Main overview of my business and professional activities here:Business, Professional Activities .
22 years have passed, and so much has blended together in my mind. My first job was as an administrator at a computer club while I was studying programming at university. An interesting fact: a couple of weeks after I started, my father came by and said, “Stop messing around.” When I asked why, he said, “You’re studying programming full-time. Why do you need this job? What are you doing here?”
This was 2002, and my salary at the club was around $100–150. Incidentally, in 2004, when I took a job as a programmer, I earned about the same. My father was quite firm, but I told him I wanted to fulfill my promise to the people I worked for. I explained that I didn’t want to let down the people who had entrusted me with a job, even though in reality I probably wouldn’t have caused any serious problems by leaving. Still, I was clear-headed enough then to not simply abandon them.
I worked 24-hour shifts, turning computers on and off. Kids came to play at these computer clubs. Naturally, I played a lot myself, barely slept, and then went to university. Despite this schedule, I finished my second year with excellent grades.
Eventually, my father accepted my reasoning. I worked there about six months before leaving due to a conflict with management.
Around that time, I made many new friends. While still at the club, a group of us decided to start a phone trade business. We went to Poland, bought phones, brought them back, and sold them. There were four of us, but I decided not to continue with this venture.
After the computer club, I helped out with my father’s pharmacy business, focusing on automation. I began creating management systems—inventory, finance, payments, and so forth. I enjoyed normalizing and structuring data, working on database architecture, inventing tasks for myself, and assisting with various calculations and accounting details.
In 2004, I decided to find a new job. I had two interviews: one for a merchandiser at Pepsi (they turned me down), and another at a French company as a programmer. That’s how my programming career began. I quickly moved into managing global projects. We did all sorts of things, from automating enterprises and transport companies to developing GPS and GSM tracking systems, handling surveillance camera automation for French police, managing electronic queues for embassies, and industrial printing solutions.
Then I worked in the semiconductor industry (at a company name I can’t recall) developing software for robots and operators. We collaborated with Intel, Samsung, SEH, Infineon, and others worldwide. Every two weeks, I traveled to Taiwan, Austria, France, Germany, and the U.S. We developed a vast range of software.
In 2007, I decided to start my own software development business with a former classmate. We split shares 60/40, with me as the main initiator. On the one hand, we automated enterprises, insurance companies, furniture production, and rental agreements. On the other, we developed the first e-ticketing system in the Russian-speaking market. We also built websites, mobile apps (just as the Apple Store launched), and did SEO—really, we covered a lot. We had international projects, including some in e-learning for British clients.
In 2010, a new partner joined, and I decided to leave that business. It was my own choice, and looking back, I believe it was right. My father, who’d been in business since the ’90s, was puzzled. He couldn’t understand how one could build something and then just leave saying, “I feel something’s off.” I’ve always been inclined to make quick decisions, although now I think I could have acted even faster at times—no procrastination, just trust and do it immediately.
After leaving that business, I felt I didn’t want to run my own company anymore and instead wanted to try the corporate world. At the same time, I had a few orders—engineering projects, I think one in the UK, dealing with circuit designs for printed boards and other mechanical engineering and microelectronics components. I’d always been involved in electronics and microelectronics projects.
While searching for a job, I met someone in Minsk, a director at Qiwi (a major Russian mobile payments operator). They suggested I go to Russia because the market there was bigger and more interesting than Belarus.
By chance, I ended up at an interview with Megaplan. I decided to meet them because I was visiting a friend’s wedding in Moscow. During the interview, I met the owner, who at that time was looking for a commercial director. A few weeks later, they wrote to me: “We guarantee you a position as Commercial Director, but actually we want you to run this business and become the CEO.”
So in autumn 2012, I moved to Moscow and started managing Megaplan, which then had about 100 employees and around 10,000 leads and clients. Within a few years, we grew that to 120-140 thousand. We were innovators in cloud software in Russia and launched numerous projects and partnerships.
At Megaplan, we underwent many management changes, focusing on mass sales and developing large-scale funnels. We built big call centers and dived deep into leads, conversions, CAC, LTV. During this time, I started creating large financial models and delving into IFRS, because the company was constantly in negotiation for sale. “1C,” a major software company, was buying various assets, and Baring Vostok Capital Fund got involved. Ultimately, in 2012, we sealed a deal to sell 50% of Megaplan to “1C.”
In parallel, I managed other side projects. For example, we imported a batch of toys from China and sold several containers. That was just one of many “ad-hoc” projects I handled at the time.
In those years, I had a successful corporate career. At the end of 2011, I met some people who suggested using new marketing funnels. We began developing what are now known in info-marketing as compression funnels for promoting Megaplan.
Around that time, I went on vacation to Vietnam. My wife and I filmed videos of me relaxing while my team managed work remotely through a task management system. The people filming these videos with me were minority partners in a new organization called “Business Molodost” (Business Youth). At that time, it was just 10-15 people running seminars on “How to start your business,” catering to a small group of entrepreneurs. They suggested integrating my task management system into their training for small businesses.
After several meetings with the founders of Business Molodost—Misha Dashkiev and Petya Osipov—they invited me to become a partner. So I left my CEO role at Megaplan and joined Business Molodost, which then operated out of a small apartment on the 5th floor of a residential building on Tverskaya Street, where you had to wear slippers inside. Coming from a corporate environment, it was unusual—no sales staff, no directors. A tiny team making about 1 million rubles a month in revenue.
Initially, I joined as a managing partner and co-owner, and six months later I suggested myself as CEO. From late 2012 to mid-2014, I served as CEO, then remained just an owner, stepping down from the CEO role.
During this time at Business Molodost, many professional events took place: various businesses, ideas, and projects. But the main focus was Business Molodost itself, a major project. By 2013-2014, we reached over $20 million in annual revenue and built a large, systematic business.
Another significant milestone came in 2015. In 2014, I met Andrey Rogachev, the founder of the “Pyaterochka” grocery chain and a shareholder in X5 Group—one of the first Russians to earn a billion dollars without privatization. We discussed joint projects even while I was at Business Molodost.
In 2015, Andrey Rogachev and his partner started launching new food market formats that later evolved into popular food courts. I helped him in all aspects—new ways to attract visitors, commercial strategies, market layout, and overall aesthetics. We introduced a total innovation: selling market spots online, generating 200-300 inquiries and significantly reducing ethnic monopolies in these marketplaces.
In 2015, Andrey Rogachev and I discussed creating a massive project potentially worth billions of dollars—a huge tech platform for wholesale food trade. The idea was to enable transactions through our platform, seeing potential in tens of billions of dollars.
By May 2015, we signed a cooperation agreement and began developing the project. In early 2016, we fully launched, registered the company, and moved forward actively.
This project consumed a significant part of my life. We developed a technology platform for the Russian-speaking market, aiming globally, meeting wholesalers, producers, financial institutions, and global funds. We created a trading and auction system in Russia, introduced new fintech solutions for commerce, and partnered with many. It was a large-scale startup full of challenges and innovation.
In 2015, I also expanded into advisory work, mentoring business owners. Projects like Like, Synergy, and Vse Instrumenty came up. These engagements varied in duration—some a month long, others lasting years. I helped boost and grow businesses from an outside observer’s perspective, with a solid understanding of how to scale from the owner’s viewpoint and how to build teams and processes.
By 2018-2019, the AGRO24 project (the platform we built) started winding down due to unit economics issues.
In 2019, I launched a new venture with Anton Kratasyuk called A2.LIFE, focusing on training entrepreneurs, owners, and executives in business management and operational systems. I also helped with several of his educational projects in the infobusiness sphere, joining them as an owner.
In 2020, I met Dima Krutov, founder of Skillbox, over a coffee. We discussed creating an educational operator uniting various platforms to go public on NASDAQ in the U.S. It was an ambitious venture for the Russian market, and even globally, it would have been impressive. Intrigued, I joined the project.
I became CEO of GeekBrains, while Dima remained CEO of Skillbox. We managed these companies for several years, but by 2023 I left my position. Given the market conditions and changes in the Russian-speaking market, a NASDAQ listing became less likely.
GeekBrains is one of the largest IT education operators in the Russian-speaking market, with over 6 million users, more than 300,000 completing long-term programs. This project is undoubtedly in the top 20 global IT education operators.
All the while, I remained an advisor, mentor, and was interested in various businesses and formed new partnerships.
After moving to the U.S., I got involved in venture capital investments (VC). This allowed me to participate actively in various AI startups and devote more attention to them. Simultaneously, I’m a partner in a software development company with about 200 developers, primarily serving the U.S. market. This strengthened my position in my own tech ventures.
I continue to be active in EdTech as an owner (education, psychology, B2B professional education), advisor, or in other roles.
I’m also quite involved in the real estate market as a co-owner of a mortgage lending company in the U.S.
Main overview of my business and professional activities here: Business, Professional Activities .
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