Jiří Koleňák: My name is Jiří Koleňák and welcome to the Úspěšní (Successful) podcast, where we explore the principles and habits that drive my guests to succeed. Let’s dive in. My first guest is a successful Czech entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist, Libor Hoření. He started doing business at just 17 years old and is the founder of the recipe portal toprecepty.cz and the Dobrokáva project. He is also an investor in Nesnězeno.cz, a passionate sailor, and currently brings people positive news through pozitivnisprávy.cz. Forbes featured him among the 18 most inspiring personalities of 2018. Hi Libor, welcome to the podcast. Isn't that a bit too much? How do you manage to fit all of this in?
Libor Hoření: Hi Jirko. A bit too much? It depends. I’m definitely far from being alone on these projects—quite the opposite. It might sound like a cliché, but I truly try to collaborate with skilled people who are ambitious and great at what they do. For a lot of these projects, I’m just popping in to help or support them. I sold toprecepty after 13 years, but it really comes down to the teams and people who are constantly learning and growing. So these projects are definitely not just about me.
Jiří Koleňák: OK, what made you happiest in recent days?
Libor Hoření: What made me happiest? Last week, for instance, I ran a short running race—about 6.5 km, but with a lot of hills. I gave it my absolute all, ran at full throttle, and pushed as hard as I could. My average heart rate was 188, and honestly, I threw up during the last kilometer, so I didn't finish in peak shape. But I loved that I went all in and tested my limits. What entertained and delighted me even more was a colleague who ran at a 4:04 pace, whereas my top pace was 5:15. He mentioned he was running alongside another guy and chatting about work on the way. That really inspired me—showing that we can constantly push our boundaries further. My limit was simply due to a lack of focus and training, but seeing what’s possible made me really happy.
Jiří Koleňák: That’s actually one of the reasons I invited you today: I believe you have great potential to inspire people. I admire people who strive to be the best at whatever they do, which is why I invite them here to share their tips, tricks, and fuel. I'm curious about your journey. How did it all begin? Were you the most enterprising kid in kindergarten, or did it start later? Walk us through the key milestones of your life worth sharing.
Libor Hoření: I wouldn't call myself an enterprising child. I was more cheeky and struggled with authority, refusing to do things that didn't make sense to me. I often asked teachers, "How will this help me in life?" They hated that. I focused strictly on what made sense to me, what I wanted to develop, and what I believed would be useful. A defining moment came when my parents limited my computer gaming to one hour a day. Otherwise, I could only use the computer for something useful for my future. They were very strict about doing meaningful things. So, I started learning to program and attended classes on web design, graphics, and coding. When I was about 13, the teacher of that class approached me and said, "I see you enjoy this and you're getting better. If you want, you can work for my small web agency." I won't name it since hiring 13-year-olds wasn't entirely official, right? I started doing graphics and basic websites from home. Some client work even got rejected—I was just learning, and it was rough at first. But he used some of my work and paid me 300 CZK an hour, which back then was far more than my classmates earned doing much harder side jobs. That's when I realized: this entrepreneur pays me 300 CZK an hour and still makes a profit off me. So what could I do to gain that freedom, employ talented people, and decide my own life—when to wake up, what to do, how to invest my money? That’s when I started looking for a business opportunity. At 16, I looked up the most visited Czech websites on a traffic counter and clicked through them one by one. I was looking for an ugly site where I could say, "A lot of people visit this, but I can make it better." I found a recipe website that looked terrible—it was green, and some features didn't work. I decided to make a better version. I found a developer, but had no money to pay him, so we agreed on giving him an equity stake in the project. That's how toprecepty launched.
Jiří Koleňák: What’s your relationship with cooking, given it was a recipe server? Was it a pragmatic decision based on traffic, or was there a passion for food?
Libor Hoření: There was a passion for building websites, but cooking wasn't my thing. Honestly, I'm only starting to learn how to cook now.
Jiří Koleňák: Men usually learn to cook in their 40s at the earliest, so that's completely fine. What I love about this is that starting a business clearly doesn't require money at the beginning. You just found a developer and offered him a stake because you had nothing else to give. Is freedom the key word in entrepreneurship? Is that freedom the ultimate trigger, and does that freedom truly exist when you look at it today?
Libor Hoření: It can be, but doesn't have to be. I know entrepreneurs who actually lost their freedom through business—dealing with endless stress and employees, unable to step away. Yet, when such an entrepreneur finally takes a vacation they were terrified of, they return saying, "The company ran better while I was gone." So it's not always about gaining immediate freedom. Personally, I never wanted to manage hundreds of employees, fly constantly around the world, and deal with all that stress. I wanted a nice, small company—around 15 people—that makes good money, helps as many people as possible, and remains enjoyable to run.
Jiří Koleňák: Where do you think entrepreneurship comes from in people? Is it the desire for freedom, or general drive? I define entrepreneurship as a willingness to focus energy on growing something. Looking at your successes, what was your trigger?
Libor Hoření: I genuinely feel it was joy and immense excitement. I’d define what I felt toward websites and web development as pure passion. When I found that ugly cooking site at 16, I remember running to my parents in pure excitement, saying, "I know what I'll do! I'll build a cooking site where people post recipes, rate them, and comment!" That enthusiasm carried me for a very long time. Passion for a subject leads to solving real problems for people, which ultimately turns into a business. I didn't even realize I was starting a business back then—I just found something used by many people that wasn't good enough, and decided I would improve it for them.
Jiří Koleňák: Seeing your passion when talking about founding Toprecepty, it’s no surprise it became the most successful recipe portal in the Czech Republic. Moving forward to Dobrokáva (Good Coffee)—I saw that as the next step. Could you tell us more about this project, why you launched it, and what it brought you?
Libor Hoření: I believe that as part of society, it's important to give back and care for the environment we live in. If everyone cared for their surroundings, we’d all be much better off. When I had the means to contribute financially to charity, I didn't want to just send money without knowing where it went. I thought, "I'm creative, so I'll take a budget intended for good and create something myself." I designed a mobile coffee stand where you couldn't pay with money. Instead, you paid by promising to perform a good deed—something beyond your usual good deeds. You received a good coffee and left with a commitment to do that good deed.
Jiří Koleňák: I experienced that personally. Standing in line at Dobrokáva, I saw people's surprised faces when they tried to pay with cash, only to leave empty-handed until they pondered what good deed they would do. I also noticed how it cultivated the local environment—people helping with strollers on trams, or homeless people being treated much better around the area. It’s a wonderful initiative. Moving on to Nesnězeno (Uneaten)—in my eyes, this is a major project centered on philanthropy and doing good. Tell us how it started and where it stands today.
Libor Hoření: Nesnězeno is a standard commercial company, but with a strong social impact. The idea actually originated at Dobrokáva. Kuba was the driver operating the mobile stand, and Míša was the barista talking to people about their good deeds. Míša recalled seeing a mobile app abroad where restaurants, bakeries, and stores uploaded unsold food that would otherwise be thrown away, offering it at a discount of at least 50%. They realized nothing like that existed in the Czech Republic, so they surveyed local businesses. Most places confirmed they simply threw extra food away. To validate the idea, Kuba and Míša set up a free Facebook page. The next day, they asked businesses to post photos of unsold food at a discount on Facebook, promising customers would pick it up before closing. Within a few months, the page reached 15,000 followers, 30 participating businesses, and over 6,000 saved meals and desserts. Once validated, another friend and I invested initial capital. We built a prototype app and transitioned from Facebook to a mobile platform with a commission business model. Later, merging with the Hungarian app Munch was a huge game-changer. We launched in Slovakia and Romania, secured over 5 million euros in investment, and today it’s a company with over 100 people.
Jiří Koleňák: So it's grown significantly. Where do you find people who align with your vision and ideas? Do you have a secret source?
Libor Hoření: I think I'm lucky or have good karma, but people naturally find their way to me. There's no secret LinkedIn guide. When you build useful, interesting, and unique things, compelling people naturally reach out. Proactive people with great potential often come directly to you. Kuba started out driving Dobrokáva not for money, but because he resonated with the mindset. Today, he’s in Forbes 30 Under 30 and growing incredibly. Seeing people grow alongside these projects is what I enjoy most about entrepreneurship.
Jiří Koleňák: You mentioned mindset. What is the mindset of the people you attract?
Libor Hoření: They usually want to achieve something, build something, and avoid rigid corporate employment. They are looking to make an impact and often search for the right idea.
Jiří Koleňák: What advice would you give to someone afraid that sharing their business idea will lead to it being stolen?
Libor Hoření: I hear that often. In reality, very few people actually want to execute the exact same business as you. Fear of an idea being stolen usually reflects low self-confidence. An idea is just the first small step in business. Nobody can steal your energy, know-how, passion, vision, team, or determination. Even if someone copies it, having a competitor drives you forward.
Jiří Koleňák: An idea without execution is just a thought. What values guide your decisions on where to invest your energy, time, or money?
Libor Hoření: Usefulness. I feel my purpose in life is to be useful. When deciding whether to invest or get involved in something, I primarily look at how useful the project is and how useful I can be within it.
Jiří Koleňák: What else do you consider essential in business?
Libor Hoření: Solving real problems. That is the single most critical aspect of business.
Jiří Koleňák: Can you share examples?
Libor Hoření: A negative example: someone proposed a mobile app showing videos and photos of sunsets from around the world. It sounds nice, but what real problem does it solve? None. The market need is tiny, and nobody would pay $7 to keep watching sunset videos. On the flip side, a positive example is Advomate.cz. Two 20-year-olds mastered AI, researched various industries, and visited law firms. They noticed lawyers spent endless hours manually digging through massive physical libraries or searching online for legal precedents. They trained AI on hundreds of thousands of legal documents and precedents. Today, after just a few months, major law firms and corporate legal departments like Škoda Auto and Skanska use it because it solves a massive real-world problem.
Jiří Koleňák: Great example. How do you maintain balance between business, personal life, and charity? How do you recharge your batteries?
Libor Hoření: I make time to rest. I do wellness once a week for conscious passive relaxation, and I work out four times a week for active rest. A key realization for me was distinguishing between slacking off and conscious rest. Mindlessly scrolling social media while watching a movie leaves you more exhausted. Now, I consciously choose how I rest. It's the same with food—eating a burger consciously as a planned treat feels completely different from giving in to stress eating.
Jiří Koleňák: Looking into the future, what projects are you currently working on?
Libor Hoření: I'm deeply fascinated by artificial intelligence and finding where it can boost efficiency. I mentor student startups at JIC focused on AI. I'm also the guarantor of the MBA program at Newton University, where I brought together successful entrepreneurs as lecturers to teach ambitious students who want to build impactful businesses.
Jiří Koleňák: How do you learn from the inspiring people around you?
Libor Hoření: I look for concrete, actionable insights that I can apply immediately to my life. For example, Tomáš Vala, CEO of SIKO, shared a rule they use: "Think of the second in line." In the workplace, a warehouse worker places a box with the label facing out so the next person immediately sees what it is. In daily life, if you finish the toilet paper, you replace it for the next person. Simple, actionable principles like that can be applied anywhere.
Jiří Koleňák: What single piece of advice would you give young aspiring entrepreneurs?
Libor Hoření: Small tips like "eat that frog"—tackling the most unpleasant task first thing in the morning—are great. But on a macro level, it's about mindset and facing challenges head-on. Don't run from fears or uncomfortable situations, whether it's fear of heights or dealing with an underperforming employee. Face the challenge, gather information, seek advice, and address it directly.
Jiří Koleňák: Thank you, Libor, for accepting the invitation and sharing these valuable insights and tips. For those watching, please like, subscribe, share, and comment. See you next time with more inspiring guests. Bye!
