[01:26:10]** When we look at movies like The Matrix or Dune and similar.

**[01:26:15]** Why am I talking about this in connection with this question?

**[01:26:18]** If we are to become slaves, modern-day slaves,

**[01:26:21]** part of modern feudal systems?

**[01:26:24]** I believe what we primarily need is humanity.

**[01:26:28]** We need to understand each other.

**[01:26:30]** We need the ability to seek compromises.

**[01:26:33]** The ability to solve problems collectively.

**[01:26:36]** How to find consensus?

**[01:26:38]** Despite differing opinions, despite disliking the other group,

**[01:26:43]** how to communicate, how to find the smallest common denominator.

**[01:26:47]** I think this is a competence of the future.

**[01:26:50]** Because those hard skills will very likely sooner or later,

**[01:26:54]** simply be done much better by a computer or a robot.

**[01:26:58]** So for me, these are the basic competences,

**[01:27:02]** which unfortunately, and this is one of the areas,

**[01:27:05]** the key thing we try to focus on in education,

**[01:27:08]** is to have social, so-called soft competences in schools

**[01:27:12]** much more represented than hard skills,

**[01:27:15]** than knowing square roots and so on.

**[01:27:17]** We need all of that, it's not about turning it off,

**[01:27:19]** but complementing it, and much more strengthening these qualities here.

**[01:27:23]** So I think that's something.

**[01:27:25]** And where does the young generation face the biggest problems?

**[01:27:29]** Because we work a lot with electronics,

**[01:27:31]** we are exposed to those algorithms.

**[01:27:33]** It's hard to get out of it, actually.

**[01:27:35]** But I would wish for the young generation that...

**[01:27:38]** And I already see it today, that kind of immune reaction,

**[01:27:41]** that young people suddenly start realizing,

**[01:27:43]** hey, it's too much, I just don't feel well,

**[01:27:45]** I have problems, simply the number of people

**[01:27:50]** who have mental health issues, take various substances,

**[01:27:53]** whether legal or illegal.

**[01:27:55]** And I hope this will soon bring some immune,

**[01:27:58]** stronger reaction in the young generation.

**[01:28:00]** Not us, but especially the young.

**[01:28:01]** The young must change the world, the new technological world

**[01:28:04]** and realize that they must return to the physical world.

**[01:28:08]** And that the only way for us humans to survive is to reconnect,

**[01:28:12]** to restore the ability to coexist in the physical world.

**[01:28:16]** It doesn't mean turning off technology, but bringing it back into balance.

**[01:28:22]** And with that, we can say goodbye.

**[01:28:24]** So Martin, thank you very much for your words and for the lecture.

**[01:28:27]** It was great. Thank you.