Vladislav "Laďa" Vachata met Jiří Báča in early 2000, when the two of them both worked on the launch of the MAXIM credit card at Bank Austria Creditanstalt. Twenty years later they were building LutherOne together. Today he is a co-owner and COO of the company, a salesman to the core, a qualified PE and English teacher, a father of four, and a lifelong sportsman who still plays to win.
How did you end up at LutherOne?
Jirka and I have known each other since the beginning of 2000. We first worked together at Bank Austria Creditanstalt, launching the MAXIM credit card, and that was the start of something that eventually turned into a long-lasting friendship.
Our careers separated after that, but we never lost track of each other. We came back together at Citibank, which I joined in 2006 because of him. In between I ran my own business in financial consulting and real estate, and I built out sales points for mBank while Jirka was working there. Then I went back into banking, running sales at Wüstenrot and building its online division. Whatever role either of us was in, we kept ending up in the same room and talking business and life.
In 2018 Jirka came to me with the idea that became the foundation of MySpectrum, our 360° profiling module, which maps 64 competencies across eight areas that correlate with performance. He brought the whole story of why the market needed it. I was hooked. A few of us got together and started building.
What motivates you every day?
It wouldn't work if I didn't co-found the company. I go to work because I want to. For years it wasn't about the money. Now it partly is, but that's still not the point.
The point is that we're building something genuinely relevant, and that relevance is growing rather than fading. I talk to clients every day, so I know the need is getting bigger.
Eight years in, we have loyal client base , very low churn, bigger accounts and real expansion. That's what I enjoy. And I truly enjoy and respect the people I do it with. It makes sense to us and it makes sense to our clients.
What might surprise people about you?
I've been around a long time and I'm very transparent, so there isn't much left to discover.
The one thing that does surprise people is that I come across as calm. In fact I'm explosive and emotional, and I have to work at it. I need a release, and sport is where I burn it off. I'm competitive by nature, and sport is where that goes now.
Which leads to the part few people know: I'm a qualified PE and English teacher. I've loved sport my whole life and I'm naturally pretty good at most of them.
And one last thing, since people always ask: I go by Laďa, the short form of Vladislav. I'm Vladislav Vachata the second, named after my father, who went by Laďa as well. I'm from Moravia (Zlín), and everyone has called me that since I was a boy. It stuck.
What's been your biggest career challenge?
Three of them.
The first came at university. I knew I wasn't going to teach. I wanted to play hockey in the NHL, and that didn't happen. So I started selling myself. Teaching English, translating, interpreting. Making a living from what I already knew.
The second came when I left teaching and discovered I had a salesman in me. A British friend was selling timeshares and claimed he could sell anything. I didn't believe him, which is exactly why I listened so carefully. The fundamentals, the turns of phrase. That was thirty years ago and I've used them a million times since. Methods change. The principles don't. Those three or four years became the sales foundation for the rest of my life.
The third was after I leftt Citibank. It felt like the right moment to prove I could sell anything, so I founded three companies at once. It didn't take long to realise I couldn't handle it. Big ambitions, eyes bigger than my stomach, the recklessness of youth. Enough confidence and arrogance that I stopped sleeping at night, all while building a house and expecting our third child. I shut it all down fast and lost money on some of it. Then I went back to what I do best.
What are you most proud of?
Of everything in my career, what we've built here from zero. The teamwork, and how far we've taken it together. I wouldn't change a thing.
What makes LutherOne unique?
Nothing and everything. Plenty of companies are springing up around us with a good idea that covers part of what we do. We back ourselves and we keep searching, so we don't lose that edge. We never stop learning. The complexity, the way the individual products connect into one working whole, is something I don't see anywhere else.
And very few comparable companies invest this much time and money in the service around the tool. We're not just software. We're a service. Neither works without the other. Alongside the platform you get experts which simply is not usual on the market. And these people, their expertise, effort and approach do make a difference.
How would colleagues describe you?
Direct. I tell people what I think, whatever tone I say it in. And I always try to say it well.
Mature. Two sides to that. I've been through things personally and professionally, and it shapes you. It gives me a perspective that some of my colleagues may not have yet.
Competitive. These days mostly in sport and in my personal life. It used to be career, promotion, money. Now it's quality, judgement, steady development.
Where do you see yourself in a few years?
I want to stay active as long as possible. I haven't defined what that means. I like working, I like sport, I like my family. What I do fulfils me, and some days it drives me up the wall. I want to keep going.
I have a wife and four children. I want to watch them thrive and help where I can.
What do you enjoy outside work?
Sport, above all. Golf, badminton, squash, tennis. A hockey game now and then. I ride a motorbike and I like driving in general. On holiday I'd always rather take the car.
And I love time with my kids. At their age they're less keen on time with me. I'm hoping that comes back around.
Advice to your younger self?
Listen more. Two ears, one mouth.
