"No one will launch a global company just to make lyutenitsa": It’s only with science that we can make a difference

Mr. Vasev, imagine that Elon Musk has managed to achieve a big breakthrough in space travel, and you are going on a year-long trip to Mars. Which three famous people (living or dead) would you like to go with?

Neil deGrasse Tyson, Brian Cox, Galileo Galilei.

You are entitled to spend one working day with any company executive (dead or alive). Who would you choose and why?

Henry Ford. This is the man who really ushered in mass production and broke our ties with the old world of hand-crafting and limited productivity. By creating assembly line manufacturing, he built the modern world.

Imagine you are shipwrecked on a lonely island with all your basic human needs (food, water, shelter) met. What two things would you like to have with you and why?

A dog and a kitten – so I can have joy and peace in my life.

If you could give just one book as a gift for the rest of your life, which one would it be?

Max Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. 

Imagine that time travel is a reality. You have the option of moving forward into the future or going back into the past. Which points and places in time would you visit and why?

I would travel to a point in the future where a trip to the Alpha Centauri star system has become a commercial possibility. This is the moment when we will be able to begin journeys to the nearest stars and study the conditions of the planets around them.

Now imagine you can choose to have a superpower (any skill you can think of), but only for a day. Which power would you pick and why?

I would like to be able to travel into space and visit Jupiter's moon Europa to see if there is life under the 60-km layer of ice on its surface.

What do you think will be the biggest threat/challenge to your company in the next five years?

Our business competitors – I think there are a lot of companies working in the field of epigenetics and I hope we can raise funding fast enough to be the first to realize our company's ideas.

What is the one field in which Bulgaria has the greatest potential to become a leader on a European level?

No one is going to make a world-famous company for the production of lyutenitsa (Ed. note – traditional Bulgarian relish made of peppers, tomatoes and carrots). Only developments based on the latest scientific discoveries can find success in the market. And it’s only with science that we can make a difference.

There’s a lot of talk about AI these days, but what issue connected to it is still neglected?

I think AI will collapse public trust in both online sources and traditional media. I think we are in for an even more fractured society, with even lower levels of trust, which will be a challenge for our democracies and our social contract.

What job task would you never want to outsource to a robot?

Personal collaboration with my workmates.

Which is more important: talent or hard work?

Hard work for sure. Talent and self-perception of it can have a very negative impact.

Which is more important: education or experience?

Experience. The classical understanding of education is associated with the repetition of established facts. Experience builds a person to a much greater extent and helps them develop prioritization skills.

What are the three things without which success is impossible?

Collaboration, the ability to hear criticism and the courage to change the course initially chosen.

What fascinates you nowadays?

What amazes me is how unevolved human psychology is and how cyclical the development of human life is - different generations face different challenges yet deal with them in very similar ways.

What's the best advice you've ever received?

Keep in mind that the most stupid people are also the loudest.

What is the hardest lesson you’ve learned?

Don't give in to your ego. It is our main obstacle to stepping back and perceiving the world more objectively.

What’s the biggest challenge you've overcome?

Having to travel all over the world to promote our company.

When was the last time you said to yourself: "This is my best day at work"? What was the occasion?

More or less it’s every second week that we reach important points in our company’s development. The best days are when we manage to gain incredible insights about human health from bioinformatics.

What is your biggest passion – something you are ALL IN?

Volunteering in tree planting campaigns.

Translated by Tzvetozar Vincent Iolov