Vladimir Mladenov was just 16 years old when he and a friend pooled their savings and created their first business — an online shop for ergonomic pillows. The business failed, but the lessons they learned were invaluable. Vladimir also discovered that his entrepreneurial ambitions were informed not by an interest in money-making but by an entrepreneurial spirit — a desire to tackle social problems with entrepreneurial means.
This is how a year later he and his teammates in the entrepreneurship incubator Teenovator ended up working on an initiative to enhance young Bulgarians’ financial literacy.
“We found that the best time to start building a financial culture — or knowledge of money and money management — is in high school. This is when people start getting their first money. If people learn money management at the age of 14–19, they will have that knowledge for life.”
Vladimir, who is a few weeks shy of his nineteenth birthday, thinks that every Bulgarian citizen should have access to financial literacy training. “I believe that it is possible to have a Bulgaria where people know what they are doing when they apply for a bank loan and where people buy cars they can actually afford,” he says.
His team’s idea received financing from UniCredit Bulbank and was awarded a prize at the Teenovator final in June 2022.
In an interview for the America for Bulgaria Foundation’s newsletter, Vladimir spoke to us about his entrepreneurial intentions, about mentorship, and about his active stance on social issues.
America for Bulgaria Foundation: What prompted you to participate in a mentorship program with an entrepreneurial focus?
Vladimir Mladenov: I would like to be an entrepreneur, to create something with my own two hands that is beneficial both for its makers and for society. I feel this is my calling.
I had two goals when I signed up for Teenovator. Having mentors sounded quite intriguing to me — being able to work every week with people who have experience, who have built businesses, who have been on the path that I want to pursue. Second, I wanted to find a good idea for a business and meet people with similar interests and mindset.
ABF: Tell us about the project you and your teammates worked on.
V.M.: “Pandora Box: Mission Financial Freedom” is a financial literacy project targeting 14- to 19-year-olds. Poor financial management is a general problem in Bulgaria. We found that the best time to start building a financial culture — or knowledge of money and money management — is in high school. This is when people start getting their first money. Before the age of 16, people cannot work here, but they still get pocket money. They may want to buy something but not know how to save for it. After they turn 16, many people start working and don’t know what to do with the money they earn.
People need to be familiar with some basic financial concepts — how banks work, how to invest in the long term, in a retirement fund at the very least, and what interest rates, recession, and inflation are.
If people learn money management at the age of 14–19, they will have that knowledge for life. There are some very important things that are missing from our education system.
I believe that it is possible to have a Bulgaria where people know what they are doing when they apply for a bank loan and where people buy cars they can actually afford.
We felt that this is a social problem and must be solved free of charge. There are state-supported financial literacy classes in other countries; in Bulgaria, the closest we get to that is civic education.
We address this problem with classes and seminars, both theoretical and practical. We had a three-step development plan: we would begin with one school, then expand to several more; we would start in Sofia and then go national. We would partner with the ministry of education so that we could get into schools and with financial experts who can present the content in an engaging way. We had ideas about developing cards and interactive board games. This way people are more engaged and learn things more easily.
Because our project addresses a social problem, we entered it in the state-run competition in civic education last year.
ABF: What was the most important lesson you learned through Teenovator?
V.M.: Teenovator taught me a lot. You get to meet like-minded people, people with similar ideas and vision of how they want to live their lives.
A very important thing you learn in Teenovator is persistence and discipline. The program lasts a whole year, and you have team meetings every week. I’ve had to wake up at 6 in the morning because the group can only meet on a certain day. We had a meeting on Christmas day. It gets harder after that as you need to prepare for the final pitch in front of investors, in a 400-person hall, where you have to sell your idea, whether it’s social entrepreneurship or a straight-up business idea.
Being able to sell and present your ideas to people is very important, whether you go into entrepreneurship, medicine, engineering, politics, or anything else.
ABF: What did you take away from your interaction with your mentors?
V.M.: What I learned from our mentors is how to identify problems and look for potential solutions. Because of their considerable experience in business, they know what to do and what not to do when working with people. They helped us assign roles in the team, because people struggle to find their role in the beginning. They’re like training wheels on a bicycle — something that balances us and allows us to learn something we can’t do on our own yet. They give us such an incredible boost.
ABF: You are active and involved with the world around you. Is being engaged important to you, and if yes, why?
V.M.: Sooner or later, a person will start showing an interest in public affairs — whether because of work, because of the environment they live in, or because they are unhappy about something in it. The sooner this happens, the better.
I follow what is happening in the world because I find it important to be aware of things. At the very least, you should know what is going on locally, where you live. If you don’t, you will be much easier to manipulate.
I have many friends who will cast their votes in the elections this year without knowing the parties they are voting for, their political platforms, or the people in them and their history. In my opinion, people’s lack of interest and involvement is a huge problem. I signed up to be a poll observer. This is my second time voting and first time taking a more active role.
ABF: Do you have a favorite thought?
V.M.: There’s a saying from the House of Cards series: “If you don’t like how the table is set, turn over the table.” That is, if something is bad, you can always improve it. This is true of everything. Thinking that every problem has a solution makes things much easier.
ABF: What past or contemporary public figure would you want to be mentored by?
V.M.: John F. Kennedy. I truly admire him and have given at least two school presentations about him. He’s an icon both in the US and around the world, and his accomplishments are really impressive and not just in politics.
ABF: What’s your favorite school subject?
V.M.: I think history was my favorite subject. My history teacher succeeded in making me sit down and read history in my spare time.
ABF: Where do you see yourself in five years?
V.M.: I see myself having just completed my master’s degree.
ABF: And then on to entrepreneurial success?
V.M.: I want to build my own business, but, more than anything else, what drives me is an entrepreneurial spirit. I want to be able to say, when I turn 40 one day and look back, that I created something with my own two hands and that I gave jobs to people.
The America for Bulgaria Foundation promotes youth development through support for initiatives like Teenovator.