Peter Vidovič
I have been in business since 1992 and have never been an employee
I registered as a sole trader and started my first companies while still at university. Apart from student jobs, I have never been an employee. Entrepreneurship is probably in my genes. My grandfather ran a construction business until the communist regime took everything from him, and after 1989 my parents ran a fruit-buying business. Throughout my life, my father would tell me with a smile that only those who do nothing make no mistakes. I still live by that today.
I studied control systems at FEI STU in Bratislava (1990 – 1995)
From 1990 to 1995, I studied control systems at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology of the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava. Although I became an entrepreneur, my background is in programming. I started programming in BASIC and assembly language at secondary school, then moved on to C++ at university. Later, I only dabbled in web applications alongside running businesses. I have used my technical education in every company I have founded. At MBC Telecom, I built the entire technical solution, and at Etarget and Modrý koník, I discussed requirements with developers as an equal. As a result, I still understand not just how technology is sold, but how it works.
NEXUS Computers (1995 – 1998): my first company, selling computers and networks
In June 1995, I founded NEXUS Computers with three partners. We assembled and sold computers and built computer networks for small and medium-sized businesses. I was responsible for sales and marketing. We brought stylish computer cases back from the CeBIT trade fair in Hanover while everyone else bought ugly cases from wholesalers. We had no plan, market analysis or investors. Just an Excel spreadsheet that always told the truth. I stayed with the company until the end of 1998.
MBC Telecom (1998 – 2000): Slovakia’s first alternative telecommunications operator
In October 1998, I co-founded MBC Telecom, Slovakia’s first alternative telecommunications operator. We offered businesses international calls at a fraction of the price charged by the monopoly provider. As co-founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO), I designed and built the entire technical solution, including a four-metre satellite dish on the roof of the house in Bratislava where we were based. I left the company at the end of 2000, when major telecommunications players entered the market and the operator Slovanet bought the company.
IT Job Planet (2001): a job portal that closed after 11 September 2001
From 1999, we placed Slovak programmers with companies in Western Europe. We took them to Germany by the busload. In January 2001, I co-founded IT Job Planet, an international job portal for IT professionals that built on this work. It secured investment from the Seed Capital Company fund. After the attacks on 11 September 2001, companies around the world stopped hiring, and the market disappeared overnight. I was left with a debt of almost two million Slovak crowns and no idea how I would repay it. I paid it off in 2005. That period taught me that fear is the worst emotion in business. It ties your hands and stops you moving forward.
Etarget (2002 – 2009): the first Slovak PPC network, operating in seven European countries
In September 2002, out of the wreckage of IT Job Planet, we launched Etarget, Slovakia’s first pay-per-click (PPC) advertising network. This was roughly six months after Google introduced pay-per-click pricing in AdWords. We taught Slovaks what PPC was. For the first two years, I worked without a salary, and we offered team members shares in the company instead of wages. In 2004, Genesis Capital invested in Etarget. As co-founder and CEO, I expanded Etarget into seven European countries. It operated in Slovakia, Czechia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia and Serbia, connecting thousands of advertisers with local websites. In 2007, we sold Etarget to a strategic investor, and I left the company in 2009.
Modrý koník grew out of discussions on the wedding website Mojasvadba.sk in June 2006
I co-founded Modrý koník in June 2006. It grew out of discussions on the wedding website Mojasvadba.sk. Brides-to-be sought advice in the forums a year before their weddings, became pregnant afterwards and stayed. When topics about children began to outnumber wedding topics, we moved them to a separate website. Facebook was not yet used in Slovakia, and women on Modrý koník formed groups based on their due dates that are still active today. Modrý koník was a working name that stuck because we liked it. Today, it is a major advantage because it stands out among hundreds of similar websites for mums.
In 2014, we sold or closed everything except Modrý koník
After selling Etarget in 2007, we began focusing fully on community websites. We got our first proper offices in 2008, and from 2008 to 2013, Modrý koník roughly doubled in size each year. In 2010, we launched versions in Germany, France and Britain. We learnt that a community cannot be exported like software. It needs local people, a local language and local trust. We gradually shut down everything else because we wanted to do one thing properly. In 2014, we sold our wedding and home-related websites. Today, Modrý koník operates only in Slovakia and Czechia.
Modrý koník is Slovakia’s Reddit for home, life and shopping
Modrý koník is the largest online community in Slovakia and one of the largest in Czechia. Every month, hundreds of thousands of people come here for advice on what to buy, what to avoid and how to handle everyday matters at home and in family life. The biggest myth is that it is a forum about nappies and pushchairs. In fact, the biggest topics are finance and household budgets, work, kitchens and appliances, dealing with public authorities, holidays, fashion, cars and housing. Alongside its forums, Modrý koník has a marketplace, expert advice sections with doctors, lawyers and financial advisers, a Review Centre and its own video team. The rule is that a brand can buy space, but not an opinion. Product testers also write about products’ weaknesses, and sponsored content is labelled. I lead Modrý koník as co-founder and CEO, and today it employs 15 people. The team is deliberately small because, to me, the quality of the product and the quality of the company are one and the same.
I have been doing SEO on my own websites since 2018
I learnt the foundations of search at Etarget, where we made our living from it. Since 2018, I have been doing SEO directly on Modrý koník’s websites, not other people’s. On websites of that size, every Google algorithm change shows up in the numbers immediately. I am self-taught, and several leading experts from Czechia and Slovakia helped me at the beginning.
Since November 2025, I have been working as an independent GEO strategist
People increasingly ask ChatGPT, Gemini or Google AI Mode what to buy and no longer click on search results. They take the answer. The practice of getting brands into these answers is called GEO (Generative Engine Optimization). I have been working on it systematically since autumn 2025. It began with wanting to know whether Modrý koník existed in AI answers at all. Since November 2025, I have been working as an independent GEO strategist, helping companies get their brands into AI answers too. I do not talk about GEO as a theorist. I put it into practice every day.
Since July 2026, I have been writing commentary on GEO for Forbes Slovensko
Since July 2026, I have been writing regular commentary for Forbes Slovensko on how artificial intelligence selects brands. At Modrý koník, we also run AI Pulse studies in the Slovak market: we investigate which brands AI recommends in individual categories and why. We publish them on modrykonik.com. I speak about GEO at conferences and on podcasts. An overview of my appearances is on the Talks and Media page.
Outside business: family, sport and books
I am a father of two and have been married for many years. My wife and children are the one constant that, through all the business cycles, company sales, failures and fresh starts, nothing has replaced or ever will. Sport is one of the greatest passions my wife and I share. I go to the gym, run and do bodyweight training. Sport keeps us fit, keeps us together and keeps the whole whirlwind in balance. And I enjoy reading, especially books. Manuals do not take account of who you are. A good book is always more nuanced and distils years of its author’s experience and wisdom.
Five things thirty years in business have taught me
- That focus is everything.
- That perseverance beats talent.
- That I need to build a company I would want to work for myself, otherwise I would not be able to carry it.
- That fear of mistakes costs more than the mistakes themselves.
- That we usually recognise the right moment to start something new only in hindsight.