Erik Best arrived in Prague in 1991 with a business plan
that he thought would only last for 5-6 years, yet 20 years later he is still
working in Prague. Erik is the publisher of Fleet Sheet, a daily one-page
news bulletin that covers the most important political and business related news
in the Czech Republic. As Erik says on Fleet Sheet’s website, “we
separate the wheat from the chaff.”
What
started out as a simple one page fax to a few companies has grown into a
business with multiple products, hundreds of loyal companies, and thousands of
daily readers. Erik and his team of 4-5 employees work hard to compile the
stories they deem relevant for their readers and have them ready to be shipped
out by 8 am. In addition to Fleet Sheet, Erik also offers a free email
product called the Final Word. This product is geared towards the mass
market and has about 6,500 daily readers.
Before
his life in Prague, Erik lived and studied in the United States. Born in North
Carolina and raised in Montana, Erik got his first work in journalism at the
age of 15, as a sports reporter for the Missoulian. Erik would go on to study
and graduate from Georgetown University with a degree in Eastern European
Studies and a concentration in Russian studies in 1985. After Georgetown, Erik attended
Middlebury College where he completed his master’s degree in Russian language.
Erik continued his studies at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill,
where he earned his MBA in 1987.
After
a brief stint in investment banking and consulting, Erik started looking at
possible cities around the world for him to start a career in. After traveling
to a handful of cities in both Europe and South America, Erik decided to set up
shop in Prague. Prague was the right fit for Erik for a few reasons. His
extensive studies of the Russian language would help him quickly learn Czech,
he already had a job offer in the city, and he believed that there were great
opportunities in the Czech Republic due to the good light it had been casted in
the early 1990’s. Now twenty years later after his move, Erik is still happily
working and living in Prague with his Czech wife Dita, and their four children.
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