WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.680 Hi, and welcome to another episode of the Innovation 00:00:02.680 --> 00:00:05.360 Conversation. Today we are joined by Gabi Edel. 00:00:05.459 --> 00:00:08.759 Gabi, welcome. Hi, thank you for having me. It's 00:00:08.759 --> 00:00:10.619 a pleasure. Gabi, would you like to introduce 00:00:10.619 --> 00:00:13.419 yourself to the audience, please? Sure. So my 00:00:13.419 --> 00:00:16.660 name is Gabi. I'm from Lithuania. I live in four 00:00:16.660 --> 00:00:19.859 different countries. It's my first startup that 00:00:19.859 --> 00:00:23.100 I'm currently running. I used to live in the 00:00:23.100 --> 00:00:27.320 Netherlands and work in a lot of corporates like 00:00:27.320 --> 00:00:30.609 Ernst & Young and then I decided that it's not 00:00:30.609 --> 00:00:34.649 for me. So that's why I founded my agency now, 00:00:34.710 --> 00:00:37.070 which is Capital Boost. I, of course, have to 00:00:37.070 --> 00:00:39.530 mention that I used to be a professional athlete 00:00:39.530 --> 00:00:43.469 for 14 years in fin swimming and I'm still holding 00:00:43.469 --> 00:00:48.009 the record of Lithuania. So this is like, you 00:00:48.009 --> 00:00:50.710 know, a rough introduction about me. Okay. All 00:00:50.710 --> 00:00:53.170 right. So there's a lot to unpack here. I guess, 00:00:53.170 --> 00:00:55.009 you know, you traveled a lot, you worked for 00:00:55.009 --> 00:00:56.689 Big Corporate, but you also have the athlete 00:00:56.689 --> 00:00:58.329 side to you, which obviously gives you a lot 00:00:58.219 --> 00:01:00.679 discipline, I would assume, and great swimming 00:01:00.679 --> 00:01:04.640 abilities, right? So yes, I guess what prompted 00:01:04.640 --> 00:01:07.140 you to to change from the more corporate world 00:01:07.140 --> 00:01:09.400 to launching your business because it's it's 00:01:09.400 --> 00:01:12.500 a bit of a risky step, isn't it? Yeah, for sure. 00:01:13.040 --> 00:01:16.060 You know, I always hated authority. I just couldn't 00:01:16.060 --> 00:01:19.719 work under a lot of so many people. So and I 00:01:19.719 --> 00:01:23.310 was always more you know, of a driver. And I 00:01:23.310 --> 00:01:25.530 really want to make an impact and innovation 00:01:25.530 --> 00:01:27.670 in the world. And I thought that the best way 00:01:27.670 --> 00:01:30.829 to do it is, of course, to launch your own thing. 00:01:31.349 --> 00:01:34.989 Plus, I have big goals. And I just didn't imagine 00:01:34.989 --> 00:01:38.489 myself being an employee long term. Also, I was 00:01:38.489 --> 00:01:42.370 quite a shitty employee, to be honest. So that's 00:01:42.370 --> 00:01:46.030 what spearheaded me to launch my third startup. 00:01:47.030 --> 00:01:49.390 Okay. And was it hard? I mean, making that transition? 00:01:49.650 --> 00:01:52.120 How was it? You know, I didn't have a lot of 00:01:52.120 --> 00:01:54.980 family support. My friends, most of them at the 00:01:54.980 --> 00:01:58.079 time, they were mostly in corporates or employee 00:01:58.079 --> 00:02:01.760 employees. So it was not like a really big support 00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:04.819 from that end. But my ambition to really go and 00:02:04.819 --> 00:02:08.819 do it, you know, it overcame everything, everything 00:02:08.819 --> 00:02:11.280 else. Plus, you know, I've been following and 00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:13.840 reading a lot of different books about entrepreneurship, 00:02:14.219 --> 00:02:15.939 personal development. And I was like, you know, 00:02:16.080 --> 00:02:19.610 when the not now. So it was, you know, it was 00:02:19.610 --> 00:02:22.949 difficult, but I'm so glad I did it. And every 00:02:22.949 --> 00:02:26.069 day, even today, it's like, of course, so many 00:02:26.069 --> 00:02:29.969 challenges, you know, some clients always, you 00:02:29.969 --> 00:02:34.430 know, it's a big mess, but I love it. And that's 00:02:34.430 --> 00:02:36.689 what's driving me because it's a challenge and 00:02:36.689 --> 00:02:39.930 I love challenges. So that's, I'm super happy 00:02:39.930 --> 00:02:45.219 I did this change and transition. So how does 00:02:45.219 --> 00:02:47.259 everything work? Because you moved from Lithuania 00:02:47.259 --> 00:02:49.400 to, I guess, somewhere in the Netherlands and 00:02:49.400 --> 00:02:52.080 then now in the Czech Republic. So how did this 00:02:52.080 --> 00:02:55.979 transition happen? Right. So, you know, Lithuania 00:02:55.979 --> 00:02:59.580 was too small for me. I already knew when I was 00:02:59.580 --> 00:03:03.520 in teenage years that I'm going to move. you 00:03:03.520 --> 00:03:06.360 know, too compact. I wanted to explore. So I 00:03:06.360 --> 00:03:09.699 went to the Netherlands to initially study, but 00:03:09.699 --> 00:03:13.620 I started working since my first year of studies 00:03:13.620 --> 00:03:16.479 and I never stopped since. So, you know, I was 00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:18.419 working. I was actually my first job was selling 00:03:18.419 --> 00:03:22.080 cigarettes. And then, you know, of course I was 00:03:22.080 --> 00:03:25.139 working for different multiple companies. So 00:03:25.139 --> 00:03:28.580 yeah, I moved to the Netherlands. I learned how 00:03:28.580 --> 00:03:32.800 Dutch people work and I loved it. to this day, 00:03:32.979 --> 00:03:35.699 because they're so direct and like they don't 00:03:35.699 --> 00:03:38.240 fuss around. They just like tell you what's wrong 00:03:38.240 --> 00:03:40.560 straight into your face, which is something like 00:03:40.560 --> 00:03:43.860 sometimes quite hard to take it. But now I feel 00:03:43.860 --> 00:03:46.500 like I'm equipped to do so. So I was living there 00:03:46.500 --> 00:03:49.599 for six years and then I just got fed up of it. 00:03:49.659 --> 00:03:52.580 I was living there during Corona time. It was 00:03:52.580 --> 00:03:55.180 just, it was too much Netherlands for me, let's 00:03:55.180 --> 00:03:58.699 say in that way. And I moved to Rome for a bit 00:03:58.699 --> 00:04:01.719 because I wanted some Italian sun. I was thinking 00:04:01.719 --> 00:04:04.020 I could do some business there, but I understood 00:04:04.020 --> 00:04:07.039 that Rome is more for, you know, it's a walking 00:04:07.039 --> 00:04:10.439 museum. It's not really a startup hub. So that's 00:04:10.439 --> 00:04:13.080 why I was like, okay, Rome is not for me. I moved 00:04:13.080 --> 00:04:16.279 back to Lithuania where I worked at EY because 00:04:16.279 --> 00:04:19.480 I also have a little sister that I wanted to, 00:04:19.480 --> 00:04:22.139 you know, get in touch with a little more. And 00:04:22.139 --> 00:04:25.660 I was like, no, no, no. Okay, no, EY is not for 00:04:25.660 --> 00:04:28.459 me. Like big corporates is not for me. And I 00:04:28.459 --> 00:04:31.759 moved to Czech Republic and I'm here I think 00:04:31.759 --> 00:04:35.399 for nine months already. And I love the culture. 00:04:35.660 --> 00:04:38.839 I love like how diverse it is and how beautiful 00:04:38.839 --> 00:04:42.060 it is as well. So for now, this is home. Not 00:04:42.060 --> 00:04:44.420 sure where it's gonna go next. But for now, this 00:04:44.420 --> 00:04:47.860 is home. Was it hard launching a company in the 00:04:47.860 --> 00:04:50.930 Czech Republic? It's actually quite easy to launch 00:04:50.930 --> 00:04:53.110 a company here. It's not that difficult in terms 00:04:53.110 --> 00:04:56.350 of regulations. And, you know, like I'm working 00:04:56.350 --> 00:04:59.269 alone most of the time. Of course, I have like 00:04:59.269 --> 00:05:02.149 some, some employees that are helping me, but 00:05:02.149 --> 00:05:05.250 it's still remote. So it's not that difficult 00:05:05.250 --> 00:05:08.709 to launch a company. Of course, you know, in 00:05:08.709 --> 00:05:10.490 the entrepreneurship world is sometimes a bit 00:05:10.490 --> 00:05:13.329 lonely. That's why I am like... actually from 00:05:13.329 --> 00:05:16.769 now like now I'm joining from we work from co 00:05:16.769 --> 00:05:19.329 working spaces. So I love co working spaces. 00:05:19.329 --> 00:05:22.110 I just try to be surrounded by entrepreneurs. 00:05:22.370 --> 00:05:27.069 So I was like, yeah, I'm now my headquarters 00:05:27.069 --> 00:05:29.350 are here. It's a good place to be. I mean, we 00:05:29.350 --> 00:05:32.290 work they do they also give away a cucumber water 00:05:32.290 --> 00:05:35.949 and beer at Friday on Fridays or? Yeah, they 00:05:35.949 --> 00:05:40.540 do have beer here on Fridays. Yeah, it's nice. 00:05:40.639 --> 00:05:42.759 It's a really collaborative place, also super 00:05:42.759 --> 00:05:44.959 cool people. So that's awesome. Interesting. 00:05:45.379 --> 00:05:47.579 And how do you get the idea for the business? 00:05:47.959 --> 00:05:49.879 Actually, do you want to tell a bit more about 00:05:49.879 --> 00:05:52.920 your business, please? Sure. So Capital Boost, 00:05:52.920 --> 00:05:56.259 we are an outsourced sales agency and we focus 00:05:56.259 --> 00:05:59.879 on tech and SaaS entrepreneurs, founders mainly, 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:03.300 and we help their business idea to move forward. 00:06:04.089 --> 00:06:07.730 Simple terms, we are a sales agency. We help 00:06:07.730 --> 00:06:10.910 with outreach, with pipeline and management in 00:06:10.910 --> 00:06:13.550 that end, and we just help to get more clients 00:06:13.550 --> 00:06:17.470 for their businesses. What I've seen a lot in 00:06:17.470 --> 00:06:22.029 the market is that there are so many great products, 00:06:22.209 --> 00:06:25.589 great technology products, and founders receive 00:06:25.589 --> 00:06:30.490 investment. They employ so many tech people. 00:06:31.649 --> 00:06:34.610 programmers, engineers, and they get so stuck 00:06:34.610 --> 00:06:37.930 on the product that they forget that the most 00:06:37.930 --> 00:06:40.449 important thing is actually to sell it. So that's 00:06:40.449 --> 00:06:43.649 where I step in and my company steps in and we 00:06:43.649 --> 00:06:46.670 help to get into markets, to get more clients 00:06:46.670 --> 00:06:49.910 and boost their pipeline with innovative technologies 00:06:49.910 --> 00:06:53.850 such as we use a lot of AI as well, high -end 00:06:53.850 --> 00:06:56.850 tech, and we leverage what's now in the market 00:06:56.850 --> 00:06:59.750 to really push their product through. So that's 00:06:59.750 --> 00:07:02.269 basically what capital boost is. The business 00:07:02.269 --> 00:07:07.689 model has shifted, of course, in the last eight 00:07:07.689 --> 00:07:11.610 months that I'm running the company. Initially, 00:07:12.089 --> 00:07:15.889 it was focused more on investors and we moved. 00:07:16.120 --> 00:07:19.459 now B2B sales. So that's what Capital Boost is. 00:07:19.620 --> 00:07:22.279 That's my strength since sales has always been 00:07:22.279 --> 00:07:24.600 my strength. It took me a while to figure out 00:07:24.600 --> 00:07:27.420 that it is. So yeah, so now we're going quite 00:07:27.420 --> 00:07:32.519 strong. We're 15k MRR and I have quite big goals 00:07:32.519 --> 00:07:35.060 for the company. So let's see how that will roll 00:07:35.060 --> 00:07:38.120 out. You know, most people actually run away 00:07:38.120 --> 00:07:40.970 from sales. All right. Most founders that I know 00:07:40.970 --> 00:07:43.829 are always a bit shy and they only focus on the 00:07:43.829 --> 00:07:45.889 technical side and they completely ignore that 00:07:45.889 --> 00:07:48.149 if they're not able to sell themselves what the 00:07:48.149 --> 00:07:49.949 company does, it's not going to work, right? 00:07:49.970 --> 00:07:52.610 So it's a big thing. Did you get any investment 00:07:52.610 --> 00:07:56.069 or you just, you're self -funding it? It's from 00:07:56.069 --> 00:08:00.949 my own capital and I invested 3000 euros and 00:08:00.949 --> 00:08:05.490 look at the MRR at the moment. So yeah, you know, 00:08:05.490 --> 00:08:07.819 if you know how to sell, you don't really need 00:08:07.819 --> 00:08:10.319 an investment. So, of course, there were months 00:08:10.319 --> 00:08:13.740 that... Okay, I'm not talking about all the businesses 00:08:13.740 --> 00:08:16.100 because it's really hard, like technology and 00:08:16.100 --> 00:08:17.740 everything, of course, you need an investment. 00:08:18.300 --> 00:08:20.579 But for this business, I think you can just do 00:08:20.579 --> 00:08:22.420 it with your own capital. You don't really need 00:08:22.420 --> 00:08:26.339 an investor. Nice. Tell me about your plans. 00:08:27.040 --> 00:08:29.519 What's next? Are you thinking about growing and 00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:34.509 stuff? 100 KMRR, that's the next step. Hopefully 00:08:34.509 --> 00:08:38.850 in one year. Let's see how that will go. I really 00:08:38.850 --> 00:08:41.629 want to open my own office as well with employees 00:08:41.629 --> 00:08:47.309 here in Prague and really make it like a sales 00:08:47.309 --> 00:08:50.490 hub for tech companies. And I really have this 00:08:50.490 --> 00:08:52.809 vision that we can really do it, especially with 00:08:52.809 --> 00:08:56.210 the cutting edge technology there is today. I 00:08:56.210 --> 00:08:58.789 have my also personal goals. I want to become 00:08:58.789 --> 00:09:03.090 Forbes 30 under 30 entrepreneur. So I have still 00:09:03.090 --> 00:09:05.889 five years to go. So let's see how that will 00:09:05.889 --> 00:09:10.509 go. So yeah. That's quite ambitious. Did you 00:09:10.509 --> 00:09:13.289 get any any support from like the local government 00:09:13.289 --> 00:09:15.649 when you launched the company or just you did 00:09:15.649 --> 00:09:18.289 it all by yourself? Everything by myself. Yeah, 00:09:18.350 --> 00:09:22.009 no, no support from neither family nor, you know, 00:09:22.090 --> 00:09:27.539 any friends. Just really going and hustling and 00:09:27.539 --> 00:09:29.519 talking with the people, talking with the right 00:09:29.519 --> 00:09:33.559 people and really giving them the value. You 00:09:33.559 --> 00:09:36.460 also have a sports background. I mean, do you 00:09:36.460 --> 00:09:38.940 think that played a role in the way you've done 00:09:38.940 --> 00:09:44.580 business? 100%. Yes. I think setting what swimming 00:09:44.580 --> 00:09:48.960 taught me was setting a goal and really trying 00:09:48.960 --> 00:09:51.259 to get it and doing everything in your power 00:09:51.259 --> 00:09:55.629 to do so. of course, discipline, like a lot of 00:09:55.629 --> 00:09:58.529 people like nowadays, they, you know, go on social 00:09:58.529 --> 00:10:03.669 media, and they scroll Instagram, younger generation, 00:10:03.889 --> 00:10:06.889 tick tock, even LinkedIn, when you open everything 00:10:06.889 --> 00:10:11.269 seems so easily achievable, almost like one day 00:10:11.269 --> 00:10:15.049 success. Well, it's not. It's like the combination 00:10:15.049 --> 00:10:18.850 of discipline over the days over the months that 00:10:18.850 --> 00:10:22.659 you do that actually brings you towards the outcome 00:10:22.659 --> 00:10:28.139 you have. The draw, the downside of what I have 00:10:28.139 --> 00:10:30.960 in my character is patience. I don't really have 00:10:30.960 --> 00:10:35.639 patience. Really. So for me, you know, I also 00:10:35.639 --> 00:10:37.820 want to like, you know, go too fast, fast, but 00:10:37.820 --> 00:10:39.940 then, you know, you're reflecting like, okay, 00:10:40.039 --> 00:10:44.240 we need to do it like good and not like rush 00:10:44.240 --> 00:10:47.580 through all the process. So definitely that in 00:10:47.580 --> 00:10:50.840 swimming had played a major role in that area. 00:10:52.129 --> 00:10:56.690 And swimming is quite lonely sport, I would say. 00:10:57.049 --> 00:10:59.190 Like when you go into the... I love it. So my 00:10:59.190 --> 00:11:01.409 favorite thing to do is just swim. Yeah, yeah. 00:11:01.730 --> 00:11:05.570 And you're just alone in the water and with your 00:11:05.570 --> 00:11:09.789 thoughts. So I actually heard this saying just... 00:11:09.629 --> 00:11:12.250 like half a year ago. So I never thought it's 00:11:12.250 --> 00:11:14.870 a lonely sport, but it is. So it's entrepreneurship. 00:11:15.090 --> 00:11:16.950 Sometimes it's like, you know, you don't have 00:11:16.950 --> 00:11:20.230 the office that you can go into and mingle around 00:11:20.230 --> 00:11:24.330 with your employees and so on. It's, yeah, it's 00:11:24.330 --> 00:11:26.509 tough. And how do you deal with that? Because 00:11:26.509 --> 00:11:28.649 that's it's, you know, it's complicated. You 00:11:28.649 --> 00:11:30.529 do have, I guess, a down moment where you just 00:11:30.529 --> 00:11:32.629 feel like, why am I doing this or things aren't 00:11:32.629 --> 00:11:34.529 working out today? How do you deal with that? 00:11:35.440 --> 00:11:37.960 Well, it's a lot of mental game for sure. I also 00:11:37.960 --> 00:11:42.919 have a best friend, Chagipiti. Okay. No, really. 00:11:43.080 --> 00:11:45.059 Like sometimes I'm asking like, you know, like 00:11:45.059 --> 00:11:47.980 what to do with this or this scenario. Like it's 00:11:47.980 --> 00:11:51.759 perfect. Like it's really good tool to use. But 00:11:51.759 --> 00:11:53.779 then, you know, when you have these down moments, 00:11:53.860 --> 00:11:56.840 you always go back to your initial goal, like 00:11:56.840 --> 00:12:00.509 why you are doing it. And also yoga helps me 00:12:00.509 --> 00:12:02.470 a lot. I'm going to the gym a lot. I'm going 00:12:02.470 --> 00:12:05.450 to yoga a lot to really like put yourself aside 00:12:05.450 --> 00:12:08.669 from all of these business things and just like 00:12:08.669 --> 00:12:12.409 be with yourself for one hour or two hours and 00:12:12.409 --> 00:12:15.450 focus on something different. Other of my hobbies 00:12:15.450 --> 00:12:19.110 is painting. I love painting. So then, you know, 00:12:19.110 --> 00:12:20.809 you just like put yourself everything up and 00:12:20.809 --> 00:12:24.950 you just have the canvas and you do your own 00:12:24.950 --> 00:12:27.169 thing, not thinking about the problems that you 00:12:27.169 --> 00:12:29.279 have. Also, it's good to talk with your friends 00:12:29.279 --> 00:12:32.759 sometimes. Like, you know, if this shit is going 00:12:32.759 --> 00:12:36.879 bad, what should I do? You know, so it's also 00:12:36.879 --> 00:12:40.120 nice to have a good support system. But yeah, 00:12:40.220 --> 00:12:42.559 there are those moments for sure that it's quite 00:12:42.559 --> 00:12:45.320 difficult sometimes. And how, you know, when 00:12:45.320 --> 00:12:47.059 you have all these new clients and you're growing 00:12:47.059 --> 00:12:49.340 so fast, how do you manage it all? Because it 00:12:49.340 --> 00:12:52.580 can't be easy, right? Yeah, it's not. But you 00:12:52.580 --> 00:12:55.139 know, I love it at the end of the day, like I 00:12:55.139 --> 00:12:57.940 found myself like when I was working in corporates, 00:12:58.019 --> 00:13:01.120 I didn't want to wake up in the morning. It was 00:13:01.120 --> 00:13:03.820 just really it was hard. And now when I have 00:13:03.820 --> 00:13:07.759 my own business, like, I want to like, get out 00:13:07.759 --> 00:13:10.419 there and help plus I have, you know, all a lot 00:13:10.419 --> 00:13:13.440 of my processes are automated. Like, of course, 00:13:13.440 --> 00:13:16.539 I have, you know, meetings every day, which are, 00:13:16.539 --> 00:13:19.940 you know, face to face or online or in those 00:13:19.940 --> 00:13:23.059 lines. But most of the outreach, because of the 00:13:23.059 --> 00:13:27.379 innovation, is done through automated systems. 00:13:28.399 --> 00:13:30.419 Don't tell the world about that. No, this is 00:13:30.419 --> 00:13:32.360 all done personally. What, you're telling me 00:13:32.360 --> 00:13:34.200 all those emails I get are not actually sent 00:13:34.200 --> 00:13:36.000 by a real person? They ought to be. No, that's 00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:37.679 horrible. That's the worst thing in the world. 00:13:38.019 --> 00:13:41.299 Well, not all of them, but most of them, yeah. 00:13:44.040 --> 00:13:46.820 And I guess, you know, when your clients look 00:13:46.820 --> 00:13:50.440 at you, do you think they get scared because 00:13:50.440 --> 00:13:52.860 you're young? Or quite on the contrary, they 00:13:52.860 --> 00:13:54.620 love your enthusiasm and they say, you know what, 00:13:54.860 --> 00:13:58.299 let's go for it. I don't think they get scared 00:13:58.299 --> 00:14:02.720 at all because I think my results and my achievements 00:14:02.720 --> 00:14:06.580 show more than my age. I don't think I'm that 00:14:06.580 --> 00:14:10.539 young anymore. There are literally 18, 17 year 00:14:10.539 --> 00:14:14.399 olds making millions of dollars nowadays. So, 00:14:14.440 --> 00:14:18.240 you know, age is just a matter. On the other 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:21.899 hand, as I said, results speak louder than words, 00:14:22.600 --> 00:14:25.899 and I have made great contributions to companies 00:14:25.899 --> 00:14:30.070 who, you know, their MRR skyrocketed. So for 00:14:30.070 --> 00:14:32.929 me, that's the main drive and for my potential 00:14:32.929 --> 00:14:36.110 and current clients as well is I just know that 00:14:36.110 --> 00:14:40.190 I'm great at what I do and they trust me on that 00:14:40.190 --> 00:14:42.889 and I give them results. So that's the most important 00:14:42.889 --> 00:14:46.970 thing. Nice. And one of the topics we often approach 00:14:46.970 --> 00:14:50.350 here in the UK is female entrepreneurship. It's 00:14:50.350 --> 00:14:52.649 always a big taboo and it's I'm not going to 00:14:52.649 --> 00:14:54.389 say it's hard for me as a man to understand the 00:14:54.389 --> 00:14:56.570 challenges, but I know there are differences 00:14:56.570 --> 00:14:59.389 and challenges. Have you found it hard to launch 00:14:59.389 --> 00:15:01.529 a business as a woman or quite on the contrary, 00:15:01.950 --> 00:15:04.350 you never saw that as an issue or no one ever 00:15:04.350 --> 00:15:07.169 created any barrier for that? Right. To launch 00:15:07.169 --> 00:15:13.129 a business, definitely there is no problem. What 00:15:13.129 --> 00:15:20.490 I've actually found from my experience is that 00:15:20.539 --> 00:15:24.460 To negotiate a price as a woman is more difficult. 00:15:25.320 --> 00:15:29.019 To negotiate a price on like monthly, let's say, 00:15:29.220 --> 00:15:32.480 or base or some commissions, it's a bit more 00:15:32.480 --> 00:15:36.659 difficult than you would negotiate man to man. 00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:40.669 Most of my clients are men. because, you know, 00:15:41.090 --> 00:15:44.809 text -based. It's a lot of males, a lot of testosterone. 00:15:45.370 --> 00:15:48.529 So it's sometimes quite difficult to negotiate, 00:15:48.529 --> 00:15:50.190 you know, the price and they're always, you know, 00:15:50.429 --> 00:15:54.529 backing themselves and so on and so on. But I 00:15:54.529 --> 00:15:58.309 wouldn't say that I experienced some less treatment 00:15:58.309 --> 00:16:02.629 or some less being a woman. Definitely not. Like, 00:16:02.769 --> 00:16:07.259 you have to have balls. as a woman sometimes, 00:16:07.299 --> 00:16:10.519 and just really say what you want and have this 00:16:10.519 --> 00:16:14.039 harsh, sometimes harder character. But of course, 00:16:14.100 --> 00:16:18.179 embracing femininity is also a must have. So 00:16:18.179 --> 00:16:21.019 it's a balance. But I don't necessarily like 00:16:21.019 --> 00:16:23.639 to differentiate between female founders and 00:16:23.639 --> 00:16:26.799 men founders. We are the same. We are the same 00:16:26.799 --> 00:16:30.139 capabilities. So that's what in the back of my 00:16:30.139 --> 00:16:33.220 head is running. Interesting, because they've 00:16:33.220 --> 00:16:37.019 done a study Why women still don't make as much 00:16:37.019 --> 00:16:39.779 money as men and what they realize was that actually 00:16:39.779 --> 00:16:42.100 when it comes on to negotiation women always 00:16:42.100 --> 00:16:44.820 go with a low ball figure instead of going for 00:16:44.820 --> 00:16:47.080 a high one and that means that when you did this 00:16:47.080 --> 00:16:49.519 across you know multiple years and growing your 00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:51.559 career you actually end up with a lower figure 00:16:51.559 --> 00:16:53.639 than the guy cuz the guy would walk in say yo 00:16:53.639 --> 00:16:55.960 i'm worth a hundred k words in the lady would 00:16:55.960 --> 00:16:59.210 say. I think I'm only worth 50. So whatever increase 00:16:59.210 --> 00:17:00.669 you will get throughout the career will actually 00:17:00.669 --> 00:17:02.970 be lower, even though they can obviously work 00:17:02.970 --> 00:17:04.970 a lot better. So yeah, it's interesting how you 00:17:04.970 --> 00:17:07.430 walk into the room and just manage to close all 00:17:07.430 --> 00:17:10.490 these deals. And an interesting question for 00:17:10.490 --> 00:17:12.630 me would be, we talked a lot about automation 00:17:12.630 --> 00:17:15.170 and stuff like that. How important is it to have 00:17:15.170 --> 00:17:18.269 automation and AI on your business, on day -to 00:17:18.269 --> 00:17:21.170 -day running of the business? Super important. 00:17:22.150 --> 00:17:24.970 Super, super, super important if you don't want 00:17:24.970 --> 00:17:30.049 to be If you want to be ahead of your competition, 00:17:30.309 --> 00:17:33.250 you must have AI tools running. You must have 00:17:33.250 --> 00:17:36.089 your processes automated because you're just 00:17:36.089 --> 00:17:40.849 behind of the game. That's my saying 100%. You 00:17:40.849 --> 00:17:45.289 cannot not incorporate AI and still compete on 00:17:45.289 --> 00:17:48.109 the same level. Interesting. What type of clients 00:17:48.109 --> 00:17:51.690 do you normally go for? I normally go for SaaS 00:17:51.690 --> 00:17:57.079 clients. software as a service and chatbots, 00:17:57.380 --> 00:18:01.240 AI companies. So in that tech space, I offer 00:18:01.240 --> 00:18:03.920 it mostly. And then the benefit is that most 00:18:03.920 --> 00:18:08.559 of the time you get some chatbot implemented 00:18:08.559 --> 00:18:12.039 in your website because you have a client or 00:18:12.039 --> 00:18:14.599 some software, you'll get it for free because 00:18:14.599 --> 00:18:18.740 you are serving. I work with these types of clients. 00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:24.569 I'm thinking of also going beyond that and trying 00:18:24.569 --> 00:18:29.210 with insurance. They also need clients. But anything 00:18:29.210 --> 00:18:35.150 that has to do with B2B service, I am there helping 00:18:35.150 --> 00:18:38.349 you. And these just focus on the Czech Republic 00:18:38.349 --> 00:18:41.089 or you got clients elsewhere as well? I have 00:18:41.089 --> 00:18:45.829 clients over Europe. So in Czech Republic, Slovakia, 00:18:46.210 --> 00:18:50.480 Cyprus, Netherlands, Negotiating a deal now in 00:18:50.480 --> 00:18:53.599 the UK, this is more or less what I have right 00:18:53.599 --> 00:18:59.240 now, but I operate in Europe mostly. Later in 00:18:59.240 --> 00:19:02.259 the US, let's see, at first I want to have everything 00:19:02.259 --> 00:19:04.400 settled in Europe because of the time zones, 00:19:04.619 --> 00:19:07.619 it's much more easier to work there for now, 00:19:07.740 --> 00:19:10.819 but of course higher returns are in the US because 00:19:10.819 --> 00:19:14.180 they have just more... Bigger economy. Exactly. 00:19:15.039 --> 00:19:17.559 Now, I'm curious about one thing, you know, as 00:19:17.559 --> 00:19:20.240 a sports person and as someone who's been in 00:19:20.240 --> 00:19:23.319 business, what do you do when times get really, 00:19:23.319 --> 00:19:25.380 really hard? Like, where do you get your inspiration 00:19:25.380 --> 00:19:27.799 from? Is it the book? Is it just friends and 00:19:27.799 --> 00:19:29.740 family? What do you do in those moments? Good 00:19:29.740 --> 00:19:34.059 question. Definitely, like books, I'm reading 00:19:34.059 --> 00:19:38.859 a lot. Now I'm reading, what is the book name? 00:19:39.099 --> 00:19:43.799 The Diary of the CEO. My competition is almost 00:19:43.799 --> 00:19:46.740 slightly ahead of my podcast. Yes. Yeah. Yeah, 00:19:46.740 --> 00:19:49.539 but it's a really good book. I actually got some 00:19:49.539 --> 00:19:52.740 quite good ideas from it. I go to my family. 00:19:53.200 --> 00:19:56.279 Like if it's difficult, I'm like, look, this 00:19:56.279 --> 00:19:59.240 is shit. And they most of the time push me, which 00:19:59.240 --> 00:20:02.180 is nice. I have a family that their love language 00:20:02.180 --> 00:20:05.079 is challenging. So it's not like, you know, everything 00:20:05.079 --> 00:20:06.900 is going to be fine. It's more like, no, why 00:20:06.900 --> 00:20:09.940 did you like reflection? Things like that. I 00:20:09.940 --> 00:20:13.240 go to my best friends. I'm fortunate enough to 00:20:13.240 --> 00:20:16.819 have a couple that I really do trust. So I go 00:20:16.819 --> 00:20:19.900 to them and they also inspire me and remind me 00:20:19.900 --> 00:20:22.359 of my goals and remind me that sometimes it's 00:20:22.359 --> 00:20:26.700 gonna be tough. And I also like to then go for 00:20:26.700 --> 00:20:30.180 a walk. I like to put music, the music that I 00:20:30.180 --> 00:20:33.579 like, and I go on a walk with my AirPods and 00:20:33.579 --> 00:20:37.279 just, you know, calm down. I do that a lot. Actually, 00:20:37.299 --> 00:20:41.430 it's a bit crazy. I read somewhere that most 00:20:41.430 --> 00:20:43.509 of the problems are solved by taking a walk, 00:20:44.009 --> 00:20:45.950 actually, because you abstain from them and you 00:20:45.950 --> 00:20:48.509 can just focus on getting to the solution, I 00:20:48.509 --> 00:20:52.269 guess. And, you know, in all these things, what 00:20:52.269 --> 00:20:55.329 would you say to yourself a year back? If you 00:20:55.329 --> 00:20:56.890 could talk to yourself right now and say, you 00:20:56.890 --> 00:20:58.869 know, take the chance, go ahead and start the 00:20:58.869 --> 00:21:00.349 business, what would you say to yourself? I would 00:21:00.349 --> 00:21:03.450 say do it earlier. Okay, interesting. How come? 00:21:04.349 --> 00:21:08.220 Because I think I waited too long. to do what 00:21:08.220 --> 00:21:12.099 I'm doing now. Of course, without the lessons 00:21:12.099 --> 00:21:15.420 in the past, I wouldn't have maybe the mindset 00:21:15.420 --> 00:21:20.059 or the experience I have. But the earlier you 00:21:20.059 --> 00:21:22.619 start doing something you love, something you 00:21:22.619 --> 00:21:26.579 really think is right for you, you will never 00:21:26.579 --> 00:21:31.180 be disappointed that you are doing it. And a 00:21:31.180 --> 00:21:35.039 lot of people are having their dreams and they're 00:21:35.039 --> 00:21:38.490 waiting on it. But I don't like the word dreams. 00:21:38.490 --> 00:21:41.769 Actually, I always say goals. It's better to 00:21:41.769 --> 00:21:46.430 have goals than dreams and write them down and 00:21:46.430 --> 00:21:48.849 just going and getting them. Like, for instance, 00:21:48.849 --> 00:21:51.750 if you want to implement some new habit or start 00:21:51.750 --> 00:21:54.170 something new and you're just waiting for that 00:21:54.170 --> 00:21:57.650 right moment, it's never going to come. The best 00:21:57.650 --> 00:22:01.170 moment is now. So that's the mindset I'm having 00:22:01.170 --> 00:22:03.490 and I wish I would have started earlier to do 00:22:03.490 --> 00:22:06.299 what I do. I would be interested. where it would 00:22:06.299 --> 00:22:09.480 be now. And would you tell someone that was in 00:22:09.480 --> 00:22:11.660 your position to actually get started and get 00:22:11.660 --> 00:22:13.779 going? Or would you say just stay where you are, 00:22:13.779 --> 00:22:17.660 because it's nice and safe? No, I'm always like, 00:22:17.819 --> 00:22:21.900 go and do bold decisions and really try getting 00:22:21.900 --> 00:22:25.819 out of your comfort zone. Because why not? And 00:22:25.819 --> 00:22:28.779 the worst case scenario you can like, I always 00:22:28.779 --> 00:22:31.220 tell myself the worst case scenario, I'm just 00:22:31.220 --> 00:22:35.220 gonna, you know, be a barista somewhere or like 00:22:35.220 --> 00:22:38.819 do some kind of job that I know how to do. I 00:22:38.819 --> 00:22:41.680 will start selling cigarettes again. Worst case 00:22:41.680 --> 00:22:44.619 scenario, I will just go back where I started. 00:22:44.839 --> 00:22:47.240 I don't know. Of course, maybe it's easy for 00:22:47.240 --> 00:22:53.779 me to say because I don't have kids yet, for 00:22:53.779 --> 00:22:57.200 instance, or I don't have some huge responsibilities 00:22:57.200 --> 00:23:02.099 in terms of loans or things like that. So it's 00:23:02.099 --> 00:23:05.970 quite easier on that end. But if you do, and 00:23:05.970 --> 00:23:08.410 you really have your passion that you wanted 00:23:08.410 --> 00:23:11.609 to do so, then I would suggest have a part -time 00:23:11.609 --> 00:23:14.630 job somewhere that you know you can pay the bills. 00:23:15.509 --> 00:23:17.970 And then half of the time, do something you love 00:23:17.970 --> 00:23:21.730 or dedicate the weekends for it or just find 00:23:21.730 --> 00:23:25.230 some time instead of watching TikTok or being 00:23:25.230 --> 00:23:27.470 like, I don't know why I'm bringing this TikTok. 00:23:27.710 --> 00:23:30.609 a TikTok app all the time, but it's just like 00:23:30.609 --> 00:23:33.049 so much teenagers spend so much time on it, it's 00:23:33.049 --> 00:23:37.869 just insane. So things like that. So you mentioned 00:23:37.869 --> 00:23:39.549 something quite interesting, which is a TikTok. 00:23:40.190 --> 00:23:43.410 Now, the balance in your life, the balance between, 00:23:43.470 --> 00:23:46.470 actually, let me reframe that. As an entrepreneur, 00:23:47.109 --> 00:23:49.529 how is the balance between content consumption, 00:23:50.049 --> 00:23:51.349 where you spend a lot of time on Instagram and 00:23:51.349 --> 00:23:54.690 TikTok and LinkedIn, and content creation? Would 00:23:54.690 --> 00:23:57.450 you think the balance should be there? I think 00:23:57.450 --> 00:24:00.769 you should be a creator 100 % rather than consuming 00:24:00.769 --> 00:24:08.210 content, but it's easier said than done. What 00:24:08.210 --> 00:24:12.529 I do is I spend around one hour on social media 00:24:12.529 --> 00:24:15.769 every day. I don't know if it's a lot or not, 00:24:15.769 --> 00:24:18.710 but I also need this time to rewind and just 00:24:18.710 --> 00:24:23.190 watch some stupid things to not think anymore 00:24:23.190 --> 00:24:26.640 about everything. Also, that helps. But creating 00:24:26.640 --> 00:24:30.099 content, it's much better. It's again, then it's 00:24:30.099 --> 00:24:32.359 discipline, then it's thinking about the content, 00:24:32.680 --> 00:24:35.940 then it's what production. Like a couple of days 00:24:35.940 --> 00:24:38.180 ago, I was creating a video, like a promo video 00:24:38.180 --> 00:24:41.799 for my company. It took me three hours to edit 00:24:41.799 --> 00:24:44.500 a video. I was going crazy. I'm not an editor. 00:24:45.380 --> 00:24:48.900 I know the feeling. Yes, it's a nightmare. Editing 00:24:48.900 --> 00:24:50.579 is the worst thing in the world. It's super hard 00:24:50.579 --> 00:24:53.500 to do. Yes. Of course, there are now another 00:24:53.500 --> 00:24:57.200 AI tools and so on to help, but still. But to 00:24:57.200 --> 00:25:00.480 go back to your question, of course, creating 00:25:00.480 --> 00:25:03.579 content is key and I'm still also thinking a 00:25:03.579 --> 00:25:05.859 little bit about my social media strategy and 00:25:05.859 --> 00:25:10.480 what should I post and so on and so on. But yeah, 00:25:10.880 --> 00:25:14.339 it's tough. No, it's something that I... I find 00:25:14.339 --> 00:25:16.400 in most people is sometimes they're a bit shy 00:25:16.400 --> 00:25:18.420 as individuals, right? Especially when you're 00:25:18.420 --> 00:25:21.559 launching a business because we always, we as 00:25:21.559 --> 00:25:24.359 a species are afraid of failure because we know 00:25:24.359 --> 00:25:27.339 that if we fail and if society around us rejects 00:25:27.339 --> 00:25:29.180 this, then we won't, you know, we'll get out 00:25:29.180 --> 00:25:30.279 of the pack. It's going to be cold. It's going 00:25:30.279 --> 00:25:32.420 to be miserable. When you're posting a new content, 00:25:32.480 --> 00:25:34.619 when you're creating new strategies, how to deal 00:25:34.619 --> 00:25:36.619 with that? Like with that thought in your mind, 00:25:36.960 --> 00:25:38.180 do you think you're going to be all alone or 00:25:38.180 --> 00:25:39.599 you actually say, you know what, let's just do 00:25:39.599 --> 00:25:45.960 it? Let's just do it. Yes. And also not thinking 00:25:45.960 --> 00:25:49.859 about other people's opinions. It's again, like 00:25:49.859 --> 00:25:54.700 it's easier said. But if you're just going to 00:25:54.700 --> 00:25:56.859 overthink about what other people are thinking 00:25:56.859 --> 00:25:59.420 of you and if you're saying the right thing, 00:25:59.440 --> 00:26:01.819 you will never really move. Maybe you will get 00:26:01.819 --> 00:26:04.539 some hate. That's normal. That's part of the 00:26:04.539 --> 00:26:08.599 game. But for instance, if I post some new content 00:26:08.599 --> 00:26:12.019 on LinkedIn, I mostly try to grow my LinkedIn 00:26:12.019 --> 00:26:14.799 platform, maybe Instagram at some point, but 00:26:14.799 --> 00:26:20.119 LinkedIn is the professional part. So I post 00:26:20.119 --> 00:26:24.819 this post and then it's 10 minutes past and you 00:26:24.819 --> 00:26:27.460 get like two likes and you're like, maybe it's 00:26:27.460 --> 00:26:31.279 bad. But then you just leave it and you know 00:26:31.279 --> 00:26:33.779 also that the algorithm might pick up later. 00:26:35.080 --> 00:26:39.359 So yeah, you just leave it. I have deleted a 00:26:39.359 --> 00:26:41.819 couple of my posts sometimes because I was too 00:26:41.819 --> 00:26:45.299 afraid what others would think, but it's trial 00:26:45.299 --> 00:26:48.900 and error, right? Like, yeah, some entrepreneurs 00:26:48.900 --> 00:26:53.220 are shy, but I really do believe if you want 00:26:53.220 --> 00:26:57.160 to succeed in this era, the founder should be 00:26:57.160 --> 00:27:00.759 in content. Like it's quite important, unless 00:27:00.759 --> 00:27:03.220 you have a lot of investment in place and you're 00:27:03.220 --> 00:27:05.839 really doing some, I don't know, deep tech or 00:27:05.839 --> 00:27:10.180 some, you know, this boring businesses, you know, 00:27:10.319 --> 00:27:12.940 brick and mortar or something in those lines. 00:27:13.440 --> 00:27:17.140 But if you are in marketing, tech, sales, tech, 00:27:17.279 --> 00:27:20.400 I mean, the SaaS, the founder should be like 00:27:20.400 --> 00:27:22.799 the face of the game. I think it helps sales 00:27:22.799 --> 00:27:26.700 as well. It does. I think in sales, we're kind 00:27:26.700 --> 00:27:31.200 of transitioning to a founder led marketing solution 00:27:31.200 --> 00:27:32.960 instead of the marketing solution where people 00:27:32.960 --> 00:27:35.380 just get sent a boring PDF that no one ever reads. 00:27:35.660 --> 00:27:37.039 And like, yeah, I'm not going to spend any time 00:27:37.039 --> 00:27:40.279 with this as if, but then if we have the founder 00:27:40.279 --> 00:27:42.880 and he's on LinkedIn and posts a 30 second clip 00:27:42.880 --> 00:27:44.900 of him talking about the product and why it's 00:27:44.900 --> 00:27:46.299 actually quite good. People are like, I like 00:27:46.299 --> 00:27:48.700 this guy. He sounds okay. Guy or girl. Let me 00:27:48.700 --> 00:27:51.339 go and talk with them. So yeah, makes a big difference. 00:27:52.139 --> 00:27:56.220 Yeah, for sure. 100%. Interesting. Now, a very 00:27:56.220 --> 00:27:58.200 important question, which is if people want to 00:27:58.200 --> 00:28:01.640 reach out to you, how can you do so? So on LinkedIn, 00:28:01.880 --> 00:28:06.099 I'm going by Gabia Adela. You can search me or 00:28:06.099 --> 00:28:11.579 by email gabia at capital boost .io. So Gabia, 00:28:11.579 --> 00:28:14.400 just for everyone just listening in, is G -A 00:28:14.400 --> 00:28:18.220 -B -I -J -A, right? Yes. Okay, very important 00:28:18.220 --> 00:28:19.900 with the J. Gabi, thank you so much for your 00:28:19.900 --> 00:28:21.180 time. I really appreciate it. It's been a pleasure. 00:28:21.590 --> 00:28:23.670 Thank you so much, Ricardo, for having me. It 00:28:23.670 --> 00:28:27.390 was a great discussion. Thank you. All right. 00:28:27.569 --> 00:28:28.630 So we're going to click stop.