Key insights on the startup ecosystem in Russia: Dmitry Dakhnovsky, serial entrepreneur

Dmitry Dakhnovsky, Founder of TEKAMA, is a serial entrepreneur, investor and innovation ecosystem engineer. TEKAMA is the leading Russian consulting/training company that caters to the high technology and software industries.

From 2009 to 2012, Dakhnovsky was Advisor to the CEO at Russian Venture Company, a Russian government fund of funds and an innovation development institution, where he advised on strategy, operation management and data analytics.

Based on his experience in Russia, Dakhnivsky shares his learning in the startup ecosystem and the limitations in Russia and compares it with India.

These are the key takeaways from the video:

• The startup ecosystem quality in India is much better than Russia. Alongside, the startup ecosystem in US is tough because there you can only win if you are in the top 3 positions.
• In case an Indian startup is looking at Russia as their market, the founder should have at least one Russian partner. This will help in understanding the dynamics of the Russian market better.
• Russian labour market is very good in quality but lacks in quantity. Currently there are about 3,00,000 developers and almost all of them are employed. As a result, the service companies go to former Soviet Union Republics for labour.
• If you are looking for quantity then probably Russia is not the place, in case of quality then definitely it is. Russians are probably the best in the world when it comes to designing algorithms.
• Russian companies cannot issue equity and stock options to the employees according to their corporate law. As a result of which most of the companies go and register offshore in other jurisdictions.