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HTEC Group

By FastForward by HTEC

Groundbreaking ideas, top thinkers, and some of the world's best disruption stories.

What does being a leader mean for you?

The Industry 4.0, spurred by the fluidity of business today, requires a radically new type of entrepreneur. With focus on technology and innovation, we explore what it takes for a leader to become more than just a leader and transform him or herself into the driver of change on a massive scale.

FastForward aims to inspire actions that challenge the status quo by encouraging new perspectives.
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HTEC Fast Forward Podcast: Daniel Bobroff, Head of Retail at HTEC Group

HTEC Group Nov 24, 2021

00:00
49:07
HTEC Fast Forward Podcast: Do Regulatory Bodies Help Speed Up Innovation, or Is it a Hand Brake?

HTEC Fast Forward Podcast: Do Regulatory Bodies Help Speed Up Innovation, or Is it a Hand Brake?

The “necessary evil” all MedTech innovations have to abide by is compliance and regulation. Regulatory and compliance are two sides of the same coin because one dictates the safety requirements, measures, and controls that a new product needs and the other represents actually building the innovation and new value propositions. But are we letting regulatory efforts blindingly drive the innovation process?  What are the gaps? What are the roadblocks, and how to unlock them? In this episode, Sava, Miloš, and Hristina will dive deeper into the challenges MedTech companies face when dealing with regulations and compliance and discuss these critical questions. #QualityandCompliance #RegulatoryCompliance #RegulatoryBodies

May 18, 202301:10:10
HTEC Fast Forward Podcast: Defining the Undefinable — Opening the Black Box of AI in HealthCare
Apr 21, 202357:46
Protok Podcast: Recapped and Rebooted

Protok Podcast: Recapped and Rebooted

Hosts: Miloš Najdanović, Dušan Petrović and Mina Stefanović  

“Protok” podcast owes its existence to a group of enthusiasts from Niš. It was back in 2018 that a small but mighty crew of technology aficionados gathered around the same idea: discuss technology, its consequences, and its tremendous impact on our daily lives—positive and negative alike.  

And they were determined to do so by taking a critical, holistic approach—engineering, business, sociology, economy, and psychology being just some of the standpoints they have meticulously occupied over the years.

Dec 27, 202254:36
Reaching Net Zero by 2050: Are Companies on the Right Track?

Reaching Net Zero by 2050: Are Companies on the Right Track?

In this latest Fast Forward episode, listen to a co-host Gabriela Mate, Larry Zentner and a guest Mike Nakrani from Vitol discuss the corporate commitments to net zero emissions, what companies need to do to accelerate their efforts to reach net zero by 2050, and how Vitol’s efforts to build e-mobility business align with the Net Zero objectives.   

Find out more at our blog: https://htecgroup.com/fast-forward/reaching-net-zero-by-2050-are-companies-on-the-right-track/

Aug 03, 202239:13
Fast Forward: Nick Gallo, Chief Servant and Co-CEO of ComplianceLine
Feb 03, 202246:18
HTEC Fast Forward Podcast: Daniel Bobroff, Head of Retail at HTEC Group

HTEC Fast Forward Podcast: Daniel Bobroff, Head of Retail at HTEC Group

In this episode of the #FastForward podcast, you will hear from our Head Of Retail, Daniel Bobroff, on how:   

➡ Technology is making tectonic changes in retail 

➡ Covid-19 has impacted the retail industry 

➡ HTEC is helping retailers drive change

Nov 24, 202149:07
Elmo Lovano, Founder, and CEO at Jammcard: Music-Focused Platforms Are Poised to Reshape the Music Industry

Elmo Lovano, Founder, and CEO at Jammcard: Music-Focused Platforms Are Poised to Reshape the Music Industry

Elmo Lovano, Founder, and CEO at Jammcard, on how the pandemic impacted the global music scene, new opportunities on the market, smart contract system as a major innovation driver in the music industry, Jammcard platform, and experience in working with HTEC.

Oct 21, 202147:60
Fast Forward Podcast: Michael C. Bush, the CEO of Great Place to Work

Fast Forward Podcast: Michael C. Bush, the CEO of Great Place to Work

Get ready for the brand new episode of #FastForward to hear Niko Slavnic and Michael C. Bush, the CEO of Great Place to Work - the research and analytics firm that produces FORTUNE magazine’s 100BEST Companies to Work For list, discuss the importance of customer experience and the impact of technology during Covdid-19 and in the post-pandemic world.Fast Forward Podcast:  Michael C. Bush, the CEO of Great Place to Work

Oct 07, 202101:01:53
Fast Forward Podcast: Frank Jaskulke, VP Intelligence at The Medical Alley Association

Fast Forward Podcast: Frank Jaskulke, VP Intelligence at The Medical Alley Association

Our new #FastForward episode where Frank joins Niko to talk about transformative changes in #healthcare, personalization, and convenience as major drivers of the future of healthcare and Medical Alley’s differentiation points.

Sep 16, 202152:50
Fast Forward Podcast: Aditya Bandi, Head of Product of the Marketplace at Cabify

Fast Forward Podcast: Aditya Bandi, Head of Product of the Marketplace at Cabify

Our Niko Slavnic chatted with Aditya on current trends, innovation, Cabify, and curiosity as his superpower and main drive. 

In this podcast, you will learn more about:   

  • Hyper personalization  
  • Sustainability is the core of Cabify business  
  • How pandemic caused Cabify to create a new business model  
  • Agility and innovation  
  • Why culture is so important to him
Sep 02, 202140:52
Fast Forward Podcast: John Shewell, Director of Communications at wefox

Fast Forward Podcast: John Shewell, Director of Communications at wefox

John Shewell, Director of Communication at Europe’s #1 digital insurance company wefox Deutschland, believes that simplicity enabled by technology is the key differentiator that can bring customer experience to new heights.

On the new episode of #FastForward our Niko chats with the outstanding John Shewell on how the pandemic reinforced wefox business model, how to build a better relationship with customers through technology, his superpower and so much more.

Jul 29, 202151:41
Anshu Prasad, CEO and Co-Founder of Leaf Logistics: Gaining Competitive Advantage beyond the Time of Crisis

Anshu Prasad, CEO and Co-Founder of Leaf Logistics: Gaining Competitive Advantage beyond the Time of Crisis

In our brand new Fast Forward episode, we have the honor to introduce you to Anshu Prasad, the CEO and Co-Founder of Leaf Logistics. Listen to the podcast and learn more about how building an anti-fragile system can help companies get better through crises, current global trends on the market and the thriving partnership between HTEC Group and Leaf.

Jul 22, 202150:50
Tim Wagner, Founder of Stealth Startup: How Technology & Frameworks Are Reshaping Our World

Tim Wagner, Founder of Stealth Startup: How Technology & Frameworks Are Reshaping Our World

Another great FastForward episode is on! This time we chatted with another inspiring thought-leader Tim Wagner, Angel investor, a champion for affordable housing & reversing climate change, and a Founder of a Stealth Startup. 

Tim Wagner is a man of many hats. His passion is to connect people, build stronger communities and give back alongside diverse, action-oriented rebels.   He has spent 5+ years working in Asia and 10+ years leading global growth. He has experience in a variety of domains from enterprise, startup, academic, media to non-profit, and governmental organizations.   

Listen to the podcast to hear his fantastic story.

Jul 16, 202153:16
 Fabrizio Ballarini, Organic Growth at Wise: The Importance of Choosing the Right Business Model

Fabrizio Ballarini, Organic Growth at Wise: The Importance of Choosing the Right Business Model

Fabrizio Ballarini is a growth expert tasked with growing the organic presence of Wise (formerly TransferWise), the London-based international money transfer service, one of Europe's more promising #fintech startups. 

Our Niko Slavnic spoke to Fabrizio about global market trends, challenges, and some of the tactics and practices that have helped his team achieve and maintain success as it has grown over the years.

Jul 13, 202101:09:07
Lawrence Whittle: Digitalising the Frontline Is No Longer Nice-to-Have — It’s an Imperative

Lawrence Whittle: Digitalising the Frontline Is No Longer Nice-to-Have — It’s an Imperative

In this FastForward episode, we had the pleasure to talk to another thought-leader with outstanding experience, knowledge and background story — Lawrence Whittle, CEO of Parsable, a company that empowers frontline workers with modern digital tools to help improve safety, productivity and quality at scale. We wanted to pick his brains and find more about his view of current global trends, market across industries and the powerful and successful collaboration between Parsable and HTEC Group.

Listen to the podcast to hear his amazing story. You will learn more about:

  • Current global megatrends making disruptions across industries
  • The impact of digital on frontline workers
  • How demographic shift is accelerating the adoption of digital solutions
  • The biggest benefit of digital in industrial world
  • Democratizing technology as an inspiration that drives Parsable
  • The company’s vision and mission
  • What makes Parsable stand out from the crowd
  • The challenges he has come across
  • How HTEC Group helped Parsable accelerate their platform
Jun 11, 202137:60
Magnus Holst: Attracting Consumers to - and to stay with - a Brand

Magnus Holst: Attracting Consumers to - and to stay with - a Brand

Magnus Holst is an experienced all-around marketeer with a retail foundation and loyalty edge. He has 25 years of experience in communication development, retail experience innovation, brand marketing, and CRM/Loyalty. This allows him to simplify the process of attracting consumers and motivate them to stay with a brand.

He takes pride in creating a positive and motivating work climate and he strongly believes that only empowered and engaged people can lead to success.

He worked for Ingka Group for over a decade, which is most known for its global retail brand IKEA. At IKEA he worked as a Global Range Communicator Home Organisation, Secondary Storage & Outdoor and after that Global Marketing & Communication Leader Cooking & Eating. After three years, he left IKEA to go work for Polestar as their Global Head of Retail Experience.

Magnus lives in Malmo, Sweden. He's a proud father, his daughter Ebba just turned 23. He likes to explore the Swedish culinary scene and has a thing for Scottish Whiskeys. In his free time, he likes to be active, spend time with his family and play golf with his friends.

His mantra/motto is: All dimensions need to work together, to attract new customers and keep the current ones engaged.

Reach out to him at:

LINKEDIN profile

INSTAGRAM profile

TWITTER profile

Magnus works for Polestar. They are an electric performance brand, determined to improve the society we live in. Polestar develops electric performance cars and offers engine software optimization and performance hardware upgrades for Volvo models. Their focus is on uncompromised design and technology and their mission is to drive progress and create a better, sustainable, hassle-free, and strikingly beautiful future. They share technology and engineering expertise with the Volvo Car Group, yet they are their own guiding star.

Find out more at:

LINKEDIN

WEBSITE

INSTAGRAM

May 05, 202101:00:14
Ann E Holder: Leveraging Partnerships in Medical Innovation

Ann E Holder: Leveraging Partnerships in Medical Innovation

Ann E Holder, the CEO of Marani, on her executive career at leading MedTech companies, leveraging military-gained leadership skills and industry partnerships with the world's top health providers in pursuing her mission to bring innovative AI-based technology to the market to ensure better maternal and fetal health outcomes.

You really need to know the right people and you’ve got to know where to go for compliance, regulatory, and quality assurance advice. I know enough about those areas to be dangerous, but I am by no means an expert. And when you’re bringing medical technology to the market, it’s a critical component of the work that you’re doing.

—Ann E Holder—

In this “For Women by Women” story, we interviewed yet another fabulous woman whose extraordinary life experience and achievements have inspired us to share her story with you. 

We chatted about the past, present, and future of Ann’s life and career, which seems to have always been focused on helping and supporting others (Ann has 4 kids too), but especially lately, since she ventured into entrepreneurship with her startup in the domain of AI-empowered, wearable medical devices, fulfilling her mission to help women and clinicians measure and monitor key vital parameters of a fetus and the mother, during pregnancy, labor, and delivery. Heart rate and rhythm are interpreted using proprietary artificial intelligence algorithms developed in partnership with some of the best cardiologists, OB/GYNs, researchers, and clinicians in the world at the Mayo Clinic.

For many of us, this mission is as clear and as relatable as it gets—Marani products provide insights into a woman’s health profile and biometrics, allowing pregnant women and their caregivers to make informed decisions. This remote health monitoring is especially valued in the Covid/Post-Covid world where every visit to a doctor may present potential danger in itself.

Notably, Medtech is one of the most challenging industries for startups and innovation. No space for beginners or sensitive hearts, it is the field where only weathered medical technology executives can respond to the fundraising challenges and regulatory pressures, but even then it is a windy path that requires a strong network of support and a clear product-market strategy.

In the interview, we explore what brought Ann to the point in her life where she feels confident that she can lead the MedTech startup in its fight for better medical outcomes for women around the world, who’s helping her bring this new technology to the market, and how they intend to empower clinicians and women with solutions that will make the decision-making process easier and more informed through data and AI. More than 350K babies are being brought to the world every day. 

Ann is not intimidated by the path ahead of her, on the contrary, she is more confident than ever that her purpose is the one worth fighting for.

Apr 16, 202132:34
Michael C. Bush: Great Leader in the Era of Mass Disruption

Michael C. Bush: Great Leader in the Era of Mass Disruption

Michael C. Bush from Great Place to Work on resilient company cultures, measuring employee happiness, innovation by all, how to become a great leader that everyone loves to work with, embracing the change, and scaling businesses.

“The difference between an employee who was having a great experience and an employee who wasn’t, was the leader. As a leader, you can create a great experience or you can destroy all motivation that a person can bring to work every day.”

— Michael C. Bush —

Michael’s story at GPTW begins 4 years ago when he got hired by the company’s founder, a man called Robert Levering who wrote a book over 20 years ago titled The 100 Hundred Best Companies to Work for in America, which is really what started the business of measuring the employee experience. Known for his reputation of doing company turnarounds and success in selling businesses, Michael was hired to sell the company.

However, being the shrewd entrepreneur that he is, he quickly realized that the company had what no other company in the world had—a tremendous amount of data about the thoughts, experiences, hopes, and wishes of working people all around the world. Over a hundred million employees were in the database!

Six months later, together with his partner, Michael bought GPTW and set out on a journey to make the company what it is today — the number one authority on corporate culture, surveying millions of people around the world about their jobs and companies they work for, producing the annual Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For list as well as the analytics and coaching necessary for the positive transformations of involved workplaces.

Michael takes a lot of pride in what his team has achieved so far. When he joined GPTW, about 4 years ago, 3 out of 10 people said that it was a great place to work. In the last survey they did about a month ago, 9.2 out of 10 people said it was great! The results are published on their website for transparency. As a matter of fact, as soon as the survey is closed, the results are online and available for everyone to see.

Our hope is that we all learn from GPTW and adopt the practice of surveying employees every once in a while, keeping an open mind and an honest relationship with our teams about where we can all improve. Employees like to be informed consistently about the things they do well, and the things to improve.

In the end, we leave you with a quote from Michael:

“As long as you are surveying, you will always find something you can do better. As a leader, you’re not working to get to some level, there’s always work to do. And everybody has a role to play and everybody can get better.”

Also, be sure to check Emprising and Great Place to Work and arm your leadership self with knowledge about the trends and strategies in keeping your team together, and happily so!

Apr 16, 202101:00:58
Sasha Ostojic: Coaching Exceptional Deep Tech Companies

Sasha Ostojic: Coaching Exceptional Deep Tech Companies

Sasha Ostojic, Operating Partner at Playground Global and Advisor at HTEC, on his 30+ years of Silicon Valley career working on the cutting edge of technology innovation, the beginning of AI, his experience in scaling extraordinary startups, and his view on autonomous driving.

“Everything revolves around people. Coaching is essential in helping people reach their full potential and achieve great things with technology.

— Sasha Ostojic —

If you want the best of future tech, a glimpse from the frontier of our imaginable world, Playground Global is the place to be.

To check the truthfulness of the daring statement above, we spoke with Sasha Ostojic, an Operating Partner at Playground Global, an incredible powerhouse venture fund that supports and yields arguably some of the most groundbreaking technology of today.

We wanted to hear what Sasha thinks about startup culture, innovation, and what it takes for a startup to succeed. We talked about the interesting projects he has been involved in during the fruitful 30 years of his Silicon Valley career in tech—as a founder, engineer, and VC—as well as the exceptional startup projects that are currently incubating and taking off at Playground.

Apr 16, 202154:52