1) Good afternoon, Nikolay! We have heard a lot about you as a businessman, tell me, at what age did you start working? What was your initial experience?
I started working unofficially at the age of 14, helping my parents to convert their business from paper to electronic form. Of course, I had no experience at all, but I had excellent computer skills and knew then how to digitize almost any documents. In the early 90s, it was worth all the gold. And for me these are fond memories, because I was helping my parents and it seemed to me that I was doing a big and important job.
2) What are the main lessons you learned at the initial stage of your journey? Give some advice to young people.
Don't give up, don't be shy to ask questions if you don't understand something. It's much worse if you say you understand, but really don't understand anything. Even now I don't hesitate to ask people if I don't understand something. It's okay, it makes you develop and progress quickly.
3) We heard that you became a father quite early. How has parenting affected your business growth?
Yes, I got married at 17 and became a father at 18. To be honest, it made my brain work faster to feed a young family. There was no time for partying and drinking.
4) Many people today are afraid to start a family without a lot of money under their belt, what do you have to say about that?
Let me put it this way - you have to marry for love. If you constantly look for excuses and squeeze money, nothing will work. A strong marriage is built only on love and no matter how much money you have. Ask any wealthy person, "Do you have a lot of money?", everyone will say, "No." There is no such thing as a lot of money, so don't get hung up on it.
5) Does your family participate in your work, or does all work remain outside the walls of the house?
My daughter, son, and spouse help me all the time. Sometimes with advice, sometimes with designs, sometimes with translations, and sometimes with fresh eyes and ideas.
6) What are your basic principles and rules of life?
Decency and honesty. If you gave your word - keep it!
7) Do you have a hobby that allows you to take your mind off your routine? If not, how do you relax?
Beach Volleyball and Football Manager. The only game I've played for over 25 years in my spare time, which isn't much.
8) Watching a good movie helps many people relax. What kind of movies do you like?
I like movies with a well twisted plot, with an ending where you have to beat your brains in.
9) We know that no one will tell you how you earned the first million ... How did you earn the second?
Supplies of mining equipment to gold, coal, oil and diamond companies.
10) How do you feel about charity? Do you donate?
I regularly take part in many events, but I prefer not to put it on display. It seems to me that things like helping other people cannot be turned into PR and advertising.
11) If you had three months of free time and no financial restrictions and consequences, what would you do?
I would go sailing to various islands with my family and a company of close friends.
12) If you could invite any person in history to dinner, who would you choose and why?
Great Peter I, who built my city of St. Petersburg and made the Russian Empire. The man had such progressive views and did so much for my country that I would like to understand his energy and how did he manage to do all this? It's a kind of Elon Musk, only much more powerful.
13) Tell us about your biggest failure (in your opinion).
That's when I invested all my money in one sports project, believing a crook. I broke my own rule: "Never invest all your money in one project or business." As a result, I lost everything I had earned in more than 15 years. But time has put everything in its place - the scammer is in jail, and I have managed not only to recover, but even to reach a new level of development.
