JAKUB CHMIELNIAK

I build things.

Companies, brands, products, teams — and increasingly, ideas about what should exist next.

I started in e-commerce and fashion and expanded into manufacturing, marketing, technology and investing. Today, I am involved in businesses including Carpatree, Basiclo, Mr. Gugu, DDOB and Quant.

I have always been an operator first. I enjoy taking an idea from zero to something real: understanding the product, finding distribution, building the organization and staying close enough to the details to know why it works.

Over the past 15 years, the companies I have built have sold millions of products around the world and employed hundreds of people.

Building companies taught me that organizations ultimately depend on people: their judgment, ambition, responsibility and ability to act.

I am interested not only in building teams, but in developing the next generation of leaders — people who can think independently, take responsibility and make good decisions in an increasingly complex world.

The same attraction to difficult, long-term projects extends beyond work.

I run, climb mountains and compete in endurance sports. I have completed multiple Ironman, ultra races and marathons.

Business and endurance sport have taught me much the same lesson:

Business is only one part of what interests me.

What kind of civilization are we building?

Technology gives us more power, but not necessarily better judgment. Progress should be measured not only by what we can build, but by the kind of people and societies we create.

That is why I think about education, culture, institutions and technology — and how they shape human agency, freedom of thought and responsibility.

I believe strong civilizations depend on people who can think independently, question prevailing assumptions and take responsibility for the world around them.

Technology has transformed what humans can do. The harder question is what we will choose to do with it.