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00:00:00
00:00:01
And so I said to myself “Whatever I do next, I want to work in a place where there's a longer term horizon of doing things.”
159 Plays1 year ago
The company I was working for, we were so extremely short-term focused and we almost changed strategy every three months, we were literally throwing money out of the window, just to get customers’ market share, and somehow it didn't feel right to me. I didn't have the financial understanding to really put a calculator to it, and then the company also literally almost went bankrupt at the end of the 3 years and so I said, you know somehow this cannot be right, you can't run a business with such a short-term horizon.
20 YEARS IN PERSPECTIVE:
Going to INSEAD, I had two clear views in my mind - I wanted to work for a family owned, or a privately held business that offered me a real international career.
Altogether 9 years abroad, we came back to Holland, a family of 5, which was probably the hardest move we ever did, going back to what you thought was home.
I'm still with SHV, almost twenty years, I am on my ninth or tenth job at the moment. I've worked in cash & carry retail, switched to the energy division, liquefied gas, I've been on the board of SHV, and now I am CEO of Nutreco, which is one of the global leaders in animal nutrition.
ON TOPIC: Fossil fuels, energy transition, agriculture, animal nutrition, sustainability
Energy transition is probably one of the 2 or 3 large transitions that we are going through and that we will have to go through.
We really started to drive, I would say, a twofold course towards sustainability: 1) we set the goal to become a fully sustainable, so a fully renewable provider of LPG. And the second leg is to provide other sources of energy, like solar energy.
I've had my fair share of industry conferences, where there's on the one hand a group of companies that really wants to change; there's also a group of companies that are either in denial, or that they cling on to vested interests, or they see no need, or they see no opportunity. And so that brings tension, but I think it also can bring a lot of creativity
“You know, we are about to launch the first totally renewable LPG in the world”
This is why in-person education cannot be replicated in another form
The purpose of our company is feeding the future
Agriculture is responsible for about 25% of all emissions in the world.
The system that we have today is so super-efficient, for any new technology it is really challenging at the start to beat those economies of scale.
We're trying to really work on creating more sustainable solutions for current farming practices and at the same time we are investing and there I dare to say we're at the forefront of our industry. We're investing also in creating feed for lab grown meat.
That is an industry that, in the next 5 to 10 years will start to grow and I think once it starts growing it will grow exponentially.
Where we now provide nutrition to animals, we would then provide nutrition to cells. These cells, they need to eat, and so we provide, what we know about feeding an animal is pretty useful to feed a cell.
All THINGS INSEAD AND GIVING BACK
Life is about learning, earning, returning and I didn't want to wait with returning until I stopped earning.
INSEAD for me has been – firstly, it was an amazing year to be together with such a great energy, I don't think I've ever seen the positive energy around me that was there during that year. People were so motivated, people were in for fun, people were in for serious things, creative ideas, the international dynamics. But it also really helped me make a jump in my career. I'm honestly convinced that I wouldn't be where I am today without INSEAD.
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Transcript
Introduction to the Republic of INSEAD
00:00:00
Speaker
This is Republic of Insead, the 20 years later O3D podcast edition. I am Milena Ivanova and will be your host in this limited series. So, here we are, 20 years later, hopefully all the wiser, naturally smarter and as charming as ever. There were 432 of us in the O3D vintage.
00:00:25
Speaker
And certainly there are 432 unique and very interesting personal and professional stories to tell. While I cannot physically cover all, I have tried to make a selection of stories that will keep you interested and curious and will hopefully convince you to join us on campus for reunion. Welcome to the Republic of Insead Podcast Edition and enjoy the show.
00:00:50
Speaker
Here we are. Hello again. Let's see how many of you know who my guest today is from just hearing his 20-year-old entry in the Republic of Inseat.
Guest Introduction and Personal Anecdotes
00:01:00
Speaker
I open quotations.
00:01:02
Speaker
He had a hard time during the first two periods, not because of the workload, but because of his seat allocation. Being the tallest guy in our section assigned a seat in the very front row of Amfidi, he had to crouch down during classes to make sure that he neither blocks the view of others sitting behind him nor hit the professor with his long legs.
00:01:28
Speaker
This will serve co-op from Amsterdam once a varsity-filled hockey gatekeeper with a telephone background is an arm-hearted team builder who can put things into perspective. Throughout the year, we witnessed his multiple talents from Mark Stratt, he was basically the only one in our group able to run the software, serious beer drinking, and to even occasionally modeling.
00:01:55
Speaker
Check page 5 of the MBA program 2004 brochure. Here is a guy who managed to explore the full spectrum of INSEAD life. Hey, so front row. I had a front row seat and loved it actually, but then again, I did not have your problems with long legs and all that. So where do you sit these days? You have a proper seat.
00:02:19
Speaker
I tried to have a proper seat and the good thing is I'm no longer the tallest in my house anymore. My son overtook me a year ago, which was a cheerful moment at the first time and then he figured out that he will have soon the same problem that I had an MVD, which I had already forgotten about, but he's dealing with it. So how tall are you and how tall is your son? I think I'm 196 and my son, I think, has exceeded two meters. I hope he stops growing.
Career Journey and International Experiences
00:02:49
Speaker
Well, OK, and so welcome to the podcast, Mr. If I may, one more observation. First, I learned the new word today. It will serve for for anyone who's not a new Seattle alumni. You'd have no clue, but that's an amazing village or was it the community? It was a bunch of houses.
00:03:13
Speaker
they'll serve. And amazingly for me, so you tell me what's the secret, because I've ended up talking to a lot of people from they'll serve in the podcast. And a lot of those serve people have ended up doing crazy, interesting things. So I don't know what they did to you there, or was it the community and inspiration, but there you go. So other than that, where do we begin? Should we start with the last 20 years in a nutshell?
00:03:42
Speaker
Yeah, up to you have five minutes. I'm timing it. All right. That's gonna be gonna be stretch We'll give it a try nonetheless. So the last 20 years after insyad I married my Then girlfriend now wife Manette She visited me a number of times during the year and pretty soon after marriage we we moved to the Philippines and
00:04:07
Speaker
where I joined a company called SHV, a large Dutch family owned conglomerate. And going into INSEAD, I wanted to, I had two clear views in my mind. I wanted to work for a family owned or a privately held business that offered me a real international career, including STINs abroad. And they promised me that and they delivered big time. So we moved to the Philippines, the two of us, our son was born there.
00:04:33
Speaker
I worked for a cash and carry wholesale, so a retailer in the Philippines. Spent two years there, then we moved to Germany, which basically is going from one end of the chaos spectrum to the other end of the chaos spectrum, I would say. We moved to Dresden, and another Vilsarff person, Chris Larmore, told me to really not move to Dresden, because if you want to die young, go to Dresden.
00:05:02
Speaker
Nonetheless, we survived there. We lived there for two years. Our second child, our daughter, was born there. Then we moved on to Prague, where we lived for three years, where our youngest was born. Then on to China, where we didn't have any children. So we stuck to the national policy of no more children.
00:05:27
Speaker
And then so altogether nine years abroad we came back to Holland family of five which was probably the hardest move we ever did going back to what you thought was home, but we had changed the country had changed and Yeah, it was pretty rough settling in I think for my wife and me but having gotten through that we're super happy where we are today and
00:05:51
Speaker
Kids are doing really well. My wife is working again, so she gave up her job to go into the international venture with me together. So she's back at work. She really loves that. And I'm still with SAD, so almost 20 years old.
Leadership at Nutreco and Industry Insights
00:06:10
Speaker
I'm in my, I think, ninth or tenth job at the moment. I've worked, like I said, in cash and carry retail. After that, I switched to the energy.
00:06:19
Speaker
division of SHV, it's liquefied gas. I worked in that business for about nine years. I've been in the board of SHV and then two years ago, I felt it was for me the right time to go back into really managing a business operationally. And I now am CEO of Nutreco, which is one of the global leaders in animal nutrition.
00:06:44
Speaker
So we provide feed to animals that are used for human consumption, predominantly. And I'm loving it to be back in the action, so to say, running a business with my own team.
00:06:57
Speaker
in a fascinating industry that is going through turbulent times. Yeah, and you'll tell us more about this. But what would you say were the biggest challenges and you're doing amazing on time, score points, a lot of champagne. What were the biggest challenges or the biggest challenge of these 20 years for you?
00:07:18
Speaker
Well, so I think firstly, on the personal side, settling in, finding solid ground under your feet. So every time we moved, even like I said, moving back to the Netherlands. So setting up and in all fairness, I think the bulk of that was done by Nanette.
00:07:41
Speaker
I was very often off to work, but settling in, finding your rhythm, building a network, making friends, and all that while we were having young children with their exciting challenges that they bring as well. So I think that was probably among the challenges, and then work-wise.
00:08:10
Speaker
adjusting to a local culture. From the Philippines to Germany was a major switch for me from a very hierarchical situation where people only look at the boss to make decisions and then everyone says yes, but in the implementation everyone does something else.
00:08:32
Speaker
Whereas in Germany, people spend a lot of time talking about getting to a decision, but once a decision is made, typically it moves. So I'm not sure whether one is a faster process than the other, but you spend time at different ends of the process. Very different, yeah. And a place like China, I mean, it was a fascinating experience. I really look back at it with a lot of fun, but also super complex. I mean, you don't speak the language. I didn't read the language.
00:08:59
Speaker
you're asked to sign documents where you have basically no idea what the document really says. So yeah, those were, I think, my key challenges during the way. Yeah, that's scary. So how do you deal with that? Do you really, really have to trust the person who's interpreting the legal counsel? Yeah, yeah. So I mean, on that specifically, we had a process. So it was a six eye process for things that I needed to sign. So we had
00:09:27
Speaker
Two people looking at the making sure that the translation was indeed what the original text said But yeah indeed in communicating and working with with people who did not speak English With me not speaking Mandarin I was very dependent and had to rely on and trust indeed people who helped me helped me translate but I've bumped my head a few times and
00:09:53
Speaker
But for the most of it, I was lucky to have extremely good and trustworthy people around. Yeah. So you said you consciously went into, you wanted to be in a private company. Yeah. What was your thinking at the time? Well, I joined, so I studied law. So, I mean, I really, I couldn't even figure out the four P's in marketing. Yet I started in marketing in, in mobile telecoms. That was my first job.
00:10:23
Speaker
in that period. So the years before INSEAD were not many people, not as many people as today had a mobile phone, but a lot of people wanted to have one. So it was a fantastic place to be if you're marketing with the risk of thinking you were a really good marketeer because you were selling a lot. But it was also the time that at least the company I was working for, we were so extremely short term focused.
00:10:49
Speaker
We almost changed strategy every three months. We were literally throwing money out of the window.
00:10:58
Speaker
just to get customers market share and somehow it didn't feel right to me. I didn't have the financial understanding to really put a calculator to it. And then the company also literally almost went bankrupt at the end of the three years. And so I said, you know, somehow this cannot be right. You can't run a business with such a short term horizon.
00:11:22
Speaker
And so I said to myself, whatever I do next, I want to work in a place where there's a longer term horizon of doing things. And when I when I joined that company, it still had an international exposure and
00:11:35
Speaker
when it almost went bankrupt, the first thing they did rightfully so was get rid of all the sort of positions abroad. So also my international window was closed. So I was really looking for a non listed environment, which promised me an international career. And yeah, like I said, SHV very much did.
00:11:55
Speaker
Very interesting. You know, I was talking with Bill and Brandt, who's also a guest on the show and who's Dutch. And he was telling me about Paul Pullman at Unilever. And I knew nothing about him. And then I was at Instia at last weekend, and Paul Pullman was speaking to us. And then at some point, he says, when I came to Unilever, I abolished the quarterly reporting.
00:12:17
Speaker
Yeah, which to me was like, I used to be an equity analyst, I used to cover public equities. And I'm like, this takes beyond balls to for a public company and for public companies to actually abolish quarterly reporting, but it's all the sense in the world, even even half year is, you know, like, as you say, things change. And
00:12:41
Speaker
in any case, so I totally get it. And this is interesting because we'll talk later about sustainability and all that, but in terms of business as a force for good or business that moves the needle on bigger problems than just the total results, it resonates very much.
Sustainability in Fossil Fuels and Animal Nutrition
00:12:58
Speaker
So yeah, there you go. So, so to go into the industries and here you mentioned animal nutrition is your current one. Yeah.
00:13:09
Speaker
but I also touch on fossil fuels. I made both of them because you've been in both and we also have an INSEAD connection in the fossil fuels, an INSEAD story. So let's start.
00:13:25
Speaker
Pick one of them and let's start with it and where it's been, where it's going in whichever order. But these are the two animal nutrition fossil fuels and of course sustainability in both. I'll start in fossil fuels, which is the industry I've spent most of my career in. About 11 years. So like I said, I worked for SHV Energy.
00:13:52
Speaker
They are one of the largest companies in the world in liquefied petroleum gas, which is a byproduct of oil refining and of gas exploration. And it's typically used for off-grid to provide energy to people and companies that are off the natural gas grid.
00:14:16
Speaker
You will not see typically in large cities, particularly not in Western countries, but in the countryside, whether that is in France or in the UK or in the US, people would typically have a tank outside of their home and they would use it to provide energy to heat their homes for cooking, etc.
00:14:35
Speaker
And so that is, it's a fossil fuel. But for those areas, it's often the most sustainable or the least polluting fuel available because the alternative is very often heating oil. Obviously for electric power, solar is increasingly an alternative. But to heat homes in those places, very often electricity will not cut.
00:15:01
Speaker
And so I've worked in the business for a long time. I was CEO for three years of the group, and we really started to drive, I would say, a two-fold course towards sustainability. One, we set the goal to become a fully renewable provider of LPG. So we were the first to launch
00:15:29
Speaker
a fully renewable version of LPG, so chemically the same atoms, but produced from food waste and other parts. And the second leg is to provide other sources of energy like solar energy to our clients. And so an industry which was already in transition, and I think energy transition is probably one of the
00:15:54
Speaker
two or three large transitions that we are going through and that we will have to go through. And so I've had my fair share of also industry conferences where there's on the one hand a group of companies that really wants to change. There's also a group of companies that are either in denial or that they cling on to vested interest or they see no need or they see no opportunity.
00:16:20
Speaker
And so that brings tension, but I think it also brings, it can bring a lot of creativity to look for ways to provide people with energy in a much more sustainable way. So that has been a fascinating time to be here. And at some point,
00:16:40
Speaker
You actually gave the idea to chris larmore who you already mentioned Yeah, there you go. The will serve connection. Oh, yeah, you know crazy. So
00:16:52
Speaker
the the fuel they chose for the rocket at orbex is a fuel that You suggested. Yeah, my understanding. What's this? Yeah, yeah from your side I know it from chris and people that heard it by now. It was well, let's see if see if the stories match up exactly, but so chris and I we were roommates in future and um
00:17:17
Speaker
He introduced me into the concept of a spud gun, which was sort of a plastic tube in which you injected some deodorant spray. And then with a spark plug, you would put a spud potato in there and you could actually launch it for about, I don't know, 50 to 100 meters. So our objective was to, we were in Upper Vilsurf and we wanted to shoot it to Lower Vilsurf across the road. And we actually were quite successful. It became increasingly dangerous when we started using golf balls.
00:17:48
Speaker
And I'll leave away the story about the pyrotechnics, which was more my specialty. But so we started with a spot gun. And then later on, I remember coming home one day from school and then Chris was outside with it wasn't a blowtorch. I don't know what the name is, but he was trying to really build a rocket. So his ambitions clearly were far beyond the spuds at that time.
00:18:10
Speaker
And so, I don't know, we were in contact a number of years ago and we were talking about what he was doing now and he was working on Orbex. And so, initially I couldn't stop laughing thinking back of the spot gun and him with his rocket attempt outside her house. And we were talking about the fuel and it said it needs to be light and they were already thinking about LPG, that it would be, apparently I'd never thought of this
00:18:38
Speaker
before, but apparently it brings a lot of benefits in weight if you build a rocket that you use LPG. And I said to him at that point in time, you know, we are about to launch the first totally renewable LPG in the world. And then very quickly, you add one in one, he said, wouldn't it be fantastic if you build a light rocket that is also the only sort of sustainable rocket in the world, because I think all the other rocket fuel typically is fossil.
00:19:03
Speaker
And for me it was at that time also a really nice way to give some extra media attention to what we were doing in an area which is totally outside of anyone's expectations. Typically this is used like I said for cooking and heating at home and not for a rocket. So it gave I think Chris and Orbeck a good opportunity to find
00:19:27
Speaker
differentiating angle to what they were doing. And it gave us a really nice opportunity also to put some media attention on what we were doing. So really, really cool that that worked out. So you never you never know where a spot gun leads to. Well, there you go. And it's another reason why it just makes me think now, this is why in person education cannot be replicated in another form. Because were you not in the same house?
00:19:56
Speaker
sharing right this is like it's easy, but all the implications that this has it's I love these stories, but Yeah, so okay, and then animal nutrition, which is of course well farming Is a major pollutant right a major problem in terms of arable land and in terms of just sustainability So where do you come into that?
00:20:22
Speaker
So the purpose of our company is feeding the future. And that is really something that drives me and the 11,000 people working in our company to make sure we have solutions to provide the population that is and will grow to 10 billion in a way that doesn't totally destroy the plant we live in. And so I need agriculture is responsible
00:20:52
Speaker
depending a little bit on how you measure it, for about 25% of all emissions in the world. That has to do with emissions of farming and the animals within it. It has to do with emissions on the side of the raw materials, deforestation. There's a biodiversity challenge. So there's a lot of negative impacts that this has. And at the same time,
00:21:17
Speaker
We need nutritious food, affordable food for people across the world. And we are, I think, one of the links in the whole food system that can provide part of the solution. And we cannot provide the whole solution, but by coming up with new and innovative ingredients that drive more efficient ways of producing meat or fish,
00:21:44
Speaker
by coming up with ingredients that reduce the negative externalities by working with suppliers on finding new ingredients and more sustainable ingredients. I mean, that is really where we spend a lot of R&D on to work on those kinds of solutions. And also here, like in the fossil fuel industry that I was in, I see very similar behavior. So you see the evangelists that really
00:22:11
Speaker
look for ways to do things differently and you see vested interests and you also see that the system that we have today is so super efficient that for any new technology it is really challenging at the start to beat those economies of scale but then again if you look at where solar is today and where solar was a few decades ago it will happen and so we really try to be
00:22:41
Speaker
at the forefront of things, not only it's similar to what we tried to do when I was in the LPG business. So we're trying to really work on creating more sustainable solutions for current farming practices. And at the same time, we are investing and there I dare to say we're at the forefront of our industry. We're investing also in creating feed for lab grown meat, so for cultured meat.
00:23:10
Speaker
which is an industry where there's a lot of investment going on. Actually, this week, two companies got approval in the US for their cultured meat products to also be sold to humans. And that is an industry that in the next five to 10 years will start to grow. And I think once it starts growing, it will grow exponentially. I don't think it will ever wipe away traditional farming.
00:23:36
Speaker
But it is a fantastic add-on solution with a lot of benefits compared to the way we farm today. Animal welfare benefits, but also on the emissions and use of water. There are huge benefits there.
00:23:51
Speaker
But so if we go to lab-produced meat, where in the chain is your business then? What do you provide to this? So where we now provide nutrition to animals, we would then provide nutrition to cells. And so we have invested in two companies. One is producing lab-grown burgers called Moza Meat.
00:24:18
Speaker
Another company is called Blue Nalu. They're trying to do, they are doing the same for Juna. So they're really aiming for sort of the sashimi type. And these cells, they need to eat. And so we provide, what we know about feeding an animal is pretty useful to feed a cell. And so we are working with them. So we invest in them with the objective to build an R&D collaboration. And so we have our people working with their people
00:24:47
Speaker
on testing, experimenting, creating the right feed for cells. And this is a critical component for this industry to become cost competitive. Today they use ingredients coming out of the pharma industry, which are a factor 80 to 200, too expensive. And so that is what we're trying to crack. And does it require a different type of scientist in your R&D department?
00:25:18
Speaker
For now, we've started using the people we have and we've come quite a long way. We are now looking into attracting a few people that have more pharma backgrounds, who have just more experience in running what we call growth media development.
00:25:37
Speaker
which is a new area for us. And if we can combine that with the knowledge that we have of feeding animals, I think we could have something very valuable. Very interesting, very interesting. So, all right, that's food. Are you still eating steak?
00:25:59
Speaker
I am. Not as much as I was, though, but that's more on my wife, I think. There you go. All right. So if we can switch gears and go to the INSEAD connection, well, we've talked quite a bit about INSEAD already, or the connections, but other than Chris Larmore being your housemate, what other ways has INSEAD been part of your journey, people working for you or with you, friendships, et cetera, et cetera?
00:26:29
Speaker
So in all honesty, I've lost touch quite a bit with the INSHAT community after leaving the Netherlands. In countries where I worked, I've connected to local INSHAT networks every now and then. Having come back, it was I think last year, two years ago, we had sort of a reunion of the Dutch people from our class.
00:26:55
Speaker
It also shows that we've become old because it became a walk the dog club. So things have changed 20 years onwards. But so I almost I've lost touch a little bit with with most of the people there. I've met a few people once or twice, but not so much anymore.
00:27:14
Speaker
Well, but it hasn't prevented you from giving back. So if you can talk about this, so you're a bronze salamander, which means giving at the 15 K plus level over the last 20
Giving Back to INSEAD and Personal Reflections
00:27:29
Speaker
years. And in fact, you've given 13 of the last 20 years, which we only have one person who's given 16, a couple of 14. So you are
00:27:39
Speaker
Up there, up there. So it's consistency as well and discipline. I don't know if that's the German or the Chinese. But how do you think about giving back? So in general and in Seattle in particular? So in general, I've always learned life is about learning, earning, returning. And I think in the past, it was also sort of in that sequence.
00:28:12
Speaker
I didn't want to sort of wait with returning until I stopped earning. I think me and my family were in a fortunate situation to be able to do the things we like.
00:28:26
Speaker
And there's a lot of people that can use a bit of support here or there. So there's several things I do in the bucket returning and INSEAD is one of them. I mean, INSEAD for me has been, I mean, firstly, it was an amazing year to be together with such a great energy. I mean, I don't think I've ever had seen the energy
00:28:48
Speaker
positive energy around me that was there during that year. People were so motivated, people were in for fun, people were in for serious things, creative ideas, the international dynamics. But it also really helped me make a jump in my career. I mean, I'm honestly convinced that I wouldn't be where I am today without INSEAD. Even though the Florida University accounting professor
00:29:14
Speaker
mishap along the way. I still think I'm pretty good at understanding a balance sheet today and I wouldn't have been without Insian. So I started giving, I wasn't aware that it was 13 out of 20 years, but I started giving quite regularly and during Covid I upped my commitment. I got a call
00:29:40
Speaker
in the early days when everyone was trying to save the world. So I think they also hit me in an emotional moment, very easily on board then. But like I said, I truly believe that business can be a force for good. And I think we need business to be a force for good. And so if our endowment can help people from backgrounds that cannot afford to go and do a year like this themselves,
00:30:05
Speaker
then I think that is a fantastic way of helping others, but also of creating a return for the world, basically. In a way, we are reinvesting in our own equity, right? Yeah. If one wants to be selfish, obviously. The big story, the greatest story is amazing with INSEAD.
00:30:29
Speaker
Thank you for that and thank you for the generosity. It makes my life easier. Last bit, which is the quick round of questions, if you are ready to start. So your proudest achievement. Establishing and raising a family together with Nanette in so many different countries and still being married happily with her and with the kids. Success for you is? Success for me is
00:30:59
Speaker
winning with a team in balance with a good situation at home and spending a bit of time on my own hobbies every now and then. Happiness is? Yeah, so happiness is really being together with my friends or family and spending a bit of time kitesurfing here on the North Sea just five minutes from my house. Biggest regret? Biggest regret is
00:31:27
Speaker
I don't have many, but I think my biggest regret is that while we were abroad, I did not always see how tough this was for my wife. In hindsight, I should have supported her in a different way than I was doing at that time. What keeps you awake at night? Or you sleep well? There's very little that keeps me awake at night. I'm a very good sleeper. Excellent. Wish you had known or someone had told you.
00:31:57
Speaker
Whoo. That is a difficult one. Yeah, well, maybe some things about getting started in China. I wish I would have known a little bit more about what it takes to really blend in, but to really connect with the local culture. I figured it out eventually. How long did it take you? I think it took me, but I resisted some of the stuff for six to nine months.
00:32:26
Speaker
I said this cannot be real and then it turned out to be real and there was actually quite some alcohol involved in that. But once you break through, then I really loved working with the Chinese people. If you had to do it all over again, what would you change? Well, other than what I just said about being there in a different way for Nanette and not much, I've enjoyed the ride. Retirement ever, never?
00:32:54
Speaker
Yes, probably. There will come a time when I will retire from, I'd say, executive life. I'm not someone to sit still too much. I'll keep busy. When that is, I have no clue. If you had to pick one book everyone should read, which one would it be? Yeah. I would say The Storyteller by Pierre Girawan. He's a German from Lebanese origin. So fantastic.
00:33:21
Speaker
one of the few books that really, really hit me emotionally. Most of my public person. I thought about this one. I wouldn't pick a person, I would pick a team, which is the New Zealand All Blacks or rugby team. Even with my two miserable appearances in the INSEAD rugby team, I've become a big fan of watching the sport. I know very well I shouldn't participate in it.
00:33:48
Speaker
But I find it amazing that they for decades are at the top of the game globally. They managed to reinvent themselves. They're based on very strong values, teamwork, humility. I haven't seen it anywhere else. It's not really money driven like some of the football, but this is such a strong performance that if you can replicate this in business, you have a very strong winning combination.
00:34:16
Speaker
I picked out the humility in this thing you were saying, which is a rare quality and rare and successful. Absolutely. Most despised public person, if you have. I would say anyone in a position with influence that abuses it. And unfortunately, I think the last years in politics, we see people increasingly that that are just too much in it for themselves.
00:34:43
Speaker
and not for the people who either elected them or not managed to elect them out. And the last one, are you coming to Reunion?
Closing Remarks and Reunion Excitement
00:34:53
Speaker
Yes, I hope everyone has booked a room because it was pretty difficult to find rooms.
00:35:00
Speaker
But I'm definitely intent on coming. Super. So that's it. October 6th, 2023 in Fontainebleau. And the gala dinner is at the Chateau next day, Saturday, so people get your party shoes on. And this was a conversation for whoever didn't figure it out with Fouko van Lede, CEO of Nutreko. Thank you very much for your time, Fouko. And very happy I'll see you in Fontainebleau in October.
00:35:27
Speaker
Thank you, Melina, and thank you so much for organizing all of this. I hope it gets everyone really excited to go to the reunion. I hope so too. Thank you. All right. You were listening to the Republic of Incia 20 years later, O3D podcast edition. It is my hope to remind everyone what an interesting and dare I say colorful bunch of people we are and how much we can contribute to each other, be it through ideas, knowledge or mere inspiration.
00:35:56
Speaker
The podcast is inspired by the original Republic of India, the yearbook produced on paper 20 years ago by Oliver Bradley and team. Thank you all and team for this contribution to our classes memory and for letting me continue in the tradition, title and inspiration included. Creator and author of the Republic of India, 20 years later, all three deep podcast edition. Am I Milena Ivanova original music by Peter Dondakoff with help from their films productions.
00:36:25
Speaker
Stay tuned for more and remember to book your tickets for the 20-year reunion in Fontainebleau October 6th, 8th, 2023. Thank you for listening.