WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.859 Welcome to the Innovation Conversation, a podcast 00:00:02.859 --> 00:00:05.419 about innovators, both in business and real life. 00:00:05.879 --> 00:00:08.380 Hosted by myself, Ricardo Rescual and Harry McCona. 00:00:08.480 --> 00:00:11.699 This podcast is also sponsored by ODEV Tech. 00:00:12.439 --> 00:00:14.640 ODEV Tech is your premier software development 00:00:14.640 --> 00:00:18.019 partner. Make sure you check them out at odev 00:00:18.019 --> 00:00:22.399 .tech. The podcast is also sponsored by Notion 00:00:22.399 --> 00:00:25.359 .so. Notion is offering six months for free for 00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:27.839 new users. Make sure you check out our website, 00:00:28.059 --> 00:00:30.579 thestoreofevents .co .uk to read in the software. 00:00:31.760 --> 00:00:34.280 Hi, and welcome to another episode of the Innovation 00:00:34.280 --> 00:00:37.140 Conversation. Today we are joined by Maria Andrianova. 00:00:37.299 --> 00:00:40.259 Maria, welcome to the podcast. Thank you. Thank 00:00:40.259 --> 00:00:43.359 you. Happy to meet you, Ricardo, and thank you 00:00:43.359 --> 00:00:45.520 for having me here. It's a pleasure having you 00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:47.579 here. Maria, would you like to introduce yourself 00:00:47.579 --> 00:00:52.929 to the audience, please? Oh, well. As you mentioned, 00:00:53.070 --> 00:00:56.170 my name is Maria and I'm a serial entrepreneur. 00:00:56.950 --> 00:01:01.530 I'm an angel investor and I live in Dubai, the 00:01:01.530 --> 00:01:05.250 United Arab Emirates. I have been living here 00:01:05.250 --> 00:01:10.530 for more than two years and I run like a small 00:01:10.530 --> 00:01:14.489 family fund that invests in different products. 00:01:15.230 --> 00:01:18.780 Mainly we love special cases. And also we develop 00:01:18.780 --> 00:01:22.060 products. We have created like a small vintage 00:01:22.060 --> 00:01:28.099 studio that helps cutting -edge ideas to find 00:01:28.099 --> 00:01:32.260 their way to the market. And it is the thing 00:01:32.260 --> 00:01:35.299 that I personally love doing. I love connecting 00:01:35.299 --> 00:01:39.859 people. I love to find applications for great 00:01:39.859 --> 00:01:44.859 ideas and actually... Science, something new 00:01:44.859 --> 00:01:48.819 and exciting, needs a lot of help to find its 00:01:48.819 --> 00:01:51.680 special product market fit. And when you find 00:01:51.680 --> 00:01:54.079 that it fits, it feels like nothing else. It 00:01:54.079 --> 00:01:57.120 is a sort of eternal happiness for me. Before 00:01:57.120 --> 00:02:00.900 coming to Dubai, I was a big corporate back in 00:02:00.900 --> 00:02:04.280 Russia. I had to move because of obviously the 00:02:04.280 --> 00:02:07.180 political situation. I was running investment 00:02:07.180 --> 00:02:11.289 vehicles. I was raking in dental funds. I was 00:02:11.289 --> 00:02:14.629 creating corporate development program. I was 00:02:14.629 --> 00:02:19.370 very much involved in VC, in education, in science. 00:02:19.569 --> 00:02:24.669 I was teaching in best universities, a big program 00:02:24.669 --> 00:02:27.349 like doctor for business administration. I was 00:02:27.349 --> 00:02:31.610 teaching corporate management, board of directors 00:02:31.610 --> 00:02:34.810 theory, pretty much the corporate stuff. And 00:02:34.810 --> 00:02:37.650 from the corporate, I shifted to entrepreneurship 00:02:37.650 --> 00:02:42.340 and investment. So it's a very long journey you've 00:02:42.340 --> 00:02:45.120 been on. What was the main difference between 00:02:45.120 --> 00:02:47.219 doing things in Russia and now doing them in 00:02:47.219 --> 00:02:49.060 Dubai? Were there any differences in the way 00:02:49.060 --> 00:02:55.520 people invest and operate in the space? If I 00:02:55.520 --> 00:02:59.060 want to be precise, I would say I can't compare 00:02:59.060 --> 00:03:02.419 because the overall situation in the world has 00:03:02.419 --> 00:03:05.759 changed so much. Because the whole world went 00:03:05.759 --> 00:03:09.080 through big, big transformation. First of all, 00:03:09.240 --> 00:03:11.860 of course, political situation, political crisis, 00:03:12.360 --> 00:03:16.939 changes in economics, then big movements of, 00:03:16.939 --> 00:03:20.060 I would say, tribes. The planet has been through 00:03:20.060 --> 00:03:23.879 that so many times, and now we are again in this 00:03:23.879 --> 00:03:26.800 period of transformation, of shifting power, 00:03:27.259 --> 00:03:32.960 and well, of course... that AI story everyone 00:03:32.960 --> 00:03:35.340 is talking about, that artificial intelligence 00:03:35.340 --> 00:03:38.879 is changing our lives so quickly, and the wide 00:03:38.879 --> 00:03:44.060 adoption of all those AI tools changes the shape 00:03:44.060 --> 00:03:46.580 of roles, the shape of business, and the shape 00:03:46.580 --> 00:03:53.419 of human interaction. So, I would say that the 00:03:53.419 --> 00:03:56.460 overall situation has changed, so I can't comment 00:03:56.460 --> 00:03:59.560 freely on that big difference. Well, of course, 00:03:59.689 --> 00:04:02.750 a very different culture and national character 00:04:02.750 --> 00:04:07.430 in a way of doing business. But I'm not sure 00:04:07.430 --> 00:04:14.069 if in this current world, it would be scientifically 00:04:14.069 --> 00:04:17.129 correct to speak of scientific. And you know, 00:04:17.829 --> 00:04:19.829 in your journey as a VC, you know, the startup, 00:04:20.029 --> 00:04:20.949 you actually, it's quite interesting because 00:04:20.949 --> 00:04:22.790 you're a VC and investor, but you also have your 00:04:22.790 --> 00:04:24.870 own startup, correct me if I'm wrong on this 00:04:24.870 --> 00:04:28.620 one. which actually focuses on analyzing the 00:04:28.620 --> 00:04:31.120 perfect candidates for the job. Can you tell 00:04:31.120 --> 00:04:32.620 me a bit more about that? Because that's actually 00:04:32.620 --> 00:04:36.920 something quite fascinating. Yeah, it is the 00:04:36.920 --> 00:04:41.000 crown jewel. It is my favorite and even though 00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:44.800 I do investments in this project, I'm engaged 00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:50.620 with my heart and soul because when I was almost 00:04:50.620 --> 00:04:54.560 18, I started at my first job and I figured out 00:04:54.800 --> 00:04:58.339 corporate environment. It's not exactly for me, 00:04:58.339 --> 00:05:02.160 maybe, that I need something else. That's a regular 00:05:02.160 --> 00:05:07.620 shape of host is not where I fit in. And I actually 00:05:07.620 --> 00:05:10.740 felt there's a certain kind of misfit. When I 00:05:10.740 --> 00:05:13.040 was going to school, when I was going to the 00:05:13.040 --> 00:05:16.199 university, I wanted something more. I always 00:05:16.199 --> 00:05:20.300 wanted to be engaged in, I would say, the activities 00:05:20.300 --> 00:05:27.639 that would be shaped by myself. It is... I wouldn't 00:05:27.639 --> 00:05:31.519 call it as something good or bad. It is just 00:05:31.519 --> 00:05:34.879 the specifics that I required. So my dream was 00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:40.339 to create an instrument that would help us make 00:05:40.339 --> 00:05:44.500 this perfect match between personalities and 00:05:44.500 --> 00:05:48.579 roles. And Neuroframe, it is the name of the 00:05:48.579 --> 00:05:52.620 tool that we developed with the strongest neuroscientists 00:05:52.620 --> 00:05:57.230 in the world. It is the tool of deep personality 00:05:57.230 --> 00:06:01.589 diagnostics. It is a game. You play it from 30 00:06:01.589 --> 00:06:04.790 to 60 minutes on your mobile phone. The game 00:06:04.790 --> 00:06:10.209 is quite tricky. It will immerse you into a simulation 00:06:10.209 --> 00:06:13.350 of a very high -loaded situation at work when 00:06:13.350 --> 00:06:16.189 you have to deal with different tasks simultaneously 00:06:16.189 --> 00:06:19.750 with different sorts of enemies, having different 00:06:19.750 --> 00:06:22.860 sorts of toolings in your hands. and there are 00:06:22.860 --> 00:06:26.100 over hundred thousand marks installed in the 00:06:26.100 --> 00:06:30.819 game and the game does not allow you to understand 00:06:30.819 --> 00:06:35.860 how to present yourself as someone nice because 00:06:35.860 --> 00:06:39.259 you will have to handle so many different situations 00:06:39.259 --> 00:06:42.480 in the game that it will provide a very truthful 00:06:42.480 --> 00:06:47.680 picture of who you actually are the game assesses 00:06:47.680 --> 00:06:51.420 human personality across eight basic verticals 00:06:51.529 --> 00:06:54.189 two of them cognitive, your mental efficiency, 00:06:54.410 --> 00:06:57.949 that is basically how smart you are while solving 00:06:57.949 --> 00:07:01.870 tasks, then your learning agility, that is how 00:07:01.870 --> 00:07:06.990 fast you learn, and then across six personality 00:07:06.990 --> 00:07:11.689 -related verticals like openness to new, progress 00:07:11.689 --> 00:07:15.540 monitoring, risk appetite, If you're a gambler, 00:07:16.220 --> 00:07:19.939 then people function. If you are a grueble person, 00:07:20.240 --> 00:07:27.579 then resilience. Just recently I was, I would 00:07:27.579 --> 00:07:32.259 say, watching the video I made during Sam Ochman's 00:07:32.259 --> 00:07:36.259 presentation last year at Hab 71 in Abu Dhabi. 00:07:36.319 --> 00:07:38.740 He was himself in Abu Dhabi. What an energy of 00:07:38.740 --> 00:07:42.439 a person. He's so amazing. And the scene was 00:07:42.439 --> 00:07:45.360 talking about resilience as the basic quality 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:48.259 of an entrepreneur. You can't go without it if 00:07:48.259 --> 00:07:51.839 you want to do a big thing and you want to do 00:07:51.839 --> 00:07:55.639 a thing that is highly loaded with science, that 00:07:55.639 --> 00:07:59.199 is innovative, that is new, and that needs to 00:07:59.199 --> 00:08:04.759 be, I would say, adjusted to market situations, 00:08:04.860 --> 00:08:07.300 different kinds of players. So it's a lot of 00:08:07.300 --> 00:08:12.009 work. And I'm feeling it myself because I'm launching 00:08:12.009 --> 00:08:16.709 something new and innovative on the market. So 00:08:16.709 --> 00:08:20.230 I'm there myself. Luckily enough, I have very 00:08:20.230 --> 00:08:23.110 high resilience. So I got into entrepreneurship 00:08:23.110 --> 00:08:26.970 also because I've had my own test and I understand 00:08:26.970 --> 00:08:31.129 I have that resilience. Also ability to prevent 00:08:31.129 --> 00:08:34.759 your own errors. For example, when you deal with 00:08:34.759 --> 00:08:37.480 employees on a daily basis, sometimes there are 00:08:37.480 --> 00:08:41.480 personalities that tend to repeat the same mistakes 00:08:41.480 --> 00:08:44.620 over and over again. You tell them, okay, you 00:08:44.620 --> 00:08:47.740 have this mistake here, please don't do that 00:08:47.740 --> 00:08:50.779 again. And the person stumbles into it again 00:08:50.779 --> 00:08:53.279 and again and again. It's kind of personality. 00:08:53.460 --> 00:08:56.879 With Neuroframe, we're aimed at finding best 00:08:56.879 --> 00:08:59.720 solutions and support for different kinds of 00:08:59.720 --> 00:09:04.179 personalities because No one is perfect. And 00:09:04.179 --> 00:09:07.960 no one is totally bad. There are just different 00:09:07.960 --> 00:09:11.220 roles and different personalities. For example, 00:09:12.500 --> 00:09:15.659 if a person has high mental efficiency, the best 00:09:15.659 --> 00:09:20.700 reward for that person is intense work place. 00:09:20.960 --> 00:09:24.600 You need to leave marks to that engine. And for 00:09:24.600 --> 00:09:27.080 that engine, it is even more important than money. 00:09:27.559 --> 00:09:31.840 I've seen it so much. People are giving higher 00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:35.279 salaries or bonuses to the people with high mental 00:09:35.279 --> 00:09:39.320 efficiency and they give them a promotion and 00:09:39.320 --> 00:09:41.379 with a new role the person doesn't have to work 00:09:41.379 --> 00:09:45.340 that intensely anymore. And you can look into 00:09:45.340 --> 00:09:48.639 the eyes of that person and the light is fading 00:09:48.639 --> 00:09:51.860 because that person is not doing what he likes 00:09:51.860 --> 00:10:00.259 anymore. My dream is that every company would 00:10:00.259 --> 00:10:04.179 create certain personalized roles that would 00:10:04.179 --> 00:10:08.200 fit certain qualities of people so that those 00:10:08.200 --> 00:10:10.720 people would feel happy because it is such a 00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:15.480 big tragedy when a good person, highly skilled 00:10:15.480 --> 00:10:19.460 person gets employed by a good company at a great 00:10:19.460 --> 00:10:24.500 position and that person becomes so, so unhappy 00:10:24.500 --> 00:10:27.990 at that position. It's a tragedy. And I want 00:10:27.990 --> 00:10:32.169 to prevent that. And sometimes very small adjustments 00:10:32.169 --> 00:10:37.429 need to happen. For example, stop micromanaging 00:10:37.429 --> 00:10:41.669 a person that is highly conflicted. I couldn't 00:10:41.669 --> 00:10:44.289 agree more with you on that one. I hate micromanagers. 00:10:45.889 --> 00:10:49.389 Exactly. And for some people, micromanagement 00:10:49.389 --> 00:10:52.370 is actually healthy because they love to interact. 00:10:53.049 --> 00:10:55.809 They want to feel a constant human connection. 00:10:56.059 --> 00:10:59.299 And if you take that highly agreeable person 00:10:59.299 --> 00:11:02.799 in a separate place, in a separate room, and 00:11:02.799 --> 00:11:06.200 some companies advertise this as elements of 00:11:06.200 --> 00:11:08.480 promotion, elements of power, you get your own 00:11:08.480 --> 00:11:12.960 office with an assistant. So you are somehow 00:11:12.960 --> 00:11:16.299 separated from the team. And highly agreeable 00:11:16.299 --> 00:11:20.539 person will lose its shine, will lose its, I 00:11:20.539 --> 00:11:24.279 would say, sparkle in such environment. So probably... 00:11:24.330 --> 00:11:26.850 Just keep that person in the human environment 00:11:26.850 --> 00:11:31.350 and you will make this person happy. So do you 00:11:31.350 --> 00:11:34.409 think your solution is actually helping out with 00:11:34.409 --> 00:11:38.110 mental health in the workplace? Because by making 00:11:38.110 --> 00:11:41.250 this small adaptation, I would assume you actually 00:11:41.250 --> 00:11:43.490 reduce the stress that people would have in their 00:11:43.490 --> 00:11:45.669 normal jobs, right? I mean, if you don't want 00:11:45.669 --> 00:11:47.789 to be micromanager and you do tests and tells 00:11:47.789 --> 00:11:50.250 you, hey, this person is not to be micromanager, 00:11:50.330 --> 00:11:52.649 they can actually deliver, but give those tiny 00:11:52.649 --> 00:11:56.389 tasks to someone else. So have you been given 00:11:56.389 --> 00:11:58.409 feedback saying how impactful it has been on 00:11:58.409 --> 00:12:02.429 people's lives? Well, I'm receiving those commands 00:12:02.429 --> 00:12:06.429 so much because we provide to our clients the 00:12:06.429 --> 00:12:09.590 report that is limited by those eight verticals 00:12:09.590 --> 00:12:13.490 that I described to you. But the data that they 00:12:13.490 --> 00:12:17.279 collect is way, way, way, way wider. and it has 00:12:17.279 --> 00:12:21.700 amazing cases of application in mental health, 00:12:22.340 --> 00:12:25.480 because obviously if a person has a high level 00:12:25.480 --> 00:12:29.259 of cortisol, it cuts performance at mental efficiency 00:12:29.259 --> 00:12:32.860 level, at gruebleness level. Obviously, people 00:12:32.860 --> 00:12:36.539 with childish trauma, they tend to isolate, they 00:12:36.539 --> 00:12:40.279 tend to lash out in certain situations, and we 00:12:40.279 --> 00:12:44.139 are also able to detect that and also include 00:12:44.139 --> 00:12:48.080 it in our report. Well, mental health application 00:12:48.080 --> 00:12:51.879 was not our primary goal, but a lot of people 00:12:51.879 --> 00:12:55.360 are actually demanding us to go there. So, I 00:12:55.360 --> 00:13:00.779 believe it is one of scenarios that we could 00:13:00.779 --> 00:13:06.919 employ to expand the value of our game. So, I 00:13:06.919 --> 00:13:09.039 thought we would do it by screening the cases 00:13:09.039 --> 00:13:12.679 for mental health. And if we do professionally, 00:13:13.340 --> 00:13:18.519 we still hold happiness at your workplace, then 00:13:18.519 --> 00:13:22.720 you increase overall mental health for the whole 00:13:22.720 --> 00:13:26.059 society. Yeah. No, it's something mental health 00:13:26.059 --> 00:13:28.620 for me. It's always been quite an important topic. 00:13:29.519 --> 00:13:32.159 And the more startups I talk to, the more investors 00:13:32.159 --> 00:13:34.960 I talk to, I realize that the ones who are going 00:13:34.960 --> 00:13:36.679 to make it are actually the ones who discussed 00:13:36.679 --> 00:13:38.500 it in the first place, right? The ones who actually 00:13:38.500 --> 00:13:40.419 sit down and say, hey, I'm having some mental 00:13:40.419 --> 00:13:43.340 health issues. My anxiety has to be, I might 00:13:43.340 --> 00:13:45.500 be feeling a little bit depressed and all those 00:13:45.500 --> 00:13:48.860 things. Having your solution, I think really 00:13:48.860 --> 00:13:52.409 massively helps to identify What the possible, 00:13:52.409 --> 00:13:54.370 I guess, pain points that people are going to 00:13:54.370 --> 00:13:55.950 have in the future, isn't it? Because then you 00:13:55.950 --> 00:13:57.309 can say, you know what, they're going to run 00:13:57.309 --> 00:13:59.929 into this type of issues. Let's create an environment 00:13:59.929 --> 00:14:02.970 where they are minimized or we kind of can look 00:14:02.970 --> 00:14:06.309 out for them if they tend to happen. So I think 00:14:06.309 --> 00:14:08.049 it's going to make a huge difference in the market. 00:14:09.350 --> 00:14:12.909 Yep, absolutely. And let's face it, every human 00:14:12.909 --> 00:14:15.490 being, especially if we're talking about highly 00:14:15.490 --> 00:14:19.070 efficient human beings, every human being has 00:14:19.070 --> 00:14:23.350 his own challenges. How does Thomas? Well, thanks 00:14:23.350 --> 00:14:26.669 to our parents, they are brilliant and we're 00:14:26.669 --> 00:14:29.850 all grateful to them. But all of them are also, 00:14:29.850 --> 00:14:33.210 well, imperfect human beings. That's probably 00:14:33.210 --> 00:14:35.409 worth having kids for the first time in their 00:14:35.409 --> 00:14:39.649 life and it's a great talent. And it is the overall 00:14:39.649 --> 00:14:43.210 thing in the society. And getting to know yourself 00:14:43.210 --> 00:14:47.220 better... is a great way to actually make your 00:14:47.220 --> 00:14:50.259 life happier and to increase your impact. And 00:14:50.259 --> 00:14:54.220 with our game, we have to detect your personal 00:14:54.220 --> 00:14:58.639 patterns that define your, I would say, autopilot 00:14:58.639 --> 00:15:04.419 mode. Because no one of us is like 100 % self 00:15:04.419 --> 00:15:08.399 -aware at every minute of our day. If you are 00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:12.860 100 % self -aware all the time, wow, what a miserable 00:15:12.860 --> 00:15:17.399 life. you're like probably very much stressed 00:15:17.399 --> 00:15:22.120 and probably all of your energy goes into self 00:15:22.120 --> 00:15:25.500 -monitoring with this phone call I would say. 00:15:26.039 --> 00:15:29.779 So with New York phone, we are able to detect 00:15:29.779 --> 00:15:36.860 the settings, I would say the basic road for 00:15:36.860 --> 00:15:39.360 your autopilot, the best basic settings, the 00:15:39.360 --> 00:15:41.759 default settings for your autopilot mode, that 00:15:41.759 --> 00:15:46.580 is what you do when you yourself are not watching. 00:15:48.200 --> 00:15:50.299 And how hard was it to build this app? Because 00:15:50.299 --> 00:15:53.679 you have so many different things that you can 00:15:53.679 --> 00:15:56.279 analyze. Was it hard to build the game and all 00:15:56.279 --> 00:15:58.179 that? Or how do you even get started with this? 00:15:59.480 --> 00:16:03.259 Oh, well, it's just, I guess, a part of my destiny. 00:16:04.120 --> 00:16:07.639 It's never been easy for me. I never opt for 00:16:07.639 --> 00:16:10.919 easy solutions. It is just the way I'm wired. 00:16:11.600 --> 00:16:16.779 It was extremely complicated. We've built a Lamborghini 00:16:16.779 --> 00:16:21.159 in terms of human assessment because over 20 00:16:21.159 --> 00:16:25.580 years of experience, of research data, over, 00:16:25.580 --> 00:16:29.960 say, deep, deep studies of human nature, neuroscience, 00:16:30.320 --> 00:16:35.600 neurobiology are integrated into Neuroframe. 00:16:36.059 --> 00:16:40.940 We've been building it for over a year altogether. 00:16:41.389 --> 00:16:46.009 So it is a complicated product. It's a complicated 00:16:46.009 --> 00:16:52.669 engine. Because we are actually something nerds. 00:16:52.730 --> 00:16:57.649 We want to be precise. We want to be very much 00:16:57.649 --> 00:17:01.649 recognized also in the scientific world. So we 00:17:01.649 --> 00:17:05.809 build our engine with the purpose of deep recognition 00:17:05.809 --> 00:17:10.200 by the best minds in the industry. So our ambition 00:17:10.200 --> 00:17:13.900 is not only to sell the product obviously on 00:17:13.900 --> 00:17:17.539 the market, but also to get recognition as the 00:17:17.539 --> 00:17:21.380 creators over something innovative, something 00:17:21.380 --> 00:17:26.279 true, something precise. So it's extremely complicated. 00:17:26.460 --> 00:17:29.740 There is nothing else compared to us in the market. 00:17:31.099 --> 00:17:33.019 Was it hard for you to make that transition from 00:17:33.019 --> 00:17:35.619 a VC to a startup? Because it's not really the 00:17:35.619 --> 00:17:40.440 other way around. And it's quite logical, because 00:17:40.440 --> 00:17:44.079 as you see, I've never been in a passive position. 00:17:45.759 --> 00:17:48.799 And for numerous portfolios companies that I 00:17:48.799 --> 00:17:53.720 have, I usually use the word, we. We, the neosan, 00:17:54.259 --> 00:17:58.400 we, the clinic, it's a dental clinic that we 00:17:58.400 --> 00:18:01.819 have, not a dental clinic. We here, we there. 00:18:02.059 --> 00:18:06.880 And somehow, even as investor, I participate 00:18:06.880 --> 00:18:09.819 in business development, all the projects that 00:18:09.819 --> 00:18:12.759 I'm advising, that I'm dealing with, that I'm 00:18:12.759 --> 00:18:17.079 investing, depending on this scenario. So for 00:18:17.079 --> 00:18:19.880 me, it was quite an organic shift. And also, 00:18:20.059 --> 00:18:23.859 I started my first business when I was 21. So 00:18:23.859 --> 00:18:27.720 I've been, I've always been that, I would say, 00:18:28.539 --> 00:18:34.190 active. Pain in the head. I'm not really corporate. 00:18:35.630 --> 00:18:39.789 So for me it was probably the easiest thing to 00:18:39.789 --> 00:18:42.369 do. As they say in white company nature, you 00:18:42.369 --> 00:18:47.609 do a startup not because of money, not because 00:18:47.609 --> 00:18:50.990 you can't do anything better. You do a startup 00:18:50.990 --> 00:18:55.250 just because. Because it happens and you have 00:18:55.250 --> 00:19:00.299 to follow. So this is how it happened. Because 00:19:00.299 --> 00:19:03.440 you have such an interesting life story, how 00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:05.680 important do you think it is for people to follow 00:19:05.680 --> 00:19:08.839 their passions? There is no universal advice 00:19:08.839 --> 00:19:13.420 because every personality is different. Sometimes 00:19:13.420 --> 00:19:17.680 people are quite happy doing what they do and 00:19:17.680 --> 00:19:20.740 sometimes they are exactly where they want to 00:19:20.740 --> 00:19:24.380 be. Not everyone has a elevated level of energy, 00:19:24.720 --> 00:19:28.470 not everyone has openness to new. And it's totally 00:19:28.470 --> 00:19:33.730 fine. So, in my opinion, it is badly, badly important 00:19:33.730 --> 00:19:37.490 to follow your passion and to find your identity 00:19:37.490 --> 00:19:41.710 and to find your individual recipe for success 00:19:41.710 --> 00:19:45.630 and the recipe for happiness. But I'm built this 00:19:45.630 --> 00:19:49.549 way. I'm a researcher and that's a personality 00:19:49.549 --> 00:19:52.910 that needs to look for things, that needs to 00:19:52.910 --> 00:19:55.970 put forth hands, that needs to... create that 00:19:55.970 --> 00:20:01.250 environment to create that dynamics. I don't 00:20:01.250 --> 00:20:04.230 know why, but I just need to do that. Some people, 00:20:04.549 --> 00:20:07.609 they are built otherwise and they need something 00:20:07.609 --> 00:20:11.029 else. And it is great to have that variety. How 00:20:11.029 --> 00:20:12.849 do you deal with the challenge? Because I'm always 00:20:12.849 --> 00:20:16.630 curious to find out more about the way different 00:20:16.630 --> 00:20:19.730 entrepreneurs kind of handle the many challenges 00:20:19.730 --> 00:20:21.849 they have when building something. So how do 00:20:21.849 --> 00:20:23.470 you personally deal with when you have challenges? 00:20:24.589 --> 00:20:30.509 Well, of course, you approach that from different 00:20:30.509 --> 00:20:33.369 directions and you need to be multidimensional. 00:20:33.769 --> 00:20:37.130 Well, it is my approach. In my opinion, it's 00:20:37.130 --> 00:20:40.450 hard to be multidimensional. Of course, there 00:20:40.450 --> 00:20:43.690 are basics like health level. It's really hard 00:20:43.690 --> 00:20:47.950 to run diagnostics, to run testing and to go 00:20:47.950 --> 00:20:50.750 into biohacking. Well, I am deeply into biohacking 00:20:50.750 --> 00:20:56.339 and one of my projects to... is the chain of 00:20:56.339 --> 00:20:59.680 clinics that do IV therapy. That is like a good 00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:04.400 supplement. Of course, Andrew Huberman's YouTube 00:21:04.400 --> 00:21:08.059 channel is a great helper at that and a deep 00:21:08.059 --> 00:21:13.420 research and a deep understanding of your personal 00:21:13.420 --> 00:21:16.140 deficits because deficits are always personal. 00:21:16.519 --> 00:21:21.710 It really helps. So dealing with your body. in 00:21:21.710 --> 00:21:27.089 terms of lifestyle, in terms of physical activity, 00:21:27.529 --> 00:21:29.950 in terms of food, in terms of supplements, in 00:21:29.950 --> 00:21:33.289 terms of taking basic care of yourself. It is 00:21:33.289 --> 00:21:36.849 so important. And sometimes someone is saying, 00:21:37.089 --> 00:21:40.150 oh, well, I have a depression. But then, if he 00:21:40.150 --> 00:21:44.329 runs a certain test, there is a deficit. This 00:21:44.329 --> 00:21:48.049 person starts taking some vitamin B or whatever, 00:21:48.250 --> 00:21:52.609 and wow. Depression is gone. So first of all, 00:21:52.650 --> 00:21:55.509 it's that basic health level, then mental health, 00:21:55.509 --> 00:21:58.890 of course. I have a team of specialists that 00:21:58.890 --> 00:22:02.710 help me and I'm so grateful to them. It is obviously 00:22:02.710 --> 00:22:08.089 a therapist, a coach, a success coach, like energy 00:22:08.089 --> 00:22:12.009 coach. I have my doctor that is always in care. 00:22:12.640 --> 00:22:15.539 in contact with me and she's helping me save 00:22:15.539 --> 00:22:21.359 my strategy in terms of keeping my body in a 00:22:21.359 --> 00:22:24.400 healthy mode. And also one of my projects is 00:22:24.400 --> 00:22:27.500 absolutely about deletion of origin and death 00:22:27.500 --> 00:22:32.059 from human life. I believe death and aging are 00:22:32.059 --> 00:22:37.220 two problems that are first, inevitable, second, 00:22:37.460 --> 00:22:41.319 urgent, third, depressing. It's depressing to 00:22:41.319 --> 00:22:44.819 have our agent in death. So why not deal with 00:22:44.819 --> 00:22:48.700 that? And modern science allows to do incredible 00:22:48.700 --> 00:22:51.220 things in terms of research, like developing 00:22:51.220 --> 00:22:54.319 new types of chemical compounds. The company 00:22:54.319 --> 00:22:58.559 is called Virsion, and it is in the U .S. And 00:22:58.559 --> 00:23:01.259 the Virsion company is developing new kinds of 00:23:01.259 --> 00:23:04.740 chemical compounds to deal with incurable diseases, 00:23:05.220 --> 00:23:10.450 and actuating the disease. I'm very much bullish 00:23:10.450 --> 00:23:15.950 on the disruptive models, disruptive chances, 00:23:16.450 --> 00:23:18.650 disruptive technologies in this area. Because, 00:23:18.670 --> 00:23:22.470 well, stop doing me to molecules, stop doing 00:23:22.470 --> 00:23:27.250 me to solutions. It's disruptive. We need to 00:23:27.250 --> 00:23:31.380 kill death. This is what I think. Also, of course, 00:23:31.660 --> 00:23:34.319 it helps to become more and more self -aware, 00:23:34.539 --> 00:23:37.640 to be surrounded by the people that have a similar 00:23:37.640 --> 00:23:41.480 mindset. For example, I have a group of entrepreneurs 00:23:41.480 --> 00:23:45.259 that are very much in the same state with me. 00:23:45.660 --> 00:23:49.460 We're like a very synchronized group, and we 00:23:49.460 --> 00:23:53.519 have a certain agreement between us when if someone 00:23:53.519 --> 00:23:56.779 of us wants to quit, you always have an option 00:23:56.779 --> 00:24:01.720 to call me or write to me like, Oh, I'm about 00:24:01.720 --> 00:24:04.420 to quit. And I'm like, okay, have you done this? 00:24:04.559 --> 00:24:06.259 Have you done that? Have you done this? Have 00:24:06.259 --> 00:24:11.180 you done that? And normally we find very easy, 00:24:11.500 --> 00:24:14.740 accessible or hanging fruit to the office or 00:24:14.740 --> 00:24:18.640 her situation. So of course, network, your connection 00:24:18.640 --> 00:24:23.460 are a big help. And of course, experience. You 00:24:23.460 --> 00:24:26.359 build businesses, you build different projects, 00:24:26.980 --> 00:24:34.700 you travel. You create a certain your personalized 00:24:34.700 --> 00:24:39.279 collection of experiences that keep you alive. 00:24:39.700 --> 00:24:43.680 Give you your personal core with your achievement, 00:24:44.200 --> 00:24:47.180 with who you actually are. You notice yourself 00:24:47.180 --> 00:24:51.740 doing so great, going so proudly and bravely 00:24:51.740 --> 00:24:54.339 through all those challenges and at some point 00:24:54.339 --> 00:24:57.299 you understand that human nature is like unbeatable. 00:24:59.439 --> 00:25:02.440 I love that. I think you're the first guest I've 00:25:02.440 --> 00:25:04.319 ever had. I always enjoy asking this question 00:25:04.319 --> 00:25:06.519 because I actually get a lot from the question. 00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:08.319 I think the audience also gets a lot from the 00:25:08.319 --> 00:25:10.740 question. You're the first guest I've had that 00:25:10.740 --> 00:25:13.880 actually gave a completely holistic view about 00:25:13.880 --> 00:25:15.839 how it's not just one thing. It's actually a 00:25:15.839 --> 00:25:18.599 combination of multiple things. And it starts 00:25:18.599 --> 00:25:20.799 from the basics, how your body is feeling to 00:25:20.799 --> 00:25:23.039 how your mind is feeling, how your energy is, 00:25:23.359 --> 00:25:25.039 all those things and how they combine, they actually 00:25:25.039 --> 00:25:29.039 give you solution. A follow -up on that one is, 00:25:29.299 --> 00:25:31.880 where do you get inspiration from? Well, my case 00:25:31.880 --> 00:25:36.640 is not easy. When I was five, people would ask 00:25:36.640 --> 00:25:38.839 me, who do you want to be? And I'd say, I just 00:25:38.839 --> 00:25:43.920 want to be the richest person in the world. Kids 00:25:43.920 --> 00:25:46.680 would answer, I want to be a teacher, I want 00:25:46.680 --> 00:25:49.299 to be a doctor, I want to be a driver, I want 00:25:49.299 --> 00:25:51.559 to go to, well, I want to go to space, by the 00:25:51.559 --> 00:25:55.019 way, Elon. Elon, I'm here. That makes two of 00:25:55.019 --> 00:25:58.859 us. Yeah, yeah, I definitely want to travel to 00:25:58.859 --> 00:26:04.799 Mars or whatever but I wanted to create an impact. 00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:07.599 Then I started reading. When I was seven, I started 00:26:07.599 --> 00:26:11.559 reading like, how do you read, which are scientific, 00:26:12.039 --> 00:26:15.319 whatsoever. So I was quite a sensitive, sometimes 00:26:15.319 --> 00:26:20.799 scary. Well, it is the way it is. So I was deriving 00:26:20.799 --> 00:26:24.769 inspiration from books. from especially British 00:26:24.769 --> 00:26:29.349 and American writers of 19th -20th century that 00:26:29.349 --> 00:26:32.349 would describe the stories of entrepreneurs, 00:26:33.369 --> 00:26:35.950 of people of success and how they were building 00:26:35.950 --> 00:26:39.470 their stamina, and I was inspired. Later on I 00:26:39.470 --> 00:26:43.009 was so lucky to meet so many incredible people 00:26:43.009 --> 00:26:46.809 that were inspiring me with their successes, 00:26:47.049 --> 00:26:51.299 with their stories, including... and while probably 00:26:51.299 --> 00:26:54.680 this is in first place, my father was able to 00:26:54.680 --> 00:26:59.019 launch a product of a local factory on international 00:26:59.019 --> 00:27:03.140 markets in the mix, doing it alone. No one told 00:27:03.140 --> 00:27:06.299 him he needs business development, he needs marketing, 00:27:06.740 --> 00:27:10.819 he needs all those people to launch a specific 00:27:10.819 --> 00:27:13.539 product for a certain target audience on international 00:27:13.539 --> 00:27:16.200 markets. So he just wrote a number of letters. 00:27:16.509 --> 00:27:20.289 to American uniform company to phone to a number 00:27:20.289 --> 00:27:23.710 of international players asking like guys what 00:27:23.710 --> 00:27:26.569 kind of products are missing in your portfolio 00:27:26.569 --> 00:27:29.470 what would you buy and those people they just 00:27:29.470 --> 00:27:34.049 answered and he just went to the production unit 00:27:34.049 --> 00:27:36.789 and told them okay guys if we build this we're 00:27:36.789 --> 00:27:40.789 going to sell it to those guys and then he visited 00:27:40.789 --> 00:27:44.279 the client and he was selling the stuff No one 00:27:44.279 --> 00:27:47.660 told him it was impossible. So he was traveling 00:27:47.660 --> 00:27:52.880 all over the globe doing projects. It was kind 00:27:52.880 --> 00:27:55.920 of a very intense career path that I was watching 00:27:55.920 --> 00:27:59.500 like next to me. He was always telling me like, 00:27:59.519 --> 00:28:03.220 you know what? If you want to do something, you 00:28:03.220 --> 00:28:09.519 just go and do it. Just do it. And he was telling 00:28:09.519 --> 00:28:13.819 me like your capabilities are unlimited. And 00:28:13.819 --> 00:28:16.980 also it was supported by a number of people that 00:28:16.980 --> 00:28:21.559 I met and also my personal success. I had a very 00:28:21.559 --> 00:28:25.019 big financial success, well, in terms of where 00:28:25.019 --> 00:28:30.000 I started when I was 24 and it was from zero 00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:35.099 to a group of companies. So I experienced it 00:28:35.099 --> 00:28:41.119 myself. And after you feel this kind of success, 00:28:41.500 --> 00:28:46.180 this kind of achievement. You just won't accept 00:28:46.180 --> 00:28:49.599 something minor. You understand, okay, I have 00:28:49.599 --> 00:28:53.519 to do it and I have to live that kind of life. 00:28:53.700 --> 00:28:57.759 Going back to that smart question of yours regarding 00:28:57.759 --> 00:29:00.819 how important it is to follow your passion. For 00:29:00.819 --> 00:29:04.440 some people, it is a matter of survival and I've 00:29:04.440 --> 00:29:07.619 seen it so many times and it is not, I would 00:29:07.619 --> 00:29:13.480 say, a secret. It is not something unknown, that 00:29:13.480 --> 00:29:18.259 people get cancer even if they diminish their 00:29:18.259 --> 00:29:21.640 power and their personality. For example, I've 00:29:21.640 --> 00:29:25.619 seen it many times myself when some people were 00:29:25.619 --> 00:29:27.819 at a certain scale, a certain corporate position 00:29:27.819 --> 00:29:31.920 and then they experienced that change when they 00:29:31.920 --> 00:29:34.920 got fired or there was a change of circumstance 00:29:34.920 --> 00:29:39.039 or their skills became irrelevant. And they would 00:29:39.039 --> 00:29:42.380 start at a new position in your company, or they 00:29:42.380 --> 00:29:45.440 would opt for something smaller. And for some 00:29:45.440 --> 00:29:49.579 of them, it's a goal. But for so many, it can 00:29:49.579 --> 00:29:53.599 be a cause of severe illness like cancer. There 00:29:53.599 --> 00:30:02.500 is the thing called suicide. But it is a very 00:30:02.500 --> 00:30:07.079 slow type of suicide people commit. It can be 00:30:07.079 --> 00:30:11.000 like a matter of survival. So what tips and tricks 00:30:11.000 --> 00:30:13.500 would you give to someone for them to prevent 00:30:13.500 --> 00:30:16.200 those type of scenarios from happening but also 00:30:16.200 --> 00:30:17.960 to kind of guide them along the journey? And 00:30:17.960 --> 00:30:19.839 you mentioned a couple which is just go for it, 00:30:19.859 --> 00:30:21.819 just do it. What else would you ask for that? 00:30:21.980 --> 00:30:26.059 Well, I would say create your own board of directors, 00:30:26.440 --> 00:30:28.819 your own personal board of directors, that is 00:30:28.819 --> 00:30:32.420 your team, the people that fit for us, the people 00:30:32.420 --> 00:30:37.220 that are The people that are supporting you, 00:30:37.579 --> 00:30:40.019 create a group of people that are helping you 00:30:40.019 --> 00:30:46.000 thrive and rely on them. Accept your capabilities 00:30:46.000 --> 00:30:50.500 and your powers are limited. Accept that and 00:30:50.500 --> 00:30:53.759 embrace that and rely on other people. Ask for 00:30:53.759 --> 00:30:57.710 help even. Like, openly ask for help if you need 00:30:57.710 --> 00:31:00.549 that. Also, well, it's very important to be self 00:31:00.549 --> 00:31:04.650 -aware, to use the best achievements of best 00:31:04.650 --> 00:31:08.509 available science to support you, take care of 00:31:08.509 --> 00:31:12.630 your health, and build your own individual recipe 00:31:12.630 --> 00:31:16.390 for happiness. Think about your happiness. It's 00:31:16.390 --> 00:31:19.630 very, very important. Thank you. Marie, if people 00:31:19.630 --> 00:31:21.289 want to reach out to you, how can you do so? 00:31:22.350 --> 00:31:27.049 Well, my Instagram is lablawyer, L -A -B, like 00:31:27.049 --> 00:31:29.190 lab, lab, laboratory, and lawyer, like lawyer, 00:31:29.289 --> 00:31:33.490 because I have a legal background. What a mistake 00:31:33.490 --> 00:31:37.890 it was, but it's okay. Then, of course, LinkedIn, 00:31:38.430 --> 00:31:42.410 and also Neuroframe. We have our website, so 00:31:42.410 --> 00:31:45.930 please feel free to check this out. It's an amazing 00:31:45.930 --> 00:31:50.990 tool, and... In my ideal world, every person 00:31:50.990 --> 00:31:54.089 would pass neuroframe tests to know him or herself 00:31:54.089 --> 00:31:57.490 better. Also for personal compatibility, because 00:31:57.490 --> 00:31:59.329 we're talking to a number of dating websites. 00:32:00.869 --> 00:32:03.430 That sounds good. To simplify dating guides, 00:32:03.950 --> 00:32:06.849 because the compatibility thing is so important, 00:32:07.029 --> 00:32:10.710 especially nowadays when people are... The scenarios, 00:32:10.930 --> 00:32:12.950 the family scenarios are changing, people are 00:32:12.950 --> 00:32:17.380 changing, so it is also... So important, so important 00:32:17.380 --> 00:32:20.380 to find the right partner and to rely on that 00:32:20.380 --> 00:32:22.599 partner. It's hard to find the right match, isn't 00:32:22.599 --> 00:32:25.799 it? It's a tricky scenario. Absolutely. Like 00:32:25.799 --> 00:32:29.759 anywhere, in any area of life. Maria, thank you 00:32:29.759 --> 00:32:31.440 so much for your time. I really enjoyed the conversation. 00:32:32.440 --> 00:32:34.859 Thank you, thank you. It was enjoyable. Have 00:32:34.859 --> 00:32:36.839 a great day. The podcast is also sponsored by 00:32:36.839 --> 00:32:39.599 Notion .so. Notion is offering six months for 00:32:39.599 --> 00:32:42.079 free for new users. Make sure you check out our 00:32:42.079 --> 00:32:44.859 website, thestartupevents .co .uk to read in 00:32:44.859 --> 00:32:47.769 this offer. This podcast is also sponsored by 00:32:47.769 --> 00:32:51.150 startupnetworks .co .uk. Startup Networks, it's 00:32:51.150 --> 00:32:53.750 an online forum where you can find all the resources 00:32:53.750 --> 00:32:56.230 you need to run your startup, from grants to 00:32:56.230 --> 00:32:58.609 investors to tips and tricks on how to be successful 00:32:58.609 --> 00:33:01.569 in your startup. This podcast is also sponsored 00:33:01.569 --> 00:33:05.130 by ODEV Tech. ODEV Tech is your premier software 00:33:05.130 --> 00:33:07.029 development partner. Make sure you check them 00:33:07.029 --> 00:33:09.789 out at odev .tech.