Doposud jsem si myslel, že důvodem neshody je to, že moderní způsoby vzdělávání a podnikání jsou našim příliš vzdálené a už nemají trpělivost se do nich nořit. Jenže pak mi došlo, že jejich skepse v tématu podnikání pradvěpodobně vychází z něčeho úplně jiného…

Zkusme se na chvilku vžít do jejich role. Je vám dvacet, na dvě školy na které jste chtěli, vás z “určitých” důvodů nevzali. Oproti generaci mileniálů, která musí vymýšlet, co jsou vlastně problémy, které by se daly řešit, vidíte problémy na každém rohu. Bez nadsázky 80% věcí nefunguje. Všechny podniky patří státu nebo jsou řízené státem. Baví vás malovat, ale kvalitní barvy se nedají sehnat. iPady ještě nejsou. Zaslechli jste, že v Americe se mixuje muzika, ale nejen, že vám chybí Udemy a YouTube na to, abyste se naučili základy, ale hlavně neseženete gramce — a ne protože Amazon nebo Alza neexistujou. Výrobky vyrobené v podnicích, které komunisté zabavili, se prodávají pod cenou, nefungují a mají nulový vývozní potenciál. Ekonomika stagnuje. Stát otevírá “frančízu” tuzexů a emituje odběrné poukázky — bony, kterými zastírá, že ve skutečnosti chce skupovat zahraniční valuty, které se ve společnosti stále “nějak” nacházejí.

Vzniká černý trh a veksláci nelegálně skupují a šmělí jak s bony, tak s valutami. Přichází Něžná revoluce. Nastává boom oborů typu zahraniční obchod na VŠE — všichni chtějí peníze a dostat se pryč. Klaus a další borci spouštějí kupónovou privatizaci — každý z našich rodičů si mohl už v devadesátém druhém zakoupit kupónvou knížku za 35 Kč. Kontrola selhává a veksláci, kteří mají praxi ve šmelení a kapitál z minulého režimu skupují většinu knížek (vidíte ten gap od založení kryptoúčtu na Coinbase na 3 kliky?).

V očích našich rodičů se odrážejí první podnikatelé nového státu — páni jako Viktor Kožený nebo Pavel Tykač — profíci v oboru “skupování”. Přichází druhá vlna privatizace a v podnikatelské sféře to začíná smrdět bývalými důstojníky StB. Jaroslav Kmenta uvádí, že se jich ještě dnes v naší zemi nachází asi 14 000 — TOP! Jde o lidi, kteří téměř jako jediní mohli vytáhnout nos za hranice už za komunismu, a tak mají nesrovnatelné zkušenosti a kontakty. Těmhle frajerům ale nejde jen o peníze, ale také o moc. Začíná lobby, rodí se první “kmotři”. Slovo “podnikání” přetéká přes vlastní význam — soustavná činnost za účelem dosažení zisku — a začíná se rovnat hrabivosti a skupování. Podnikatel = kmotr, skupovatel, mocnář, mafián.

A ještě třešnička… Když se ke mě nedávno dostala knížka Boss Babiš, zas tak mě nepřekvapila nechutná svědectví o zločinosti našeho trestně stíhaného premiéra. To, co mě upoutalo víc, byla Babišova touha skupovat podniky. Kmenta bystře poukazuje, že Babiš nikdy neměl geniální nápad, na jehož realizaci by si půjčil peníze a ztisícinásobil výnos z realizace nápadu. Podobně jako Babiš narušil fungování nezávislé žurnalistiky koupí Mafry — daleko dřív on a jemu podobní zničili českého podnikatelského ducha — resp. to co z něj zbylo po 40 letech vymítání komunistickým režimem.

Stále se generaci našich rodičů divíte, že jsou opatrní, když slyší o nějakém “podnikateli”? V jejich očích jsou prvorepublikoví podnikavci typu Tomáš Baťa neaktuální a současní idolové mileniálů — strýčkové z křemíkového údolí příliš vzdálení. Ideál podnikatele v české společnosti zakopl, upadl a horko-těžko ho ze země sbírá několik nebojsů ze start-upové scény.

A teďka pohled skrz mileniálské brýle. Všechno jde. A když náhodou něco nejde, vykolejí nás to natolik, že buď zaspamujeme sociální sítě anebo zvedneme zadek a založíme si Živnostňák nebo startup a jdem to řešit head on.

Ne vážně, 99% věcí prostě jde — založit firmu, sehnat prostor, investora, lidi s podobným zápalem, sehnat účetní, lístek na konferenci v SF. Navíc pravděpodobně už znáte někoho, kdo tím vším prošel, takže se ho stačí zeptat. Jasně — ne všechno jde jednoduše, vyžaduje to práci, ale at the end of the day it’s possible — nikdo nám to nezakazuje. Informace jsou #zadarmo. You fake it until you make it. Stát nám háže klacky pod nohy maximálně počtem kolonek v daňovém přiznání a nevyspělostí datové schránky, ale jinak nás nechává dost na pokoji. To, že něco nejde, nebo by nemuselo jít, je mimo náš vesmír. Aktualizace na Windows nebo čekání na České poště jsou největší příkoří, která se nám mohou stát.

A proč podnikáme? No přece chceme jednou taky něco ovládat — skupovat podniky, které menší nicméně ti praví podnikatelé vydupali z ničeho. Emmm, nikoli.

Akvizice je asi nejsmradlavější slovo v podnikatelském žargonu mojí bubliny. Naše generace podniká, protože stejně jako generace našich rodičů chceme cestovat a plnými doušky lokat svobodu. Moc, ani peníze už nejsou valutou naší společnosti — je jím čas, pozornost, a uznání. Chceme mít čas dělat si co chceme. Chceme pozornost, kterou je čím dál tím těžší zajistit. A chceme uznání, protože dopamin.

Velká moc, velký majetek je podle toho, kolik lidí kolem mě uniká z práce při prvním závanu zodpovědnosti a odjíždí na Bali nomádit, to čeho se naše generace seksakramentsky bojí. Čím větší je váš podnik, tím víc vás bolí hlava, a tím větší je to nuda. Právě proto, že akvziční a ničivé podnikání je nám tak vzdálené, chybí nám pochopení i znalost toho, jak se oligarchové, o kterých čteme ve Forbesu dostali ke svému majetku. Nicméně, to že nechceme být jako oni, neznamená, že se nás to netýká.

Právě proto, že akvziční a ničivé podnikání je nám tak vzdálené, chybí nám pochopení i znalost toho, jak se oligarchové, o kterých čteme ve Forbesu, dostali ke svému majetku.

Zpátky k rodinnému stolu. Generace, která u nás vyrostla za komunismu má zcela jinou zkušenost s termínem “podnikatel”. Mně a mým kamarádům a známým z podnikatelské sféry zase chybí nějaká negativní zkušenost, která by nám nabídla srovnání a taky pochopení obav našich rodičů.

Myslím, že naši už dávno pochopili, že se to snažím dělat jinak — že mi nejde jen o peníze nebo o moc. Už ví, že jsem našel průsečík mezi tím, co mě baví, co mi jde, a co jsou problémy, které mě bytostně pálí. A tak je zkouším řešit. Teď — po třech letech školky a devatenácti letech školy — je však čas na mně, abych začal chápat předchozí generaci, která rozehrála šachovnici, na které se denně pohybuji. Zkázu, kterou léta 1948 až 1989 zanechala na předchozí generaci a naší české společnosti, si začínám brát osobně. Takže příště až zas začnu hořekovat nad tím, že naši nechápou proč furt mluvím jen o Udemy, významu 500 Startups, Revolutu a kryptu, hoďte po mě raději nějakou knížku, o tom, jak se současní čeští politici a podnikatelé dostali k moci, a o tom, jak to bylo za komunismu — s prominutím — na hovno.

Proč chápeme podnikání jinak než generace našich rodičů? was originally published in Can you imagine? on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The Pioneers17 conference in Vienna last week was simply BIG. Both in terms of the venue and the presented ideas. It's a place filled with people who focus and care about the future.

The futuristic overlap was indeed the main topic that resonated throughout all talks. Namely this quote:

“The future is already here — it’s just not very evenly distributed.”

- William Gibson (1993)

While many startups, talks, blog posts, mentors and even startup accelerators emphasize finding the PROBLEM you're trying to solve, not many people talk about even distribution of your solution.

In fact, this was my first encounter with investors and businessmen who didn’t focus mainly on profit, but (maybe seemingly) more on change and impact on our future. Consequently, if you want to alter the future of the human kind, you can’t think only in abstract concepts like “problem” or “growth,” but you need to break it down to ordinary people no matter how diverse they are.

This down-to-earth approach focuses on cutting out the obstacles that prevent all people from using your product (your solution to their problem). It was incredible to see companies and thinkers who consider this approach already in the phase of designing the product or service and not only later when all Western markets are saturated.

To give you an idea what I mean, I selected a few different and indeed quite disruptive companies who pitched at Pioneers17.

Apiject

Did you know that reuse of syringes kills 1.3 million people each year? Marc Koska came up with a low-cost syringe that can’t be used twice. His idea marks the whole checklist of what I believe is a visionary business.

• You have a big problem;
• You have a very elegant solution based on the smart design with low cost.

This design-based approach reflects in other products from Apiject, like lightweight plastic containers for liquid drugs and others. Make sure to check out his TED talk.

Guaana

Marko Russiver, a former creative director, once noticed, that doctors are often uninformed when it comes to new medical approaches. After calling to professors from all sorts of academic institutions and universities from Oxford to Tokyo, he found out that most of these people agree that they don’t really know what are other thinkers and institutions working on until something gets published.

“The most brilliant minds in the world not collaborating is very scary thought for me.”

- Marko Russiver

So Marko came up with a research funding platform that would allow scientists collaborate and review each other work already in the research phase. He recently got the support of the Dubai government, so I’d guess he might be onto something.

Mendel.ai

These guys have a functional AI for comparing medical reports to help oncologists make more informed decisions when it comes to cancer treatment. Unlike IBM’s Watson, these guys didn’t burn millions of dollars in research and development, and they already have a working product. They say, their results are actually better than Watson. If you know someone who's been recently diagnosed with cancer, please pass this link onto them.

“One doctor has the capacity to read up to 200 scientific papers on cancer treatment per year. That’s not enough. Mendel.ai is like Jarvis for the oncologist.”

- Karim Galil

Vivaldi

Jon von Tetzchner was one of the co-founders of Opera Software. Now after 17 years since the Opera browser launch, he’s building a new browser called Vivaldi.

“We’re building a user-centric product. We see all users — even the smallest and weakest ones (those with bad internet connection and bad screen resolution), and we make them matter in the crowd by adapting to them.”

- Jon von Tetzchner

BTW, if you’re looking to read a bit on bringing products to progressively larger markets, have a look at Crossing the Chasm.

Not pumped about better future yet?

Okay, let me introduce you to some people who can talk to autistic kids or edit DNA.

Ron Suskin

Ron Suskin is a Pulitzer-winning journalist, and teacher of narrative and justice at Harvard Law School. He wrote a book about how he found a way to understand and become closer to his kid. A movie based on this book was recently nominated for the Academy Award. Have a look at why it’s so special.

Dr. Rachel Haurwitz

Her company Caribou Biosciences found a way how to efficiently edit genoms. She believes making the food we grow tastier and resistant to bad weather or different attitudes (hand in hand with less food wasting) will play a critical part in the population boom.

Brad Templeton

Mr. Templeton is a professor from Singularity University who writes and researches the future of automated transportation at Robocars.com and worked for two years on Google’s team building these cars. He talked a lot about autonomous vehicles that are already working all around the world. However, the most important part of his talk were the implication of this market.

Let’s have a look at one example. Imagine that 90% of all cars in the world are autonomous. They can come in when we need them and when we don't they can park outside the city. So, what will happen to parking lots? These places in the core part of cities might be turned into parks or build upon. In any case — buying parking lots might turn out to be a good investment… Yo, where’s my wallet at?

FYI if you like autonomous cars, check out Brad’s blog.

LILIUM

These guys built world’s first electric vertical take-⁠off and landing jet. They already have a working prototype. I mean come on — how cool is that? FYI, check out how they image the future of transport.

Andrew Chen

If you’re considering to changing your LinkedIn job title to something that that has “Growth Hacker” in it, make sure to check Andrew’s blog. He’s the Head of Rider Growth at Uber. He is an advisor/investor for tech startups including AngelList, Barkbox, Boba Guys, Dropbox, Front, Marco Polo, Gusto, Kiva, Product Hunt, Tinder, Workato, and others. Quite a list, eh?

He told us to forget about those tips and tricks articles about growth since they are only short term tactics and that we should focus on long term strategies, that have been been invented decades if not 100 years ago. And what are these ancient things? You know them all: growth hacking, virality, content marketing, etc.

Therefore he suggested us to read an old school bible of really innovative marketing strategies: My life in advertising (written by a guy who invented the coupon and stunt marketing!).

“You don’t have to be afraid that people would steal your idea and build what you’re building first. They won’t because they don’t trust your idea as you do. Plus if you see competition and worry that you’re not the first, don’t be. I mean, was Tesla the first electric car? Google the first search engine? Facebook the first social network?”

- Andrew Chen

And that’s a wrap

I have high hopes that (at least European) investors are shifting their focus to on existential problems of the human race and less on rainbow filters. So in case you have a startup in energetics, biotech, healthcare or transportation, your time is now.

The future is already here. However, we still need to work on the distribution part.

How Pioneers 2017 made me realize what it means to build a futuristic product was originally published in Can you imagine? on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Dear United States of America,

I come from a little country in the heart of the Europe called Czech Republic. From my stand point you could say that what happened during the election for the 45th president of the United States doesn’t really concern me.

But it does.

Not only because I remotely work for a US incorporated firm, but because you guys are the biggest player in the formation of the free world. And the free world is turning red as I write these lines…

I don’t know much about the US though. I’ve lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico for two months and for almost 4 months in Mountain View in California. From both experiences I gathered, that I only scraped the surface of what your normal, down to earth US mind-set is about.

As pretty much as the rest of the world, I know you guys mostly from TV. There is one more TV series that comes in mind on a day like this:

House of Cards.

This show has a few characteristics:

• Each series is released at once. Thanks to this show, Netflix became famous for binge watching.
• It’s about a bad guy president.

Now while this series turned out to be very popular, Netflix didn’t stop there.

They recently released a similar series:

Designated Survivor.

This series has completely opposite characteristics:

• We have to wait for each episode at least a week.
• It’s about a good guy president.

What Netflix is doing is clear, they are A/B testing. Not just the release tactics but also the narrative. The bad guy is Variant A and the good one is B.

The beauty of continuous A/B testing is that even though you waste a lot of time and resources on the variant that turns out to be worse, you keep things in balance.

And that’s exactly what we need right now. A world in balance.

Right now we have only A variants

Our country

4 years ago my country, Czech Republic, went through something pretty similar to what you’re experiencing right now. A surprise, shock even, created by the people who live among us, my nation.

Back then it we came up with the idea to have a direct presidential election, quite like the ones you have (minus the Electoral College, which kinda blew it for you guys for the fifth time if I’m counting correctly).

During our first ever direct presidential election, we too had a pretty in tense campaign, and a rather tight finale.

Long story short, we, as a nation, 55% to 45%, chose a president, who is a representing us in a quite peculiar manner. Even though i didn’t vote for him, we chose him and we have to deal with it not for 4 years, but for 5 years.

Our “confederation”

This year, my second home country, the European Union got a painful slap in the face. The folks in the United Kingdom had a great idea to organize a public chat about leaving the EU. The result? Brexit.

Our world

And today, you guys, as the leader of the free world, just unbalanced things some more.

Businesses already know, that betting everything on red, doesn’t pay off. It’s time we consider the doing the same in politics.

Instead of thinking about jumping ship and buying one way plane tickets, we might start thinking about how we, as people and as nations can add some B variants to renew the balance, which we’ve been enjoying since the late 80's.

Should we A/B test politics? was originally published in Can you imagine? on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

As I was planning my trip to Oswiecim was thinking about all the evil and violence (ISIS, Indonesia fires, Boko Haram, Syria — you name it) that is going on today under my radar. Frankly, I was considering postponing or cancelling.

In November 2015, I took a trip to see my friend Chris who works in Krakow. Since I arrived there on Friday morning and Chris had to work until five I decided to take a turn and go a few stops back to Oswiecim. I came to the conclusion that one should probably pay this place a visit as a part of general education.

The first tingling that I’m about to see something terribly twisted came when I asked for a one way ticket. (I had an unchecked ticket to Krakow from my first ride so I kinda hoped that I could use it also as a return ticket from Oswiecim to Krakow — the track is the same). So there I was, buying a one way ticket to the most likely deadliest place on Earth.

WELCOME TO THE GHOST TOWN

While the Krakow main station was one of the most modern railway stations I’ve ever seen (and yes I’ve been to southern Germany), the stop in Oswiecim was likely the ugliest. The rainy cold autumn weather fine-tuned the atmosphere.

The second warning came when I asked for the way to the… Suddenly, I couldn’t find any suitable vocabulary for naming the place where I was going: “Auschwitz? Arbeits Lager? Work camp? Concentration camp?” I decided to go with “Museum”.

The passers-by who I approached didn’t give me much hint on the directions. Either they didn’t know or perhaps they didn’t want to talk about it. I can’t blame them. Who would want to talk about what’s really going on in Silent Hill? Twin Peaks? Wayard Pines?

ENTER INTO THE DEAD ZONE. LITERALLY

After about 3km in my feet I finally found the “museum”. The remains of the first concentration camp called Auschwitz I. (Stammlager). On the 27th of April, 1940, by the order of the sick nazi fu*k Heinrich Himmler it was established on the remains of polish barracks. Under the command of Rudolf Höss, along with the second local camp Konzentrationslager Auschwitz-Birkenau, Oswiecim was the final destination to over one million of people (some sources talk even about 3 millions).

If someone blindfolded you and took you in the middle of the Auschwitz I. Camp, let you look around, perhaps the first impression would be — “It looks like some overly perfected built-up area in the heart of England, since everything is built from red bricks.”

But then you notice the barbed wire.

The numbers on the buildings.

A rail (for hangings) in the middle of the street.

By then you know that a) this sure as heel ain’t no England and b) you start looking where is the exit.

And here comes the brain storm

After my visit I thought about the soldiers of the Red Army who came on the 27th of January 1945 to free the prisoners. I thought about what they saw. I thought about their temptation to burn this hellish place to the grounds. Some parts were indeed destroyed, however the major part of the site remained untouched. And already in 1947 Poland turned the place into a museum. A memorial that would never let us forget.

It is good that they did so.

When I first learned about the holocaust in primary school, I considered the event to be something distant and buried in the past. It stroke me as something purely impossible — ‘not in my world’. Obviously I assured myself with strong phrases like “I would never…” or “How could they…”, etc.

Today I see it differently. However disgusting and hateful events happened in all of history, most of them started with an idea of hatred ‘against’. Either against something, but more likely against someone.

Refreshing my memory

Even though we believe we would never let anything of such scale and damage repeat in todays’s Europe, what we are particularly good at is sharing information. In our social filters (of what information we ignore and what information we send forward) we need to take into account the tremendous impact of our actions. A simple — perhaps even well thought — idea can be shared, twisted and misinterpreted. Bad and hateful information have even greater potential to be sent forward.

A place like the museum in Oswiecim reminds us the damage a single idea can cause when realized ad absurdum. It is the one extreme that serves as a reminder of being responsible for our actions — not just the present and the past but also the future ones.

Perhaps you see all of the above slightly far fetched, but think about it. What are we saying about people who are our neighbors and colleagues behind their back? Could it harm them in any way? And how are we talking about strangers who have no place to go to — people who we don’t know? Where do we take our right to judge them? Again, could such bad talk harm then some day? Easy. In fact easier than we think.

…and that's a wrap

Much like this article most of the information we read (and consume in general) are created by humans — creatures prone to error. Information contain memories, experience, notes taken in the heat of the moment, personal opinion…

Indeed I was quite struggling how to provide you with an insight into Oswiecim. I conclude persuaded, that the best way is to just remind you. The rest is up to you. If you haven’t until today — pay Oswiecim a visit. And while you at it, make a stop in Krakow. It’s beautiful there, even when it rains…

In the meantime be cautious what information gets into your head and what information and ideals you spread into the heads and hearts of other.

Perhaps one day your caution and self-reflection will be repaid with gratitude.

Overcoming the tough times was originally published in Can you imagine? on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

In February 2013 I got a scholarship to study Media and Communication at De Monfort University (DMU) in Leicester, UK. After a busy summer 2014, it was time to turn it into reality. I left to England with one and only vision. Take classes that could shed new light on my perception of communication. After acing most of my classes there, all of which went quite deep under the surface of each problematic, I believe I have succeeded. The whole stay exceeded my expectations. I met friends from all around the world, took first few steps on the path to handle a DSLR camera, did some traveling and more.

What did I learn exactly?

In Leicester, the most multicultural town of ‘the Kingdom’, there are two places which are always crowded. Pubs and libraries. Try to guess which one of of these places stays open all night?

A different way of stuyding

Long story short, if you enter the Kimberlin Library in the early morning, say 4 a.m., you won’t be there alone. When you meet someone on his/her way there dragging a suitcase on wheels it is not a thing of fashion, the luggage is crammed with books and sketches. The way one starts a conversation with students at DMU goes most of the times like this: “When do you finish your classes mate? Are you going to be in the library at 3 p.m.?” In some cases, especially on Wednesdays and the weekends (don’t ask me why), the answer may be: “Yes, sure meet me up on the 1st floor, I’ll be there all day long, gotta do some research”.

We also have libraries at Charles University in Prague. And good ones. But the way I see it, is that people just go there for a specific book issue and hurry back to their homes where they read it under a dim light. No wonder that we, Czech students, are not so used to group cooperation and general collaboration. Libraries are magical places and if you get to talk to people about the stuff you read there (if it’s allowed) you’ll end up remembering much more and about your studies from a more objective point of view. I’m not saying that Charles University, where I study, is any worse than DMU, but the attitude and enthusiasm for learning and creating new things was way more evident in England.

And then you come back…

I wish Czech universities weren’t so devoid of this enthusiasm and our perception of studying would change from “it’s such a pain” to “hey, let’s go learn something so we can create something remarkable”. I mean — come on — for most of us it is the last time in our lives when we get to actually ‘study’ something. Plus, unlike in many foreign countries, it’s for free!

My time in England opened my eyes in many ways. As a copywriter I seek inspiration on daily basis. The lesson from there was that I shouldn’t look only at business related texts and seek one-sided conversations, but also explore graphic design, broadcasting, photography, what happens outside on the street, etc.

What's the real lesson here?

During my time on the island I studied networked media, copyright restrictions, types of surveillance and tracking, semiotics, I learned how to decode types of talk on TV, I took a photography class and wrote a few scripts. This all has been an immense volume of inspiration. My place in Prague is now flooded with books and papers that I brought home to extend my knowledge in all the mentioned fields.

The biggest lesson for me was that all of the things I started abroad can be turned into practice back home. We also have extensive libraries. Only I don’t use them enough. We also have creative people. Only sometimes it’s hard to meet them. We also have exceptional rentable facilities, only I didn’t know about them. Enough with the excuses. After several months abroad I feel like I understand why Stefan Sagmeister goes every 7th year out of office to look for inspiration. But now it’s time to come back to ‘the office’ and put all the knowledge into practice.

I thank the Erasmus scholarship committee that enabled me to go through such an experience, and most of all, to realize that all the things I need to shift my freelance life forward were right there under my nose all along.

With a suitcase to the library was originally published in Can you imagine? on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.