What I’m good at
What I do best is solve unsolvable business problems. Seriously — the harder and more impossible the situation, and the more of them there are, the more effective I get. Uber Eats Russia · 2017–2018Came in as GM when net inflows per order were deeply negative. Turned them positive in three months, tripled sales in six. A couple of mechanics invented in Moscow later rolled out across EMEA: restaurant-funded promotions and liveops. Read more →
I’m very good at finding and keeping great people. I’m bad at routine, but because I can find the right people, the routine usually takes care of itself.
An important part of my career is an MBA and strategy consulting. So I can work not only with startups but with enterprise too. Strategy Partners · 2004–2010Six years at Strategy Partners, from associate to junior partner. Led projects in government, telecom, automotive distribution, high tech: corporate strategy, operations, org design, performance management. Later built a strategy practice from scratch at KSK. Read more → and plenty more.
I’m good at strategy, operations and org design. And above all — I get up to speed in new industries and projects extremely fast.
I like working under intense load — high speed, deadlines, several hard problems at once. Otherwise I get bored. When I’m bored, the energy drains. When I’m overloaded, there’s plenty of it.
So my burnout comes not from load, but from boredom.
Where you should and shouldn’t bring me in, and how I manage — on a separate page.
What I find interesting
Everyone is running into AI. I think the strategic value there will stay with the owners of models and compute, while startups get quick money and quick falls.
I’m interested in a different trend — relatedness: closeness, care, live contact between beings. Intelligence and content will become infinite and cheap, while attention, presence and relationships stay scarce — and get valued more and more. Education as a place for relationships, not knowledge. Animals as family members. Communities, retreats, communities for ageing. Mental health in everyday life. Land in beautiful places.
In detail — what to build before the singularity.
Where I come from
Briefly — four schools, each gave me something. Rostov-on-Don · 1991–2001From 14 to 27: newspaper distribution, blinds manufacturing, currency exchange offices. Grass roots — selling tomatoes at the market or starting a business with $300 over and over, I learned in practice to feel people and understand what drives them. Read more → taught me to feel people. Strategy Partners, KSK · 2004–2017The ability to become a near-expert in any topic within a month, the discipline of proof, the balance between research and leap of faith, exposure to dozens of companies. Read more → — to think and get up to speed fast. GM Uber Eats Russia · 2017–2018How to run a company that is already huge and still growing super fast. The quality of people there cannot be overstated. Read more → — how scale and speed live together. Hipway, StarChef, Yung Sidekick · 2010–nowTravel, foodtech, AI SaaS in healthcare. I definitely know 0→1 and 1→10: teams from scratch, venture terms, product, launch, pivoting hypotheses and surviving when money is short. Read more → — building from zero and surviving.
Each one has its own page, including what didn’t work.