One of the great benefits of leading Hyperion Executive Search, and hosting the ‘Leaders in Cleantech’ podcast is I get to speak to truly inspirational people on a weekly basis. I am always in awe at the sheer boldness and creativity of entrepreneurs and this week’s podcast guest is no exception.
In our latest podcast we spoke with Juraj Ulehla of Voltia who, in a fascinating discussion talked about how his business grew from the 2008 financial crisis, how he took the crucial decision to split the business in 2015 and hasn’t looked back since and also how Emobility is going to dominate the automotive world by 2025.
Here is my summary of the key insights:
1. It must have seemed like madness in 2008, in the middle of a financial crisis and with the world addicted to driving fossil fuelled cars to start an Emobility business but that’s just what Juraj did and today he has proved that his vision was an accurate one. What this tells me, and it’s something I see repeatedly, is that great businesses often emerge from a crisis. I wonder therefore which great entrepreneurs we will see emerge from the chaos of 2020.
2. It’s often early stage business leaders that make the boldest changes and Juraj and his partner took one such bold decision to split their business in 2015, the business world will need bold decisions and some brave leaders willing to back their decisions over the coming months and years. I talked about the need to be bold in a recent episode of Leadership Insights with Jordan Brompton which you can watch via the button at the end of this article.
3. Tesla taught the automotive sector a harsh lesson by proving that EVs can be sexy. What the next wave of Emobility entrepreneurs are now doing is take our collective enthusiasm for EVs to a level where they are also affordable. Once that happens, and we’re seeing a slew of new passenger EV’s coming to market this year and next, what once seemed crazy predictions of Emobility dominance of the automotive sector by the mid 20s will become reality.
Hear more from Juraj on our latest podcast here
What do you think, where will emobility be in 2025/30, anyone still making mass market CIE vehicles?
David
