Important person doesnt like it doesnt mean its not happening. As investors look for emerging markets one of the underappreciated may be Eastern Europe. This is a look at a meeting at a Software Company in the Czech Republic. A recent mckinsy report says Czech Republic, hung gary, can all expect strong growth. Of course, all this comes in the midst of uncertain times, a russian president putting pressure on Eastern Europe and a u. S. President actively discouraging American Companies from looking for opportunity overseas. Vaclav muchna is willing to talk about it then theless. He grew up under communist rule. Joined by sarah lacy and park nu. Now, we can talk about Eastern Europe but you have to understand most of us slovenia and slovakia pretty much the same country. That is not an area of the world that americans are particularly familiar with. I mean, some people must say you are from czechoslovakia, right . Many do. How do you bring them up to speed on what is Eastern Europe these days . Well, the communist fall 20 years ago, a little bit over 20 years ago and so the thing is we had to build our economy from scratch. The first ten years it was about you could do everything being an entrepreneur because the market was empty. No rules. No rules. No private property before that, right, so you could do anything and you will become rich. Now, i say im from the Second Generation of entrepreneurs and sometimes i feel like, oh, my gosh, if i would be a little older so that i could start my business ten years ago it would be fantastic. At the same time the problem of this first generation is they are not competitive because the market was empty, right . My generation started business when the market already had competition, so we had to learn how to build our companies in a competitive way and that helps us to kind of go outside of the Czech Republic or region. Going outside of Eastern Europe is for our companies i would say very difficult. Even to go into western europe because there still is a little bit of hesitancy. They are from Eastern Europe, cheeb labor but in terms of are you able to provide good quality, good service, your way of doing business, this is challenging but once you get over it and you are both more international looking feel to your company. Entrepreneurship is such a broad term, it could be everything from a mom and pop dry cleaner to facebook. What is the game that you and the companies that you back are playing in Eastern Europe . Is it to build lifestyle businesses that are mostly Service Oriented that you see in a lot of smaller emerging markets . Is it to maybe sell something for 5 million and set a precedent that you can create wealth and value . Or is there a sense that you want to build Global Companies and can build Global Companies there . So my personal thing is building a globally operating company from the Czech Republic and be sort of an example for other entrepreneurs in the region that it is possible. You can do it. Now, in the u. S. This probably sounds strange because you have so many Global Companies. Okay. Another global company. Whats the thing about that . But we dont have that. We dont have i was going to ask is there a global czech company. Is there a role model . I think there is one called avast which is probably the biggest antivirus company. And they are very successful. And thats it. There is scalaalta, but they dont sell in the u. S. Or operate in any u. S. Market. Has the brexit done anything for you or will it do anything for you . Czech republic is part of the eu which means that theres wealth in opportunity and people that are going to have to decide do they want to stay in britton or do they want to go to the eu . Obviously germany and france will get a bulk of those but theres got to be some kind of opportunity there. There is an opportunity but there is a threat as well. So here is the thing, uk is for Many Companies the Entrance Point to the european union, right . And then Many Companies source our products through uk in british sterling. So the exposure to Currency Exchange rate is now tremendous and we really dont know what to do, what should be our hatch policy. So for me this is a risk, right . Is it an opportunity . I just read that some polish banks or polish cities are pitching to cant hurt. Will they really move there . I dont think so. When i look at the Global Companies and discussing about moving their headquarters to the Czech Republic, i dont think it is sexy enough for the top tier management people to live there. So what do you think about the current opportunities with the Trump Administration . I mean, actually the Czech Republic president was the first european leader to actually support trump. So do you believe theres an opportunity there or do you not like the current climate of looking inward . I will say that a lot of czech people have similar feelings to our president , there is a lot of americans have feelings about your new preside president , so i would say we are looking at what is going to happen. We really dont know what to expect because if whatever has been said would really happen it probably would be a disaster and i would say i dont want to become that part again of soviet union. As your elevator pitch for Czech Republic is, you know, convince me in 30 seconds or less if i had to go to europe i should go to Czech Republic. We have very smart workforce that is technically oriented and we combine software and technical engineering skills. If you go through Czech Republic dont leave your Product Management here because it doesnt work. You need to do it together. Sure. And then you will realize a lot of potential there. Vaclav muchna is the creator and ceo of a large Software Company in Czech Republic and a cheerleader of all of Eastern Europe. We appreciate you beings with us this morning. Thank you. Speaking of globalization up next Silicon Valley looks to the east, like the east bay, when press here continues. Welcome back to press here. There is a battle in the bay area over what region can claim the title as the center of innovation. I side with Silicon Valley, home of apple and facebook and google. Sara would probably argue the center of whats happening is San Francisco, certainly the more hip of the two regions and the place where all the young engineers want to live, but Many Companies and their workers cannot afford either location, which is where the east bay benefits. Towns like san leandro once known for manufacturing have become high tech hubs. I soft one of the Bigger Companies sits on the site of an old del monte canning plant. They started wiring the city with cyber optic internet. Jenny linton is the president and sits on the board of directors as well. Sometimes when im explaining to somebody im from san jose i have to explain its south of San Francisco. How do you explain san leandro to somebody who has no idea where it is. I say its near the oakland coliseum. You know my pain, right . How do you get young engineers, weve seen San Francisco just explode because thats where the center of culture is, the great restaurants. How do you get people to say id love to work in san leandro. The magic of bart. Our employees live from San Francisco, castro valley, san jose, all over the state. Im curious how the city of san leandro feels about you guys starting this movement of more Tech Companies being there. You have this situation in Silicon Valley where you have too much of a good thing, in a lot of places they would be like a company is moving here and paying high paying jobs, right. Here its like, no, we dont want you to here. I mean, theres so much anger towards tech and what its doing in a lot of places. What is the mood like in san leandro. I think the mood is pretty positive in san leandro. Were looking to bring not only Tech Companies but anybody who would like real estate to start a company to san leandro. Outside of traffic is probably a little bit better not having to commute as much, the prices and getting more space, what would you say, though, is the difference in the vibe in the east bay tech as opposed to being in Silicon Valley or San Francisco . I really like the east bay, im from san leandro, i grew up in san leandro, i went to school there and ive always liked the describe just being just a little bit different, its not quite San Francisco, San Francisco might be a little bit more polished i would say maybe because im not so polished, but, yeah you and i met when you won an award, the east bay innovation award, and there were a number of companies, your company won, but there was a company that was electrifying buses, another that did the plastic that goes in packaging all over the world. I mean, you buy the pre washed salad, thats made in the east bay. There are a surprising number of companies in the east bay, theres a Licorice Company in the east bay that i was completely unaware of. There is a lot going on there that people are unaware of. Absolutely. We really enjoy being part of the east Bay Economic Alliance because we can see where we fit in a larger region. Were not really san leandro versus oakland, we are more like the bay area versus another region in the unthree. Weve enjoyed being a part of some of those companies and watching new companies start. When you won the award how charming was the emcee. He was incredibly charming. Good. Even if he lives in a more unhip area of Silicon Valley. I think its the same guy this year. I look forward to it. As i talk about the east bay awards, the innovation awards, suggestions as far as winning that, what do you think helped you win that kind of award . I think we keep doing what were doing, were almost a 40yearold company and weve been collecting data for years and years with our customers and continuing to do what we do is innovative in and of itself. Privately held company. Yes. Going to be a Public Company anytime soon . No. You have to answer to the quarter rather than to the decade. Jenny linton, i appreciate you being with us. Press here will be back in just a minute. Welcome back to press here. There is a delicate balance between attracting customers and making money. Netflix spends hundreds of millions of dollars on content to bring in subscribers who pay money. Musicians trade smaller payments from spotify for exposure and grow listening base. Comedians post their sets to youtube to create a fan base and that gets them on the tonight show. Comedians like Steve Hofstetter with 60 million views on youtube. Here to talk to us about the comedy economy, thanks for being here this morning. I also have to say after 275 shows we have they ever had a comedian on so there is a tremendous amount of pressure. I look forward to being the last. Let me ask you i mean, the astonishing numbers on youtube. What drives that kind of numbers . I mean, obviously people like you, but how did you generate the interest when its just a gigantic amount of video on youtube . I didnt want to give away my content for free, i wanted to give away outtakes so i started putting up clips of when i would adlib with the audience, that happens to be a particular skill that i have as part of my repertoire. So someone would interrupt me, i would go off on them and then i would put it up. There is a lot of justice in that. I think a lot of people want to be able to do that at the workplace. Yes, they do. I do. Journalists get to do that, too. When youre frustrated with someone you can just say horrible things puzv xf qs and everybody applauds, its great. So those clips took off and, you know, thats led to a huge new audience. And the other thing that i make sure of is i never worry about alienating my fan base because you cant alienate your own fan base if youre true to yourself because then the people you alienate were never going to be your fans. Where some comedians are im not going to talk about politics im going to talk about it more than ever because that way my fans come to me and the people who werent going to bother buying a ticket anyway they wont watch my video. Its like talking to sarah lacy with red hair. She alien yates everyone. I was like you seem like a pleasant person, but ive seen your videos where you let loose on the audience talking about in indiana god, i believe gay marriage and also abortion. Uhhuh. And how do you deal with sort of the trolling online, too . Do you use the same sort of technique to sort of well, the first thing you have to realize is that it doesnt matter, you know . I had a guy who said something awful about me on twitter and i clicked on his at which time for see who he was and he had one follower. It made me laugh so hard because i was like you didnt need to tweet that, you could have just told someone. You have one follower, tell two people really expand your base, get the word out, tell your parents, no he is are two people. One of them was probably his mom. He probably lives with them. But jen way the point being that like you realize the people who are doing this online what does that really matter . You know, in the long run. Ive got 65 million views on my youtube now and the vast majority of them are from supportive wonderful people. What does it matter if the loudest people are the idiots . How is that translated into business for you . Some comedians and musicians have done this incredibly well and there is a long tale of independent musicians and comedians who say this works for radio head and louie c. K. But not the rest of us. Im able to draw now. As a comedian that is a huge hump to get over. Right now im on 65 city 18 country tour. Its called the your tour because the idea was i gave it to the fans. I said here is the cities i might do, buy tickets, i dont have a venue yet. Buy tickets. If i end up not doing that city ill refund your money. If i sell enough tickets in that city thats where ill go. So they basically start voting on where i perform with their ticket money and what ends up happening is, you know, this week i did five venues on off nights, none of them weekends and sold out every single one of them. Because you knew ahead of time you were going to sell out. Exactly. Its amazing that thats not how a lot of performers it works. It gives the artists the power. Im the first one doing it this way but hopefully other people will as well because what then happens is i have a show in london in july, im still not sure where yet but ive already sold 135 tickets. I can call any venue in london and say give me the best terms you can give someone because i can guarantee you these people are coming. Theres no rolling the dice anymore and thats why it works. Facebook is trying to eat into youtubes turf. They were paying creators for a while and trying to really jump start people being more on their platform. Yeah. For comedy is youtube still where its at . It would be so wnderful if facebook paid content creators for anything they do. Eventually there was an announcement we are going to try doing that. What a wonderful thing to let us know. How about you just start doing that. The reason why so many of us post videos on youtube is because thats where we can make a living. As soon as facebook starts sharing their revenue with the people generating it then theyre going to get more people posting that content. What percentage of youtube what percentage of your living comes from youtube as compared to performing . Is there any other place youre making i guess youre selling your albums as well. Sure. What percentage is it . What percentage of your daily take home check is youtube . Id say probably about a quarter. Thats significant. Its definitely significant. My youtube has grown an incredible amount in the past year, its doubled in the past year and thats because i have had a couple of different clips that went viral and, you know, just mean to the right people and so, you know, that resonated they went viral, once you hit that Tipping Point its a snowball and keeps getting bigger and bigger. Whats great about that is i invest i think i make in my career so i use the stuff that im making on youtube to buy better cameras so the content in the future will be better. I keep doing stuff loo i can that to upfrayed my website, expand the production capabilities i have. I dont want to make a little bit of money now to be okay, i want to never worry about money again and just get to be creative. Thats really the goal of any artist. Well, most artists. Is tv as important to comedy as it was in the past . No, not at all. I had my own Television Show that i hosted and i dont remember it exactly. Thats my point. I have had maybe two people come up to me on the street and say, hey, i loved your show and probably three or four times a week someone stops me and says i love your yo