Danny Mekić (24) is the owner of NewTeam, a consultant and the writer of Entrepreneur in a Week, to be published in the near future. He was declared most successful young entrepreneur in the Netherlands by Sprout in 2009 and says he never spends money on meat.

Flair When I give a lecture, I rarely park my car in front of the building: I often see young entrepreneurs showing off their possessions, but I always find that embarrassing. Some of them love to dramatically pick up the bill in a restaurant and boast: ‘It’s on me.’ You shouldn’t do that, it affects your image. As image goes, I myself should spend more money on clothes. I go clothes shopping only twice a year and I rarely manage to find good outfits. So then I’m walking around in a shirt that really doesn’t match my pants again.

Steinway I bought a vinyl record turntable, but for a music collection on vinyl I’d have to dig into a savings account. There’s a big difference between perfect digital stereo sound and analogue vinyl record sound from a little speaker. In the latter case it’s really about listening to a record, partly also because it takes more work to be able to listen to it. And by a coincidence, I once got to play the Steinway of the Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ. A Steinway looks like a normal grand piano, but the feel of the keys is very different. I thought the experience was so cool that once a week now I hire a grand piano in a music school for a part of a day.

Bartering I never spend money on meat. I’ve been a vegetarian for years as a matter of principle, because it’s so harmful to the environment. I once heard that a meat eater in a Prius does more damage to the environment than a vegetarian in a Hummer, and I don’t even drive a Hummer. And I often give advice as a medium of exchange. Not to save money, but just to see what you can agree to without using money. So far I’ve gotten free hotel accomodations, a phone and a guitar. Aside from a Steinway, I’d like to spend money on an entrepreneurs’ home in the centre of Amsterdam, where everyone has their own apartment and works in a central, communal workspace.

This article was published in the Dutch magazine Quote.