Dorka Horvath is the founder and CEO of BOOKR Kids. BOOKR is an award-winning reading app for kids.
At BOOKR Kids, Dorka Horvath “provides a combination of beloved children’s stories and interactive tools that support literacy development and give families a smart array of digital books in one comprehensive offering.”
Likewise, Dorka Horvath engages in “women entrepreneurship by encouraging young girls and women to make a difference.” This is in addition to her true passion, publishing.
As an entrepreneur, Dorka Horvath has received the “Founder of the Year” prize at the Central European Innovation Awards. She was also nominated for the Forbes 30 Under 30 list.
Dorka Horvath is completing her PhD thesis on the relationship between e-learning and new media at the Corvinus University of Budapest.
As a child, Dorka Horvath grew up with publisher parents, which gave her the passion to inspire children, including her son, to gain a love for reading.
However, the world has changed. Dorka Horvath understands that “young generations need smart and interactive content to read and learn.”
So, Dorka Horvath launched BOOKR as an “innovative solution to connect beautiful literature and engaging digital books to develop the love for reading among children.”
Dorka Horvath’s belief and confidence in her company has allowed her to push onward for success.
Check out more interviews with learning visionaries here.
I wanted the love of reading to inspire my son, just like other children. Dorka Horvath, BOOKR Kids
Jerome Knyszewski: Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?
Dorka Horvath: Growing up with publisher parents and being a young mother-to-be, I wanted the love of reading to inspire my son, just like other children.
But the world is changing and young generations need smart and interactive content to read and learn.
With BOOKR, I launched an innovative solution to connect beautiful literature and engaging digital books to develop the love for reading among children.
Can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey? Did you ever consider giving up? Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?
As a former athlete, I learned that a match only ends when the referee blows the whistle. That’s why I’m unable to give up.
I believe so much in our mission and in the company we are building, I would not believe anyone who tells me we will not succeed.
Jerome Knyszewski: Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘takeaways’ you learned from that?
Dorka Horvath: In the beginning, we wanted to offer hardware to the software as well.
We ordered 2000 kids-safe tablets from China; when they arrived, we realised they were not only not kid-friendly, but they literally did not function well either.
We invested a lot in manufacturing and lost almost our entire investment. You should never do everything at once.
If you are developing software, do not start a hardware business. 🙂
Jerome Knyszewski: Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things one should know in order to lead a company from Good to Great? Please share a story or an example for each.
Dorka Horvath: My ultimate role model is my father who started his first business at the time of the regime change in Hungary and was the first to found a company in the post-socialist country.
He taught me that a successful business person should not just understand numbers but always remain optimistic and be able to renew in all situations.
Looking at colleagues not as employees, but as family members, focusing on value creation rather than short-term profit-making.
And learn more every day than yesterday.
So, optimism, ability to adapt and innovate, long-term impact, giving value and purpose to team members, lifelong learning.
And learn more every day than yesterday.
Jerome Knyszewski: Extensive research suggests that “purpose driven businesses” are more successful in many areas. Can you help articulate for our readers a few reasons why a business should consider becoming a purpose-driven business, or consider having a social impact angle?
Dorka Horvath: Fortunately, we live in an era of business when you no longer have to choose between making a profit and making a difference.
Being purpose- or mission-driven does not mean you have to be a charity, social enterprise, or even not-for-profit.
It simply means that you are using your business to achieve aims beyond the bottom line.
According to our business plan, we need to double our revenue every year, but it also means that more and more kids are studying with us every year and more teachers are teaching with our high-quality books.
Profit and mission can go hand in hand.
Jerome Knyszewski: As you know, “conversion” means to convert a visit into a sale. In your experience, what are the best strategies a business should use to increase conversion rates?
Dorka Horvath: I think the most challenging part is finding the product-market fit. Once you find it, you are ready to scale.
I recently read about Flywheel theory, which has dramatically helped identify the points that help accelerate conversion and revenue. I highly recommend it.
Profit and mission can go hand in hand. Dorka Horvath
Jerome Knyszewski: Of course, the main way to increase conversion rates is to create a trusted and beloved brand. Can you share a few ways that a business can earn a reputation as a trusted and beloved brand?
Dorka Horvath: I completely agree. Building reputation, especially in the online world is a challenging task.
I think the most effective help is to have “super users” who build your brand as volunteer ambassadors because they actually became fans.
Then the word of mouth machine starts to work.
If you also can present partners who already established their reputation in the market can also strengthen your own brand.
Jerome Knyszewski: This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
