While searching for innovative matters around us, we came across “MODENA.” We noticed that MODENA has a unique concept and provides technological excellence in the form of innovative home appliances, renewable energy solutions, and other such products. We tried contacting Michael Jizhar, the Executive Vice President of MODENA.
MODENA always comes up with unique ideas and surprises the customers, clearly distinguishing themselves from competitors. Last year, the corporation partnered with Marvel and started offering superhero-themed appliances. MODENA also has social media presence on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.
Michael is a passionate visionary who focuses on building the future. He comes up with innovative ideas when it comes to connecting the world. He aims to do it by integrating the home, mobility, and the city. He focuses on providing a seamless journey to people that makes lives easier through the products and solutions he introduces through MODENA and his diverse portfolio of companies.
The most interesting part is that Michael Jizhar started his entrepreneurship journey right at 14 years of age. Yes, you got that right. He is currently 24 years old, but he started his own company only at the age of 16.
Learn more about Michael Jizhar, his career journey, and how MODENA is paving the way toward a futuristic approach to providing ease to humanity.
Explain the background of you and the company in detail.
My late grandfather Tomas Jizhar was the early futurist who started MODENA and
envisioned making lives easier in the late 1960s. It started with just a manufacturing facility made for home appliances in Emilia Romagna, Italy.
In 1981, the whole organization was bought out from its other European partners and shifted most of the manufacturing, research, and development to Asia.
While home appliances today are mostly taken for granted, back in the day, a washing machine and a dishwasher were innovations that made people’s lives easier.
MODENA has offered more than just home appliances in the last decade, expanding into
areas such as Energy, Mobility Solutions, Medical Equipment, Aerospace, and Commercial Products.
What are your goals?
Our vision is to be a driving force toward the interconnected world, leading to a brighter future. We aim to create an ecosystem in our company that connects the idea of home, city,
and mobility. We aim to easily reach a future where people live at peace with technology and leverage its advantages.
For example, If I am in the office and going home in a car, I can turn the lights, AC, and cooler on in my home remotely so that the home’s ambiance and the atmosphere is all set when I reach home. It makes life easier and leads to a future for the ease and comfort of individuals.
What do you feel is the biggest strength of yourself/company right now?
Our top strength is the amount of passion we have for everything we do. As a company, we are culturally different, with young people as young as 22 taking significant positions in the organization. Most companies hire older people in our industry due to the experience factor.
Whereas here, we are like building blocks of bigger visions for young and passionate people to have a strong sense of passion. To achieve such goals, we go to the extent of working up to 14 hours daily. We come to the office in the morning and finish at 10-11 pm on a normal day. We have a concept that there’s no shortcut to attaining success. Compared to the competitors, we can achieve everything half the time because we are working more than the usual time.
What was the path you/your company took to get to where you are today?
I started my career when I was 14 years old. My late grandfather used to be pushy in such matters (in a good way). Hence, I started selling sneakers to my friends at school. Later on, at
the age of 15, I started selling to my father’s friends and began training to sell more serious commodities like sand and coal from Jakarta to overseas.
At 16, when I began to compile more and more funds, I started my own startup company in the Edutech sector. I used to be late to classes and often got detention. I then presented to them a learning application I developed called “Backpack.” The idea here was to turn classes and learn online—I guess I was a few years ahead of the times.
At 19 years old, as I was exposed to the bright minds in the Valley, I had the brilliant idea of starting MOLOGIZ, which utilizes blockchain technology to aggregate logistics within Asia. Logistics is more complex than ride-hailing, so we utilized blockchain and big data to ensure every space in the cargo is used efficiently.
What have been the biggest challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Getting people to believe in your vision. Today, most, if not all of our partners want to work with us because they believe in our vision. We need people to believe in our visions and that we can achieve the same together. In the GCC, we entered a strategic partnership with
Al-Futtaim to represent us. Nevertheless, the journey wasn’t easy since it took a whole year to get them on board to work with us. Then, I had the privilege of carrying our vision to different countries, including Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Uzbekistan, Turkey, Qatar, etc.
The most challenging part is when people don’t believe in our vision— I wouldn’t say
anyone hates our vision, but sometimes some people prefer to live in the status quo— we have to get back up until they eventually come onboard. It is a journey, and that’s what I did.
Give us one word that describes you the best.
Persistence. I am very persistent. Sometimes people don’t believe in you, but you must get back up. I am very pushy, which is why I believe we have to push, push, push. We have to get people to believe in you.
What makes you excited about Mondays?
I think it’s the passion in the team that we have which keeps us motivated for Mondays. We have a really great team of strong believers who believe in passion and good work. We have grown a lot compared to three years ago. We are at a point where we have more people than we approached before to believe in what we do. It’s great to know your vision is moving and people buy your products and represent yourself every week.
What do you value most about your culture and vision?
We dream big. We don’t have a vision that can be achieved within 5-7 years. It can take a lifetime to become a driving force in the interconnected world and get people to adopt our products worldwide. Our smart solutions and renewable energy productions include solar panels and energy storage solutions for the home and larger-scale projects alike.
Our vision also incorporates every single home to be powered by batteries. We use solar energy to power up the homes to be fully independent and sustainable.
Tell us about a project that forced you to be innovative and creative.
We have been developing electric cars since 2016. Starting your own car company can be very hard. Today we are developing new prototypes. Developing 1 million cars is quite tough with the prevailing logistic issues like supply chain shortage. That’s why we are using a unique initiative. We can take any cars like Toyota, Honda, BMW, etc. Then we take out its
engine and replace it with your own electrical engine. We have to be innovative and creative for this. Just because we can build everything with the current situation doesn’t mean we have to. Instead, we try to be innovative and creative and use technology to the fullest.
What are your company’s strategies, and how do they stand unique from your competitors?
Our company is organized in a way that we have a centralized molecule. What we do is all a part of this molecule connected to each other. They are organized as a standing unit. We have TV, cutting-edge home appliances features, solar panels and solar batteries, electric scooters, and more. It’s much better when we have a centralized system for these. Our cohesiveness, vision, and passion make us unique. We differ in how we structure and how we are governed as a company.
A lot of people at a young age were raised quickly if they showed merit in our company. It doesn’t matter if they have years of experience or not. If they have skills and show merits, then they are worth promoting.
Tell us something about your memorable incident in your leadership?
I am a young person. We have a lot of other board of directors. When I have grown, I have also grown together with others. I think the most important incident was when I got a vital deal in the UAE. The Middle East is like a test case market for us. When we finished the
agreement with Al-Futtaim, it gave me confidence that young people can run an organization.
I believe that I have inspired many people and can continue to do so. We are also trying to
change the world’s perspective towards the Indonesian people. When once Indonesians were known to import housekeepers, we should now be known as engineers, hard workers, and pioneers. We are changing an entire country’s perspective. As a leader, I focus on changing how people think with my team. It was a challenge, but I am very thankful that I could make a difference.
How do you see the company changing in two years, and how do you see yourself creating that change?
Nowadays, a lot of times, we want to run very fast and agile. Within the last two years, we have been governed as a startup within a larger organization. However, we are working very hard to slap strong corporate governance and a system of control in place. When you are running as a startup, even at a corporate level, we are running faster, and you will see results more efficiently.
What are the services/solutions or products offered by your company on par with the current industry standards? Tell us something about your upcoming products or
services?
We have created the world’s first solar AC called the “SolarAir.” You can run AC in the daytime without electricity anywhere. We also have our tankless solar water heaters called the SolarPure, which aims to democratize warm water for the masses and the people living in remote areas, as in most developing countries. People don’t have to worry about the increased electric bills and power cuts. We are even providing a battery pack for the home called the PowerPad.
Stay tuned for the next decade to come. The future is long and belongs to the dreamers. I can only say that the future is Seamless.
Connect with Michael Jizhar on LinkedIn.