CEOInterviews.AIHello Bertil - Interview with the founder of EF Education First

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Ming Chen0:13

Hello, Bertil. I'm Ming Chen from EF Hong Kong. EF staff from around the world have sent questions for you today. We've selected a few to ask you.

Okay, so what was the original ambition behind starting EF?

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Bertil Hult0:26

I didn't really have much choice. I wasn't good at school, so I didn't think that any company would hire me. And I'm certainly not handy, so the only option I really had was to start my own company.

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Ming Chen0:44

In 1965, when you took the first group of students from Sweden to the UK, did you ever dream that EF would get this big?

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Bertil Hult0:53

I knew English would be the language of the future. I was convinced of that. But no, of course I didn't think that EF should be a global company. This was just a way for me to support myself.

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Ming Chen1:07

What was your biggest worry starting out?

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Bertil Hult1:11

Like every young entrepreneur, I suppose, I was worried about meeting the monthly payroll. All of a sudden, you know, you understand that you are responsible for the livelihood of many other people, not just yourself.

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Ming Chen1:25

So what was the big turning point when you knew EF had made it?

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Bertil Hult1:30

That was probably in the very late 1960s when we opened in Germany. Germany was so much bigger a market, and the concept worked. So then we thought perhaps we could also go to an even bigger country like Japan, which had started to use English as their computer language rather than Japanese characters. So that was the first time, perhaps. The second time was when my son started to work in the company in the 90s and 2000. We had to be a real company then, not just a way for me to support myself and my family. So that was it.

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Ming Chen2:26

What do you think were the biggest factors that helped EF grow from a small Swedish company to a global enterprise?

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Bertil Hult2:36

I think it's so important that you're focused, and I think we've always been very focused and understood what we're doing. Then, of course, it helps when you have a fully scalable product or a scalable service, which we have had and still have. The most important thing, though, is that you find great people in each country you open. And we have been lucky; we've always had fantastic people in every country we have opened.

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Ming Chen3:05

So what was the biggest challenge you have ever faced?

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Bertil Hult3:08

Wow, that was probably the oil crisis in '73-'74. A lot of things were sort of falling apart. The flight prices were tripling or quadrupling. We knew that we had to raise our price and probably get less customers. So that was really difficult. What we did was we went through every department — the company wasn't so big then — and everybody who worked in a department who wasn't absolutely needed, we asked those people to work in sales. And that actually worked. We could keep our volume of sales, and we took big market share. So we actually came out better. But I was really worried, especially in 1974.

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Ming Chen4:06

What do you see as your greatest EF success?

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Bertil Hult4:09

Oh, that we have found the right people to grow the business. By far, that's the most important one.

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Ming Chen4:17

What do you consider your biggest failure?

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Bertil Hult4:20

I actually think that you should not compromise. You should really carry through what you believe in. But sometimes I think I have been too stubborn and totally unwilling to compromise, and I think that's been a big failure. We have lost some good people because of that, and I do regret that.

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Ming Chen4:47

So the next group of questions are about EF today. Okay, what is the secret to EF's success?

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Bertil Hult4:56

Oh, I said before, I think it's so important that you stay focused. So you don't start to do things which are not necessary. You really have to stay focused. And then you have to be lean for many reasons, but one is of course that you can move quickly and grab opportunities. So you have to stay focused and be lean. That's probably the most important things.

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Ming Chen5:23

How does EF stay focused?

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Bertil Hult5:26

Staying focused, Ming, is really important. I think it is that you really understand what you're doing and also really understand what it leads to. And often you have to say no to ideas, even if they're very good ideas, if they don't lead to what you want to achieve, lead to your goal. So that is, I think, what staying focused is.

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Ming Chen5:54

So which core value resonates with you the most?

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Bertil Hult5:59

Well, I think all core values are very important. It's probably attention to details that is so important. That you think through every detail in the chain which you want — if you want to achieve it and to achieve your goal. And if you haven't thought through every detail, you most probably make a mistake somewhere. So it's attention to details in every step of the way. I think that's probably the most important.

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Ming Chen6:33

Do we encourage everybody to be an entrepreneur?

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Bertil Hult6:38

The main thing, I think, is that the company has entrepreneurial spirit, and also that we give a high enough ceiling for those who actually are entrepreneurs to develop their ideas. The entrepreneurial spirit, I think, is that you take responsibility. You know, something falls, you're ready to grab it instead of letting it crash on the floor. And you can do that everywhere. So that is, to me, the entrepreneurial spirit. But entrepreneurs — there are only a few of us who are entrepreneurs, and they are extremely valuable and important for any company, and certainly for EF. And my job, I think, is to see that the ceiling, as I said before, is high enough so that they can develop their ideas.

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Ming Chen7:31

So what qualities of the original EF team do you recognize when you step into an EF office or school?

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Bertil Hult7:39

When I travel around the world and walk into any EF office or any EF school, I feel the vibration, the energy which is there. And it's always been like that, and that's just wonderful to see how lively each office is, how lovely each school is.

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Ming Chen8:03

That's great. So the next set of questions are about our future. Okay, what do you think will be the biggest challenge for EF moving forward?

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Bertil Hult8:16

Oh, that's a tough question. Of course there are going to be many challenges. One is to maintain a flat organization when you grow — it gets harder, of course — but if you maintain a flat organization, you can keep the bureaucracy to a minimum. And that's really important, that the bureaucracy is really at a minimum. And another challenge is, of course, when you grow, to keep the entrepreneurial spirit in the company. And I think it's important that we do that. I'm not sure these are the two most important challenges, but they are both very important.

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Ming Chen8:55

How do you see EF 50 years from now?

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Bertil Hult9:00

50 years from now? You must be kidding. I won't be around then. But let's put it this way: the world is always changing, and so has our company been changing over all these years when we've been in existence. And now with my three oldest sons working in the company, along with some of the most amazing people I've ever come across, I think the future looks very good. So I'm very positive.

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Ming Chen9:37

So the next group of questions were about you, Bertil. How did you learn to trust your instincts, regardless of what other people were telling you?

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Bertil Hult9:53

I'm not sure I really believe in trusting instincts. I like to see numbers and see that everything makes sense. Go through every detail and see that the numbers make sense, and make a decision when I have all that. If you can't get any numbers, then of course you have to trust your instinct. But in most cases you can actually have the numbers before you make your decision. So I'm not the person who just trusts my instinct.

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Ming Chen10:27

What are the most important lessons that you've tried to pass on to your sons?

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Bertil Hult10:35

It's probably that I hope that they can live a balanced life. To have balance in your life is so important. But of course it's very different from person to person, so they have to have a balanced life from their viewpoint. And I hope that everybody who works at EF can find a balanced life. So I think that's so important.

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Ming Chen11:04

What keeps you balanced?

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Bertil Hult11:06

To wake up every morning next to my lovely wife, Lisbeth. I've done that for 40 years, and I hope I can do that for many more years.

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Ming Chen11:18

What is one piece of advice you'd give someone joining EF today?

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Bertil Hult11:23

One piece? You should never be afraid to ask questions. No question is too dumb to ask. Don't pretend that you understand things if you don't. Just keep on asking until you understand. May I say a second one? And that you should have fun. You should have found where you work here. It's so important to really look forward to going to work and have fun.

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Ming Chen11:49

Thank you, Bertil, for answering our questions today.

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Bertil Hult11:55

Well, thank you, Ming, and thanks to everybody who sent in their questions. Thank you.