Young Czech leaders: “We would ban mortgages — they hold people back”

Fear of failure and fear of risk are what keep Czechs from living better today. That was the verdict delivered not by seasoned businesspeople but by representatives of the younger generation at the Forbes Lepší Česko conference in Karlovy Vary. Among them were the founder of the startup Robotwin, Maggie Mejdrechová, the young politician Antonín Švab and a partner at the venture fund Credo Ventures, Max Kolowrat-Krakowský.

The sharpest remark came from Mejdrechová, a member of last year’s “30 under 30” list. According to her, people fear risk and close doors on themselves: when hiring for her team, some candidates do not dare to leave their current job because of a mortgage. “People are often afraid of things that are not that scary but paralyze them and kill their potential. In our startup we joke that we would ban mortgages — they tie you down terribly, slow you down and bind a person to a little wheel,” explains the founder of Robotwin.

Max Kolowrat-Krakowský (from this year’s “30 under 30”) drew attention to attitudes toward failure. According to him, in Czechia an unsuccessful entrepreneur is “punished” by the legal system through the insolvenční rejstřík, a “register of shame” that makes it harder to start a new company, while society looks down on them. In San Francisco it is the opposite: the very attempt is almost celebrated, even if the chances of success are minimal, and failure is considered normal.

Another brake on development, in the participants’ view, is a rigid education system. Antonín Švab, who works on advisory bodies on school education and as a community worker in the Olomouc region, stressed that schools and universities give little support to students’ practical self-fulfillment. “Attendance is the first thing that gets addressed. Individual study plans and the chance to prove yourself in practice or business while still studying are almost out of reach for most people,” he says. Mejdrechová recalled her studies at ČVUT: throughout her time there she hardly met anyone from real industry or founders of tech companies, although at Western universities this is standard.

All three nevertheless believe in a “better Czechia” and do not plan to leave. They would decide to go only if young people were not given room to realize their ideas. Kolowrat-Krakowský, who studied in the US and had a chance to stay there, came back: “Family, friends, history and the heart pulled me back. When a person is in an environment where they feel good and can pursue their ambitions, they are able to achieve the maximum.”