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  • 11.3.2012 13:24
  • BB @ Skolkovo #1: Building Skolkovo Entrepreneurship Society

  • REF: With this press release, I became an advisor for the president of Skolkovo.

    My task in Skolkovo Foundation is clear. I want to use all my learnings, failures, connections and energy to support Skolkovo start-up entrepreneurs to GROW. Growing means growth as businesses, but simultaneously, as leaders, capable to lead in global arena.

    My motivation for this role is high and KPIs are very well aligned with the whole Skolkovo; I want that before I officially will retire (20.4.2040), at least 5% of Skolkovo born start-ups have reached 1 billion USD annual revenue level. If none of those have reached that, I/we have failed miserably.  In case more companies have succeeded to reach the target – I will definitely organize a big retirement party.  

    For me Skolkovo is not only a Russian exercise, but if it is successful, it will have an impact for the whole European region.  Russia is already today the biggest Internet nation in Europe (check this) and it is having a potential to drive growth in many sectors.

    My style as a leader and a colleague is to share all my findings, presentation materials and events thru digital channels. So if you need to know what I am up-to, check the latest blog post first. I also want to hear your comments and feedback thru this channel so comment and ask freely! 

    From YOU, I expect true interaction and collaboration. Whether you are a start-up entrepreneur, Skolkovo foundation colleague or an investor – let’s talk about joint opportunities and actions. If something sucks, let’s fix it as quickly as possible. Having said that, it seems that there is a tendency to talk about problems, limitations and conditions. Well, we have to take learnings seriously, but…

     … as it was written by George Bernard Shaw (1856 –1950), an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics:

    “People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them, make them”

    And lastly… NO FEAR. When we are jointly building Skolkovo entrepreneurship community, we should not be afraid of anything in this world (except of course our mother’s).

    Do WE have a common understanding for co-operation? With Love, bulldozer@sk.ru

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  • 12.3.2012 7:51
  • BB @ Skolkovo #2: My first sessions with clusters and entrepreneurs

  • During past weeks I have started sessions with a Skolkovo start-up companies (so far with IT, Biotech and Energy-clusters).  Without any over-statement, I am impressed about the pipeline of ideas, companies and entrepreneurs. It is true that whole Skolkovo (with its 2 year birthday approaching) as such is a start-up with its all excitement, hype and cynical doubts.  But when you get deeper under the hood, you meet super excellent people who want develop great products, hire top talents, conquer the world and make money. So precisely like with some best start-up companies. That makes me also a true believer of Skolkovo.

    During discussions and mentoring sessions, I have used my experiences and failures as an introduction to the topic (i.e. story written in http://www.nofear-community.com). It seems to be a pretty eye-opening approach to kick-start a dialogue. Quite quickly we are moving to the true motivation and leadership development of these young leaders.  Many of these companies are recruiting young talents, which are behaving pretty much in a same way in all over the world: With these guys and girls, your leadership is not based on title, wealth or your given status. 

    To be able to lead, you need to show your value to your team members practically every day. And your value can not be monthly salary. People want to learn from you and with you. You can’t be a be leader, if there is nobody who wants to follow you. And the generation of cyber cowboys behaves in a same way in all countries – including and especially in Russia.  

    The dialogue has just started, but you can see&get my introduction (sorry, it is 14 megabytes, so hold your breath for a second) powerpoint deck from here.

    To get some Russian flavour to this theme, this is what Mr Alexei Mordashov, the CEO of Severstal thinks about it:

    And the whole story: http://nofear-community.com/blog/2011/video-executive-interview-alexey-mordashov-ceo-severstal-group/

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