Chasing Purpose
By Emma Cilloniz
As a business owner, traveler, discoverer, and lifelong learner, Dima Pekov is redefining what it means to live life to the fullest and be successful in your twenties. This former ECE member joins us for a conversation and offers his perspective on life as an innovator in the business realm and on how his philanthropy influences his everyday decision-making.
I had the opportunity of talking with Dima from opposite corners of the world; me in my Rotterdam apartment, and him in his Bangkok hotel room. After sharing stories about his high school businesses, his family’s migration, monastic silence rituals, finding happiness in Bali, dropping out of Erasmus University, and living life with intention, I caught a glimpse into the life of an entrepreneur.
Dima is temporarily staying in Bangkok with his co-founder Marek in search of experiences and grounds for growing their business, Sintano, a B2B venture studio that builds companies and helps other entrepreneurs do the same to become the most entrepreneur-friendly ecosystem the world has ever seen. He is originally from Moscow Russia but moved to the Netherlands at eight years old and considers himself Dutch. He emphasizes his mom´s essential role in his life, expressing her as the force behind all his decision-making and experiences in life. He shares: “I trust two things very much by now, my mom and my intuition, and the reason why I can trust my intuition is because she does the same. My mom saw how important it is to be free and not oppress children to let them make their own decisions. I’m very fortunate to have grown up with that frame of mind”.
Dima´s first experience with entrepreneurship was in high school. Upon returning from his trip to Moscow, where he visited his godfather who gifted him with Chinese tea, Dima developed a deep love for its taste, aroma, and the ritual surrounding it. When he ran out and couldn’t find any good quality tea in the Dutch market, it was his mom who encouraged him to write a business plan and launch his venture. Therefore, Dima began selling tea imported from Germany to his close friends with his school´s support. “Everyone loved it, the parents, the teachers, and the students. People started buying my tea in a frenzy almost because they saw me deliver it to teachers and wondered what it was about. Because of it, high school became super fun and I got to discover how to run a business”.
His success in the tea business earned him recognition beyond his school walls, and Dima was offered an unexpected offer to be the CEO of Moychay, an international tea company, with the task of establishing the business in Amsterdam. In this role, at only 18 years old, Dima hired and led a team of 15 people and launched Moychay´s flagship store on the Rozengracht. Dima dropped out of his International Business bachelor at Erasmus University to focus on this job but later resumed his studies.
Most people would stay in this position for as long as they could. CEO at 18 years old in the industry of your dreams? Sounds perfect. However, Dima didn’t think like this. He shares: “Growth comes from discomfort. I noticed that I was enjoying this whole CEO s*** a little bit too much and realized that I needed to make more mistakes. Become less dependent on the comfort that I was provided. I also had this entrepreneurial itch, realizing that I’m not the founder and that I’m working towards a vision that is not fully mine.” Therefore, he stepped down as CEO and resumed his studies at Erasmus University.
During his time as a student at EUR, Dima built a business with his friend Maxime called Pass The Year dedicated to helping students study in the most efficient way. During the first four months, they helped 300+ students pass their courses and received a 9.2 for all their course evaluations. Recently, they reconnected and are now excited to relaunch Pass The Year specifically for the incoming IBA students next month.
Thanks to the ecosystem provided by EUR, Dima connected with Amazon recruiters on campus and secured a role as a Senior Product Associate, a position he held for a year. This opportunity provided him with the financial freedom to travel, which he emphasizes is significant since his initial financial boost came from a traditional job rather than his entrepreneurial ventures.
There came a point where university life wasn’t letting him live up to his full potential. He explains: “Uni could just bring me more corporate opportunities, more opportunities to work for other people, or more opportunities to waste my time on outdated knowledge”. So Dima decided to pack his bags and head to Bali, a dream destination. He visited many countries before arriving in Bali, but once he got there all the pieces fell into place. “It was exactly as I expected. I finally got the discomfort that I wanted. I was walking on a beach and remember crying just because most people smiled there. Most people smiled and I smiled too. I realized I was smiling at life, I was smiling at freedom.”
Bali also gifted Dima with Marek, his co-founder of Sintano and best friend. He shares: “I feel blessed for having found both a best friend and even a soulmate that I can also do business with. We view the world through the same lens and share the same core values. He’s much more creative than me and so humble; he rarely talks about himself or his past success. That’s definitely something I think I can learn from him…”.
Together, they travel from city to city, expanding their business by attending conferences, meetings, and networking events to attract more clients. Sintano has completed projects assisting companies in Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, and the US, and continues to grow. At the same time, Dima focuses on Fulfilled World, an ecosystem he’s building that merges philosophy, entrepreneurship and anthropology to research and create a fulfilling future for our generation and beyond.
Dima continues to travel the world while creating meaningful businesses. He is dedicated to his projects Sintano, Fulfilled, and Pass the Year, alongside his upcoming venture, Hired Island, the first and only Career Hacking company designed for Gen Z. Above all, he approaches every decision with an emphasis on living a life with intention. As the author, narrator, and protagonist of his own story, he inspires others to pursue their passions. Everyone at ECE Students wishes him luck and offers support in all his future ventures.
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