Peter Kovacs, CEO of xLabs

  • 26 Apr 2016 12:00 AM
Peter Kovacs, CEO of xLabs
Peter is a serial entrepreneur and an enthusiastic startup ecosystem builder. He has been into tech recruitment since 2006, started his career in ProfiPower which got acquired by Randstad. In 2012 he joined Prezi as a talent scout and left that dream-job in 2013 to start up his new wave recruitment agency with his co-founders.

IseeQ (http://www.iseeq.co) has been serving companies like 9GAG, Uber or FalconSocial in the tech / startup environment in 16 countries all across Europe and even beyond and got into the top10 recruitment agencies in Hungary based on their income.

In parallel, Peter has also co-founded Global Startup Awards, a global startup ecosystem competition which has been running in four regions: CEE (http://www.cesawards.com), the Nordics (http://www.nordicstartupawards.com), South-East Asia (http://www.aseanstartupawards.com) and India (http://startupawardsindia.com).

Peter is the co-founder and CEO of xLabs (www.xlaboratories.com), the alchemist laboratory of IseeQ, where they concoct the secret sauce of solutions for event marketing, employer branding, special trainings and business matchmaking. Some of their projects: www.uxkepzes.hu / www.budapest.startupsafary.com / www.internationalgeektogether.com


1. Where did you grow up?
I was born and raised in a small village close to the Slovakian border called Kétbodony. I spent periods of time in the Netherlands and Ireland as a kid, and I was 16 when we moved to Budapest with my family.

2. If you could be an expat anywhere in the world, where would you choose?
I am a global expat as I travel quite a lot. If I needed to pick one place to live, it would be San Diego, California.

3. What would you miss most if you moved away from Hungary?
My friends and of course, the family.

4. Friends are in Budapest for a weekend - what must they absolutely see and do?
The inner 7th district at a hot summer night: the rooftops, ruin bars and the spas. During the daytime, it's simply walking around the city centre :)

5. What is your favourite food?
I cannot pick one particular food. I like being guided by gastro-experts in new places, not even knowing the name of the food I am eating.

6. What is your favourite sport / form of exercise?
Gym. I do it 2-3 times a week.

7. What is your favourite place in Hungary?
Balaton :)

8. What career other than yours would you love to pursue?
I am a very lucky guy as I do not follow a strict career line, I can do whatever I want, and I usually do it so.

9. What’s a job you would definitely never want?
I would never want a job defined by someone else.

10. Where did you spend your last vacation?
California, we did the PCH trip with my family for a month in January.

11. Where do you hope to spend your next one?
Balaton. I will spend a whole month by the lake with my family in July.

12. What was your favourite band, film, or hobby as a teen?
I had hard times as a teen feeling the pressure from the society on me to make such decisions. Now I am confident to say: I cannot pick one.

13. Apart of temptation what can’t you resist?
Ad hoc meeting with friends.

14. Red wine or white?
White

15. Book or movie?
Movie

16. Morning person or night person?
Definitely night.

17. Which social issue do you feel most strongly about?
Education

18. Buda or Pest side?
Both

19. Which achievement in your life are you most pleased about?
My son, the most awesome human being on planet Earth :)

20. What would you say is your personal motto?
"I did not know it was impossible so I did it"

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