The story of Direct People

CZ  | EN
4. 7. 2022
Reading time: 1 min.

Petr Šídlo and Michal Kalousek started to write it in 2010. Two innovators who had a clear vision. Design innovative products and services based on understanding what people really need. This is still true in the very first Czech innovation agency today. The vision was just expanded, and for over ten years Direct People have been trying to work on things that have social impact and the ambition to make people’s lives easier.

From ideas to a functioning business

We are not a company of ideas, but craftsmen of innovation. We start from people’s needs and problems, we look for solutions and then ways to turn ideas into reality. Everyone has ideas, but solutions that work must be born. It is a complicated process that forces us to give up beautiful thoughts, go back, correct, change our beliefs. In short, that belongs to innovation. We got our first project in Česká pojišťovna and gradually got to dozens of different branches. Today, we know that thanks to the methodology and the network of external experts, we are able to innovate in basically any segment. We have more than 60 successful projects for 300 clients and our product footprint can be found in 34 countries around the world.

Two heads are better than one

In the beginning there were just the two of us, now we would need a table for almost five dozen people. Our team of partners has grown to include Ondřej Moravec and Josef Dvořák. In 2019, we acquired the IT company Viable One so that we always have development capacities at hand. We have a branch in Poland and representation in other European countries. We are a group of talented designers, producers, marketers, graphic designers and specialists from various fields. We are all different, but we are all chasing the same thing. We help clients bring to market meaningful products that people want and that deliver business results.

We are not resting on our laurels

Innovating brings with it risks that we are not afraid to share with our clients. With each of our activities, each decision, we think about specific impacts. We test all ideas and, thanks to feedback, we constantly try to improve and move them forward. We draw inspiration from abroad to always be number one in what we do.

Our mission

A lot has changed at Direct People over the past 12-plus years. But two things have remained the same. Everything is possible only because we enjoy our work and we are not afraid to venture into the unknown. We go for the best. And our #1 priority is always and always a result that works.