![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Muchna.jpg\")
CEO, Y Soft<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Early in his professional career, Muchna was offered a piece\nof advice that would serve him well in his future endeavors: Give, but never\ngive up. He has earned a spot as a 2019 ENX\nMagazine<\/em> Difference Maker for overcoming obstacles, some of which were his\nown doing, and by giving of himself to help other innovators find a voice in\nthe business community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Growing up in the Czech Republic, Muchna was trying to find\nhimself. A disillusioned lad who had an aversion to following authority, Muchna\ndidn\u2019t picture himself going to college and finding a job. He wasn\u2019t getting\nmuch help from authority to begin with; when he told a guidance counselor that\nsoftware development and coding appealed to him, the advisor scoffed at the\nidea. Going into computers, he told Muchna, was like being a secretary. The\ncounselor would\u2019ve probably warned him that dealing with firewalls was\nhazardous to his health, as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Undaunted, Muchna became an entrepreneur and partnered with\nMartin de Martini to launch Y Soft. Its SafeQ platform offers print management,\nscan workflows and 3D printers with print management. He has grown Y Soft to a\n$45 million enterprise with subsidiaries in the United States, Japan,\nSingapore, Israel and the United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe see ourselves as being a\ntechnology provider to our partner sales channel,\u201d said Muchna, who embraces a\ntraditional capitalism approach to business. \u201cAs the print and digital markets\nevolve, we have to provide them\nsolutions that help add value to customers. We are doing that today with 3D\nprinters and 3D print management. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThrough YSoft Labs, our internal innovation center, we are already working on other workflow solutions including pre- and onboarding in the HR area and cloud first solutions in the print management area. All of these things are designed to make businesses run smarter and also to provide a Lessons Learned<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Muchna\nhas taken his share of lumps along the way. In his early years, he made the\nmistake of going to a customer meeting unprepared. It caused the CEO of an MFP\nvendor\u2019s operating company to shout at him for being unprofessional. \u201cI admitted the wrongdoing, learned\nthe lesson and it has never happened again,\u201d he observed. \u201cThe lesson was\nalways be prepared for meetings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But de Martini, his co-founder and Y Soft\u2019s CIO, has been an unwavering\nsupporter and a key factor in the company\u2019s growth. Particularly in the early\ndays before the company enjoyed success with SafeQ, de Martini helped Muchna\nstay the course throughout several setbacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Indeed, Muchna is keenly aware of the trials he endured during his\nstartups, and his empathy for fellow entrepreneurs prompted him to create an\ninvestment arm, Y Soft Ventures, to support other European startups. \u201cI know\nwhat\u2019s it like and it\u2019s not easy,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you combine software and\nhardware, as a founder, you need to focus also on logistics and\nprocurement. You should be focused on sales. That\u2019s why our VC arm can help\ninvested startups with prototyping and production.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nlast year has been eventful for Muchna and Y Soft. The company enjoyed 45%\nrevenue growth and expanded into China, creating a more local presence\u2014both\ntall tasks. Y Soft also established itself as a leader in mobile printing,\ncertified as the first enterprise server for Mopria, the printing standard for\nandroid devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moving\nforward, Muchna seeks to continue solving customer challenges and drastically\nimprove business processes, particularly in cloud and edge computing. He notes\nthe depth and breadth of Y Soft\u2019s cloud support will expand dramatically. In\naddition to HR workflow tools, the company plans on unveiling new\neducation-based solutions with 3D printing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPersonally,\nI am looking forward to the CSR initiatives we announced recently where we will\nsupport social programs and, within the Czech Republic, work on three areas\nthat will help improve healthy and transparent business conditions,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Customer\nCare<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Muchna\u2019s path to\nimprovement is the ongoing quest to provide innovation and superior customer\ncare. \u201cWe really love our customers, and I want to keep this passion within the\ncompany culture,\u201d he noted. \u201cThe growth allows us to scale our research and we\nwant to bring innovations to the market faster. We also need to better\ncommunicate the value of our innovations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Muchna also considers himself an innovator on the grill, where he\nenjoys cooking at parties. An avid snow skier and diver, he loves traveling and\nthe opportunity to learn interesting aspects of other cultures. But it is his\none-year-old daughter who has truly provided insight into a new world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou\u2019d think that it\u2019s mostly parents teaching their\nchildren, showing them the ways of the world,\u201d Muchna said. \u201cBut because\nthey are just like a mirror for us, we really can learn a whole lot back.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It might be a bit of an exaggeration to say that Vaclav Muchna was destined to become the CEO of a successful technology-based startup company. But considering the pitfall-laden path that eventually led him to bring Y Soft to market, it is a testament to Muchna that he didn\u2019t throw his hands up in disgust. Perhaps it was less destiny and more intestinal fortitude. Early in his professional career, Muchna was offered a piece of advice that would serve him well in his future endeavors: Give, but never give up. He has earned a spot as a 2019 ENX Magazine Difference Maker for overcoming obstacles, some of which were his own doing, and by giving of himself to help other innovators find a voice in the business community. Growing up in the Czech Republic, Muchna was trying to find himself. A disillusioned lad who had an aversion to following authority, Muchna didn\u2019t picture himself going to college and finding a job. He wasn\u2019t getting much help from authority to begin with; when he told a guidance counselor that software development and coding appealed to him, the advisor scoffed at the idea. Going into computers, he told Muchna, was like being a secretary. The counselor would\u2019ve probably warned him that dealing with firewalls was hazardous to his health, as well. Undaunted, Muchna became an entrepreneur and partnered with Martin de Martini to launch Y Soft. Its SafeQ platform offers print management, scan workflows and 3D printers with print management. He has grown Y Soft to a $45 million enterprise with subsidiaries in the United States, Japan, Singapore, Israel and the United Arab Emirates. \u201cWe see ourselves as being a technology provider to our partner sales channel,\u201d said Muchna, who embraces a traditional capitalism approach to business. \u201cAs the print and digital markets evolve, we have to provide them solutions that help add value to customers. We are doing that today with 3D printers and 3D print management. \u201cThrough YSoft Labs, our internal innovation center, we are already working on other workflow solutions including pre- and onboarding in the HR area and cloud first solutions in the print management area. All of these things are designed to make businesses run smarter and also to provide a new, unique solution to our OEM partners.\u201d Lessons Learned Muchna has taken his share of lumps along the way. In his early years, he made the mistake of going to a customer meeting unprepared. It caused the CEO of an MFP vendor\u2019s operating company to shout at him for being unprofessional. \u201cI admitted the wrongdoing, learned the lesson and it has never happened again,\u201d he observed. \u201cThe lesson was always be prepared for meetings.\u201d But de Martini, his co-founder and Y Soft\u2019s CIO, has been an unwavering supporter and a key factor in the company\u2019s growth. Particularly in the early days before the company enjoyed success with SafeQ, de Martini helped Muchna stay the course throughout several setbacks. Indeed, Muchna is keenly aware of the trials he endured during his startups, and his empathy for fellow entrepreneurs prompted him to create an investment arm, Y Soft Ventures, to support other European startups. \u201cI know what\u2019s it like and it\u2019s not easy,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen you combine software and hardware, as a founder, you need to focus also on logistics and procurement. You should be focused on sales. That\u2019s why our VC arm can help invested startups with prototyping and production.\u201d The last year has been eventful for Muchna and Y Soft. The company enjoyed 45% revenue growth and expanded into China, creating a more local presence\u2014both tall tasks. Y Soft also established itself as a leader in mobile printing, certified as the first enterprise server for Mopria, the printing standard for android devices. Moving forward, Muchna seeks to continue solving customer challenges and drastically improve business processes, particularly in cloud and edge computing. He notes the depth and breadth of Y Soft\u2019s cloud support will expand dramatically. In addition to HR workflow tools, the company plans on unveiling new education-based solutions with 3D printing. \u201cPersonally, I am looking forward to the CSR initiatives we announced recently where we will support social programs and, within the Czech Republic, work on three areas that will help improve healthy and transparent business conditions,\u201d he said. Customer Care Muchna\u2019s path to improvement is the ongoing quest to provide innovation and superior customer care. \u201cWe really love our customers, and I want to keep this passion within the company culture,\u201d he noted. \u201cThe growth allows us to scale our research and we want to bring innovations to the market faster. We also need to better communicate the value of our innovations.\u201d Muchna also considers himself an innovator on the grill, where he enjoys cooking at parties. An avid snow skier and diver, he loves traveling and the opportunity to learn interesting aspects of other cultures. But it is his one-year-old daughter who has truly provided insight into a new world. \u201cYou\u2019d think that it\u2019s mostly parents teaching their children, showing them the ways of the world,\u201d Muchna said. \u201cBut because they are just like a mirror for us, we really can learn a whole lot back.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":34108,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[80,1650,82,1638],"tags":[2286],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35082"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35082"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35082\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35165,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35082\/revisions\/35165"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/2019-Difference-Makers-emblem-1-286x300-3-286x300.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n