How to conquer Silicon Valley: tips of three Russians who succeeded

Silicon Valley in the state of California has long gained a reputation as a paradise for programmers and venture investors. Among the thousands of IT specialists working there, there are also quite a few immigrants from Russia. BBC Russian Service I spoke with three Russian businessmen who had left several years ago to conquer Silicon Valley and still live and successfully work there.

Фото: Depositphotos

Pavel Cherkashin, Managing Partner of GVA Capital, Alexander Protsyuk, founder of the blockchain platform, and Artyom Goldman, entrepreneur, shared their experiences.

About the features of work in Silicon Valley

Pavel Cherkashin: Silicon Valley is a real Mecca for IT engineers, everything here is made by engineers and for engineers, from working conditions to forms of entertainment. It is easy for a qualified IT specialist to find a job to suit his taste - from large corporations to startups. All you need is a residence permit and very high qualifications in your field.

Specialists in the fields of artificial intelligence and machine learning, computer security, blockchain platforms, video processing, and complex system developments are most in demand. There is also a great demand for scientists in the field of new materials, chips, biotechnologies.

Alexander Protsyuk Photo: Facebook

Alexander Protsyuk: The main feature of working in Silicon Valley is the maximum proximity to the epicenter of innovation. Every day, thousands of the most innovative companies that are concentrated here come up with something new, interact with each other and, in a synergetic soup, give birth to ideas for the future. Many projects, such as self-driving cars, are being tested here.

As for IT-specialists, the main advantage for them, in addition to very high salaries, is the ability to touch the most innovative technologies and influence many areas.

Differences from work in Russia

Artem Goldman: Here the salaries are higher, there are more offers. There are not many giant IT companies in Russia, just one or two: Yandex, Mail.ru, Kaspersky, several large banks. That is, within 50 companies that hire developers in large numbers and set interesting tasks for them. And in the Valley there are tens of thousands of companies.

In America, more market, more opportunities, a better developed ecosystem. To attract funding to the project, to find the necessary expertise easier. The IT market is much more developed, and the consumption market for IT products is simply larger due to the fact that the country's GDP is greater at times.

Alexander Protsyuk: In Russia, there is no similar ecosystem that has developed historically in Silicon Valley: Stanford University, silicon transistors, government developments, the dot-com boom (Companies whose business model is entirely based on working within the Internet. - BBC Note), social networks , blockchain, etc.

Innovations are not coming to Russia, respectively, there is no community working on the cutting edge of the latest technologies. As a rule, the opposite is true: Russian companies that have managed to get on international radars will certainly strive to get into Silicon Valley. And programmers, as one of the most curious corporate layers, often follow the movement of companies to where it is interesting to work and where there are more like-minded people.

Pavel Cherkashin Photo: Facebook

Pavel Cherkashin: For people coming from Russia, the nonlinearity of success is most striking, that is, you can’t work a little better and get a little more or relax and get a little less. You need to be really high specialist in your subject area.

The engineering culture is very different from the one we are used to in Russia. Only here the product and scientific development are more important than other business attributes (sales, marketing, finance, legal registration). “Money can buy a good CEO, but a good product cannot be bought, for that you need your own Steve Jobs,” venture investors say here.

In general, a brilliant programmer, whose ideas in Russia will only be dismissed, will become the center of attention in the Valley and will receive everything necessary for the realization of his ideas. At the same time, a mediocre programmer can and will get a big salary, but given the significantly higher overhead costs (taxes, housing costs and insurance), there is no gain.

About attitude towards immigrants from Russia

Artem Goldman: People who come from Russia are treated normally, if they are generally adequate and do some interesting business and if they have a clean background. They are treated in the same way as immigrants from India, China and other countries. There is no prejudice, there is more likely a heightened interest, considering how strong developers are in Russia.

Many Russians have achieved success here, starting with Google co-founder Sergey Brin and the founder of the Evernote online service, Philip Libin, and ending with hundreds, thousands of other specialists.

Artem Goldman Photo: Facebook

Alexander Protsyuk: Silicon Valley has a very strong Russian-speaking IT community. What is only AMBAR (American Business Association of Russian-speaking professionals). This organization often holds open events where you can quickly immerse yourself in an IT crowd.

In addition, I believe that the IT industry is not about politics or nationality. They do business here and create a technological picture of the future, so in many organizations you can meet Chinese, Indian, American and Russian-speaking colleagues.

Pavel Cherkashin: In the engineering environment, immigrants from Russia have an impeccable reputation. Graduates of the Physics and Technology Institute are as highly valued here as graduates of Stanford and other prestigious schools. Russian speech is common in the research departments of almost all the major technology companies, for any technological breakthrough there is always a pair of Russian or Ukrainian names.

Talents and money flow from all over the world to the Valley, and a very high level of tolerance has developed in society: discrimination based on nationality against any member of the society is perceived as wildness.

On the impact of sanctions on the work of Russians

Alexander Protsyuk: Giants like Gazprom are feeling the sanctions, but we work in the startup industry, where companies are too small to pay attention to. On the other hand, those who work here are launching local American companies or international companies that are united under an umbrella brand in which the role of Russia is not tracked at all.

A new trend of decentralization is felt here, and this motivates creating primarily international products for the international consumer.

Pavel Cherkashin: Problems arise with Russian money. Any bank, company (including startups) must ensure compliance with US laws in terms of sanctions. Accordingly, it is easier not to get involved with the Russians at all, than to check everything in detail.

Questions like: “Prove that none of your employees ever traveled to occupied Crimea” (a real question from the bank) can be quite problematic from a purely practical point of view. But when the funds have already been verified and confirmed by an American bank and reputation, then no more questions arise.

Read also on ForumDaily:

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As a native of Uzbekistan, he threw down Wall Street and started a business in Russia

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