First of all, thank you for a positive feedback to my first post. Didn’t expect so many comments both live and via messages.

As I said at the end of my first post, just the same, there are many upsides of working in market in transition. I will again stick to five of them. When I was a magazine publisher I learned from one of my amazing bosses Frank Hitzert that readers like lists of five or ten or even nineteen. Hope it’s still the rule.

1. You have a good chance to be a pioneer in a certain industry or in a certain way of doing business. This brings of course many challenges but it’s very rewarding as well. I believe it’s human nature to wish to be the first one and to pioneer things. For most of us who are not genius enough to invent wireless battery charging or Facebook it can still be rewarding to introduce new, modern, efficient supply chain into retail business, for example.
2. You can try out new, fresh and crazy ideas and projects because if you fail – it’s not too expensive. Personally, I had a chance to create several magazines, special editions, events, campaigns… Some of them were successful some of them failed big time! But, how many people had a chance to create professional, high circulation, lifestyle magazine in France or UK by the age of 30?
3. If you are working for a decent international company, although you are not contributing to global P&L as much they will still invest into your development. You might get a chance to attend conferences, trainings and programs that you would never ever be able to pay with your salary. And you will be able to transfer knowledge and experience to your colleagues and your business partners. All companies that I worked for did this for me. And I’m grateful.
4. You learn how to do things in more entrepreneurial way, to take more risks, to improvise and to fight. And then, if you go to some of the mature big markets you can really stand out. I will never forget the faces of my UK colleagues looking at the photos of an event that I have done for 50K EUR. They thought I spent a million.
5. You can achieve a lot and make a big career at quite a young age. Since most of the transition countries have this “lost in transition” generation, younger guys were the ones to get a chance and make fast progress. I was 24 when I got a team of 15 people to lead. Age of 27 – over 50. And it’s not only because I’m a fantastic leader – let’s be honest.

I’m trying to stop advising people but I simply have to give this one: if you work in transition markets don’t take it too dramatic – try to have fun! Because just a few years later you will not remember 2007. P&L but you will remember a fantastic crazy night in a konoba near Dubrovnik or a conference in New Delhi where you are the only guy presenting to 100 editors of Cosmopolitan magazines from all over the world. Cheers!