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The official CEO.com podcast featuring unfiltered conversations with the leaders shaping our world.
Clint Betts: Andrejka, thank you so much for coming on the show. What an honor to have you. You are the founder, chairman, and CEO of Dynamix, and you are the managing partner of Regen Capital. Tell us how you became the CEO of Dynamix and what Regen Capital is. Am I saying that right? Is it Regen or Regan?
Andrejka Bernatova: It’s actually been renamed to Dynamix, so we have one unified platform now: the Dynamix platform.
Well, it’s been a long journey. A journey that started in communist Czechoslovakia quite a few decades ago, Clint.
Dynamix Capital is essentially an investment platform that’s sliced into multiple pieces.
We have our SPAC franchise, which focuses on taking companies public across industries, though with a major emphasis on energy infrastructure and digital assets. Our latest delivery announced was in the digital asset space.
Then we have the private side of the business, where we focus on private companies and take a very hands-on operational approach. We partner closely with businesses and help them grow to the next level.
Generally, we’re looking at EBITDA-generating companies that are ready to scale further.
Clint Betts: Tell me about your time in Czechoslovakia. What was that like? How did all of this start there?
Andrejka Bernatova: Well, it gives you a very different perspective growing up in a communist country under a socialist regime.
When the borders opened in 1989 and into the early 1990s, I decided I wanted to make my way to America.
So from a very small village, going to a tiny school, biking to school and taking buses, I decided I wanted to come to the United States.
Ultimately, I had to raise the money myself to do it. Honestly, that was probably the hardest fundraising experience of my life, Clint.
And I’m actually glad I learned it early because fundraising is critical whether you’re building your own business, running a private equity fund, or working in a senior corporate role.
I raised about $6,000 by going from one small businessman in post-communist Eastern Europe to another.
Some people gave me $20.
Some gave me $50.
Most people gave me nothing.
But that experience became one of the defining moments of my life.
It really set the foundation for what I do today.
I eventually came to the U.S. when I was 15, and the story continued from there.
Clint Betts: What was your pitch when you were raising the money? What were you telling people?
Andrejka Bernatova: It was incredibly naive.
I was 14 years old and really had nothing to offer.
I’d say things like:
“Do you want me to help your kids with math homework?”
“Can I help teach them Czech?”
My pitch was simply:
“My dream is to go to America. Please support my dream.”
But when you think about it, that’s actually very American in spirit.
People in America understand supporting someone’s dream.
In much of the world, charitable giving or giving money to help someone pursue something is much less common. Especially in a post-communist environment, it was extremely unusual.
But I was listening to a Steve Jobs talk recently where he said you don’t sell a product—you sell a mission.
Nike doesn’t sell shoes. It sells inspiration and mission.
And in a way, that’s what I was doing.
I wasn’t selling a product. I was selling a vision:
“We just became a democratic country, and I want to go somewhere and make something of myself.”
That was really the pitch.
Clint Betts: Wow. What a learning experience.
And obviously, you were successful.
What made you want to come to America? Why was that the dream?
Andrejka Bernatova: It really came down to one specific moment.
I tell my kids this all the time:
one moment can completely change the trajectory of your life.
And honestly, the moment that changed mine was very superficial.
I saw a poster advertising study abroad programs in America. It had a blonde woman running on the beaches of California with the Twin Towers in the background.
I looked at that poster and thought:
“That’s where I want to be.”
It was literally that simple.
Later in life, I’ve had other moments like that where I suddenly knew:
“I want to do that.”
“I want to become that.”
During communism, our borders were closed.
We could travel to places like the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, or Ukraine, but we couldn’t go to Austria, Germany, the UK, or America.
So once the borders opened, there was this overwhelming desire to experience the West.
That was one of the biggest gifts of the fall of communism.
Clint Betts: So you raised the money, got to America, and then what? What was the plan once you arrived?
Andrejka Bernatova: I remember arriving in Manchester, New Hampshire.
I imagined America would be New York, Boston, Washington, or Los Angeles.
A host family picked me up, and at first we were driving on these big highways in a huge car, and I thought:
“Yes, this is exactly what I imagined.”
Then the highway got smaller.
And smaller.
Eventually we turned onto a dirt road.
We arrived at a house in the middle of the woods with no neighbors for miles.
I put my suitcase down and thought:
“These people are probably going to kill me, and nobody will ever know because my parents don’t even speak English.”
It was absolutely not what I imagined.
But it turned out to be one of the most transformational years of my life.
That family represented the American Dream to me.
I came from a culture where if you said:
“I want to be president,”
people would respond:
“Well… maybe become a teacher first.”
You were taught not to dream too big.
But this family was the opposite.
They’d say:
“Of course you can become president. Change the Constitution if you have to.”
They completely rewired my brain.
The people who knew me before America and after America would tell you I became a completely different person because of that family.
Clint Betts: Did you always want to be in business?
Andrejka Bernatova: Actually, no. I always loved politics.
Growing up through the fall of communism, politics was discussed constantly around our family table.
I wanted to be a diplomat, maybe even president one day.
I studied government at Harvard—political science.
But then I realized I needed a practical toolkit.
I didn’t have anyone paying my bills or taking care of me.
So I consciously decided I needed a real skill set that would allow me to support myself financially.
That led me into finance and investment banking after college, which eventually became the foundation for Dynamix.
Clint Betts: Tell us about Dynamix. When you started it, what was the vision? Has it changed over time?
Andrejka Bernatova: Interestingly, the vision really hasn’t changed much at all.
The world has changed dramatically in the past five years, but our core philosophy hasn’t.
There are a few key pillars.
First, we like operating in both public and private markets. There’s tremendous cross-pollination between those worlds.
Second, we’ve always believed in “one energy.”
We never separated fossil fuels from renewables ideologically.
The reality is we need enormous amounts of energy over the next decade, and we need every viable source available if we want a resilient society.
There was tremendous excitement around renewables a few years ago, just like there was in 2006 and 2007.
But renewables tend to experience bursts of capital inflows followed by long droughts.
Sustainable energy transformation requires consistent, high-quality capital over long periods of time.
The third pillar is our operational mindset.
Most of our team and advisors are former operators—CEOs, CFOs, builders.
We know how to scale businesses from scratch into companies serving customers like Oracle, Microsoft, and Nvidia.
So we’re deeply operational in how we approach investing.
Clint Betts: Has AI completely changed the world for your business over the last few years?
How are you thinking about AI?
Andrejka Bernatova: Coming from energy, we’re used to volatility.
Energy is inherently volatile:
OPEC,
geopolitics,
commodity pricing,
infrastructure cycles.
AI is incredibly exciting. I use ChatGPT and AI agents constantly myself.
But what’s fascinating is this:
AI is constrained by energy.
Energy enables AI.
You need: data centers, power infrastructure, cooling systems, training facilities.
AI cannot exist at scale without massive energy infrastructure.
That’s why I’m actually more excited about energy today than I was during the shale boom.
You’re seeing what I call “San Francisco meets Houston.”
The tech world suddenly realizes it desperately needs the energy world.
Building software apps is one thing.
Building real-world infrastructure that powers civilization is another.
You’re talking about projects where if something goes wrong, people literally die.
That’s a completely different level of responsibility.
And I think the relationship between tech and energy is one of the most exciting developments happening right now.
Clint Betts: Is there any industry with more promise than energy over the next 20 years?
Because it really feels like everything flows back to energy now.
Andrejka Bernatova: Energy is foundational.
But we’re also incredibly excited about digital assets: crypto, Ethereum, tokenization.
Our latest acquisition is in the Ethereum ecosystem.
Ethereum is especially interesting because it has utility and programmable functionality.
Crypto reminds me of the internet or the iPhone.
It’s going to fundamentally reshape how people live, even if most people don’t fully understand that yet.
But energy is different because it’s timeless.
Human civilization has always needed energy: fire, coal, oil, gas, renewables, eventually nuclear.
The form evolves, but the need never disappears.
That’s why energy remains so compelling.
Clint Betts: What does a typical day look like for you?
Andrejka Bernatova: I honestly don’t really have a typical day.
I’m naturally a very structured person—maybe that’s the European side of me—but entrepreneurship teaches you flexibility very quickly.
I travel constantly.
A huge part of our business involves meeting investors, operators, and companies.
Right now, for example, we’re closing our Ether Machine deal while simultaneously filing for our third SPAC and raising multiple pools of capital at the same time.
So every day looks different.
But one thing I’m trying to prioritize more is quiet thinking time.
Running.
Driving without podcasts.
Just sitting and thinking.
Because as powerful as AI is, I actually argue with ChatGPT all the time.
AI gives you the obvious answers.
But higher-level thinking—the ability to connect dots creatively and strategically—that’s still human.
And I think developing that skill is going to become increasingly important for the next generation.
Clint Betts: That’s beautiful.
How are you thinking about the broader macroeconomic environment going into 2026?
Tariffs, volatility, all of it.
Andrejka Bernatova: At this point, I think we’ve simply adapted to constant volatility.
Coming from energy, that’s familiar territory.
Liberation Day caused panic earlier this year, and investors definitely paused for a while to reassess portfolios before committing to new opportunities.
But I try to ignore short-term noise.
I focus on:
What management teams are strong?
What industries have real long-term tailwinds?
What businesses are mission critical?
I’m interested in real businesses: infrastructure, utilities, services, AI-enabling platforms.
Not hype.
Not ideas.
Real businesses with real foundations.
That said, you absolutely must remain well-capitalized.
You need enough equity and liquidity to survive inevitable downturns.
That’s critical.
Clint Betts: Give me a sense for SPACs right now.
They exploded a few years ago, fell out of favor, and now seem to be coming back.
What’s the state of the SPAC market?
Andrejka Bernatova: SPACs are like leverage.
Leverage is incredibly powerful when applied correctly.
It’s disastrous when applied poorly.
If you put leverage on a weak business, it fails.
Same thing with SPACs.
The problem during the 2021–2022 wave was that many companies that never should have gone public were rushed into the market.
Some SPAC sponsors treated it like a side hobby.
That’s not how this works.
Taking a company public is serious.
You’re dealing with regulators, institutional investors, and public scrutiny.
We tell about 97% of companies we speak with:
“Do not go public.”
Because our responsibility is protecting businesses—not destroying them through bad capital structures or premature listings.
SPACs can be incredibly powerful for the right company in the right market with the right leadership.
But discipline matters.
Clint Betts: Finally, we end every interview the same way.
At CEO.com, we believe the chances one gives are just as important as the chances one takes.
When you hear that, who gave you a chance that helped get you where you are today?
Andrejka Bernatova: There were many people, but one especially important person was Richard McDonald, the headmaster of the boarding school I attended in Switzerland.
The school was one of the most expensive schools in the world, and I spent an entire year writing him letters explaining why he should admit me.
Finally, four days before school started, I called him and said:
“You have two choices:
I’m either sleeping inside the dorms or outside the dorms—but I’m coming.”
He actually went against the school’s board of governors and admitted me.
That changed my life.
And honestly, I think one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is:
you have to ask directly for what you want.
Nobody is sitting around thinking about your dreams for you.
You have to advocate for yourself.
That works.
It really works.
Clint Betts: Andrejka, you’re incredible. We absolutely need to have you back on.
What an extraordinary life and career you’ve had already.
Thank you so much for coming on the show.
Andrejka Bernatova: Thank you, Clint.
I hope this conversation inspires somebody.
It’s been wonderful being here.