How I became an entrepreneur at 66 | Paul Tasner

Prevoditelj: Sanda L Recezent: Ivan Stamenković

I'd like to take you back about seven years in my life.

Vratit ću vas sedam godina mog života unatrag.

Friday afternoon,

Petak popodne,

a few days before Christmas 2009,

nekoliko dana prije Božića 2009. godine,

I was the director of operations

bio sam direktor poslova

at a consumer products company in San Francisco,

u kompaniji za proizvode široke potrošnje u San Franciscu

and I was called into a meeting that was already in progress.

i pozvali su me na sastanak koji je već bio u tijeku.

That meeting turned out to be my exit interview.

Ispalo je da je to bio razgovor o mom odlasku.

I was fired, along with several others.

Otpušten sam, kao i još neki.

I was 64 years old at the time.

Imao sam tada 64 godine.

It wasn't completely unexpected.

Nije to bilo posve neočekivano.

I signed a stack of papers,

Potpisao sam hrpu papira,

gathered my personal effects,

pokupio svoje stvari

and left to join my wife

i otišao do svoje žene

who was waiting for me at a nearby restaurant,

koja me čekala u obližnjem restoranu,

completely unaware.

posve zatečena.

Fast-forward several hours,

Nekoliko sati kasnije,

we both got really silly drunk.

oboje smo bili zaista pijani.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

So, 40 plus years of continuous employment

Znači, 40 i nešto godina stalnog zaposlenja

for a variety of companies, large and small,

u raznim tvrtkama, velikim i malim,

was over.

za mene je završilo.

I had a good a network, a good reputation --

Znao sam puno ljudi, imao dobar ugled,

I thought I'd be just fine.

mislio sam da će sve biti dobro.

I was an engineer in manufacturing and packaging,

Bio sam inženjer u proizvodnji i ambalaži.

I had a good background.

Imao sam prijašnjeg iskustva.

Retirement was, like for so many people,

Umirovljenje za mene, kao i za mnoge druge,

simply not an option for me,

jednostavno nije dolazilo u obzir.

so I turned to consulting for the next couple of years

Stoga sam se sljedećih nekoliko godina okrenuo savjetovanju

without any passion whatsoever.

bez apsolutno ikakve strasti.

And then an idea began to take root,

A tada se počela rađati ideja,

born from my concern for our environment.

kao rezultat moje brige za okoliš.

I wanted to build my own business,

Htio sam izgraditi vlastiti posao,

designing and manufacturing biodegradable packaging from waste --

dizajnirajući i proizvodeći biorazgradivu ambalažu od otpada -

paper, agricultural, even textile waste --

papira, poljoprivrednog, čak i tekstilnog otpada,

replacing the toxic, disposable plastic packaging

zamjenjujući toksičnu, jednokratnu plastičnu ambalažu,

to which we've all become addicted.

o kojoj smo svi postali ovisni.

This is called clean technology,

To se zove čista tehnologija

and it felt really meaningful to me.

i zaista mi je imala smisla.

A venture that could help to reduce the billions of pounds

Pothvat koji je mogao smanjiti milijune tona

of single-use plastic packaging dumped each year,

jednokratne plastične ambalaže koja se baci godišnje

and polluting our land, our rivers and our oceans,

zagađujući naše tlo, rijeke i oceane,

and left for future generations to resolve --

ostavljene na brigu budućim naraštajima,

our grandchildren,

našim unucima,

my grandchildren.

mojim unucima.

And so now at the age of 66,

I tako sam u 66. godini života

with 40 years of experience,

i 40-ogodišnjim iskustvom,

I became an entrepreneur for the very first time.

po prvi puta postao poduzetnik.

(Cheers)

(Klicanje)

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

But there's more.

Ima još.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

Lots of issues to deal with:

Mnogo je tu stvari koje morate riješiti:

manufacturing, outsourcing, job creation,

proizvodnja, vanjski suradnici, otvaranje radnih mjesta,

patents, partnerships, funding --

patenti, partnerstva, financiranje,

these are all typical issues for a start-up,

sve su to tipični izazovi za start-up,

but hardly typical for me.

ali nikako tipični za mene.

And a word about funding.

Par riječi i o financiranju.

I live and work in San Francisco,

Živim i radim u San Franciscu

and if you're looking for funding,

i ako tražite izvore financiranja,

you are typically going to compete with some very young people

obično se natječete s vrlo mladim ljudima

from the high-tech industry,

iz tehnološke industrije,

and it can be very discouraging and intimidating.

što može biti vrlo obeshrabrujuće i zastrašujuće.

I have shoes older than most of these people.

Imam cipele koje su starije od većine tih ljudi.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

I do.

Zaista.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

But five years later,

No, pet godina kasnije,

I'm thrilled and proud to share with you

ushićen sam i ponosan što s vama mogu podijeliti

that our revenues have doubled every year,

da se naši prihodi udvostručuju svake godine,

we have no debt,

nemamo dugova,

we have several marquee clients,

imamo uglednih klijenata,

our patent was issued,

naš patent je izdan,

I have a wonderful partner

imam sjajnog partnera

who's been with me right from the beginning,

koji je sa mnom od samog početka

and we've won more than 20 awards for the work that we've done.

i osvojili smo više od 20 nagrada za svoj rad.

But best of all,

No, najbolje od svega,

we've made a small dent --

ostavili smo mali trag,

a very small dent --

vrlo maleni trag

in the worldwide plastic pollution crisis.

u rješavanju svjetske krize zagađenja plastikom.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

And I am doing the most rewarding and meaningful work of my life right now.

I upravo sada radim najispunjeniji i najsmisleniji posao svog života.

I can tell you there's lots of resources available to entrepreneurs of all ages,

Mnogo je dostupnih izvora za poduzetnike svih dobi,

but what I really yearned for five years ago

no, za čime sam zaista čeznuo prije pet godina,

was to find other first-time entrepreneurs

bilo je naći i druge nove poduzetnike

who were my age.

moje dobi.

I wanted to connect with them.

Htio sam se povezati s njima.

I had no role models, absolutely none.

Nisam imao niti jedan jedini uzor.

That 20-something app developer from Silicon Valley

Onaj 20-ogodišnji programer aplikacija iz Silicijske doline

was not my role model.

nije bio moj uzor.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

I'm sure he was very clever --

Sigurno je jako pametan.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

I want to do something about that,

Želim tu poduzeti nešto

i želim da svi poduzmemo nešto.

and I want all of us to do something about that.

I want us to start talking more

Želim da više razgovaramo

about people who don't become entrepreneurs until they are seniors.

o ljudima koji postaju poduzetnici tek u starijoj dobi.

Talking about these bold men and women who are checking in

Pričati o tim hrabrim muškarcima i ženama koji se uključuju,

when their peers, in essence, are checking out.

dok se njihovi vršnjaci, u biti, isključuju.

And then connecting all these people across industries, across regions,

A zatim povezivanje svih tih ljudi kroz razne industrije, regije,

across countries --

države,

building a community.

stvarajući zajednicu.

You know, the Small Business Administration tells us

Ljudi u administraciji za male tvrtke govore nam

that 64 percent of new jobs created in the private sector in the USA

da je 64% novih radnih mjesta u privatnom sektoru SAD-a

are thanks to small businesses like mine.

stvoreno zahvaljujući malim tvrtkama poput moje.

And who's to say that we'll stay forever small?

A tko kaže da ćemo zauvijek i ostati mali?

We have an interesting culture

Imamo zanimljivu kulturu

koja zaista očekuje da kada ste određene dobi,

that really expects when you reach a certain age,

you're going to be golfing, or playing checkers,

samo igrate golf ili društvene igre,

ili čuvate unuke cijelo vrijeme.

or babysitting the grandkids all of the time.

And I adore my grandchildren --

Ja obožavam svoje unuke...

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

and I'm also passionate

ali isto tako obožavam

about doing something meaningful in the global marketplace.

raditi nešto što ima smisla na globalnom tržištu.

And I'm going to have lots of company.

I imat ću mnogo društva za druženje.

Ured za popis stanovništva kaže da će do 2050. godine

The Census Bureau says that by 2050,

there will be 84 million seniors in this country.

u ovoj zemlji biti 84 milijuna ljudi starije dobi.

That's an amazing number.

To je nevjerojatan broj.

That's almost twice as many as we have today.

To je gotovo dvostruko više nego danas.

Can you imagine how many first-time entrepreneurs there will be

Možete li zamisliti koliko će biti novih poduzetnika

among 84 million people?

među tih 84 milijuna ljudi?

And they'll all have four decades of experience.

I svi će imati četiri desetljeća iskustva.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

So when I say, "Let's start talking more about these wonderful entrepreneurs,"

I kada kažem da počnemo više govoriti o tim predivnim poduzetnicima,

I mean, let's talk about their ventures,

mislim da pričamo o njihovim poduhvatima,

just as we do the ventures of their much younger counterparts.

kao što pričamo i o poduhvatima onih mnogo mlađih od njih.

The older entrepreneurs in this country have a 70 percent success rate

Stariji poduzetnici u ovoj zemlji imaju stopu uspjeha od 70%

starting new ventures.

u novom poslovnom poduhvatu.

70 percent success rate.

Stopa uspjeha od 70%.

We're like the Golden State Warriors of entrepreneurs --

Pa mi smo poput Golden State Warriorsa među poduzetnicima.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

And that number plummets to 28 percent for younger entrepreneurs.

A ova brojka pada na samo 28% za mlade poduzetnike.

This is according to a UK-based group called CMI.

Ovo je prema podacima britanske grupacije CMI.

Aren't the accomplishments of a 70-year-old entrepreneur

Jesu li postignuća 70-ogodišnjeg poduzetnika

every bit as meaningful,

jednako značajna,

every bit as newsworthy,

jednako vrijedna objave,

as the accomplishments of a 30-year-old entrepreneur?

kao postignuća nekog 30-ogodišnjeg poduzetnika?

Of course they are.

Naravno da jesu.

That's why I'd like to make the phrase "70 over 70" just as --

Zato bih se izrazio, "70 iznad 70"

(Smijeh)

(Laughter)

just as commonplace as the phrase "30 under 30."

uobičajeno je kao i izraz "30 ispod 30".

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Cheers)

(Klicanje)

(Applause)

(Pljesak)