Ask a question to a venture investor

Colleagues, I have the opportunity to interview tomorrow the director of business development of the venture company Fast Lane Ventures . An interview specifically for the company’s blog on Habrahabr, the last posts of which were welcomed by the community, to put it mildly, not very friendly - although we previously did a project like a startup link from an investor . I invited them to give an interview in which they would answer all the urgent questions that are asked to them on Habré. And I hope you support me in this endeavor. Of course, questions can be not only about their activities, but also about the venture investment market, startups, management and finance in general.

For reference:

Fast Lane Ventures is a Russian company with Western capital, created to develop, launch and promote new Internet businesses. Unlike traditional venture capital funds, Fast Lane Ventures not only invests its own funds in the implementation of promising ideas, but also organizes the process of creating new Internet businesses, acting as an investment and operational partner at the same time.

In general, offer your questions, plus the options you like - I will try to ask everything. Under the cut, I sketched a list of several topics that I prepared for discussion:

1. The launch of your latest project - Pinme.ru - caused a certain stir among the Internet audience due to the fact that even outwardly it is an almost exact copy of pinterest.com. How do you handle legal issues with “originals”? Do you buy from them the rights to the idea and design?
2. If the idea of ​​an original “pioneering” startup is born in Fast Lane Ventures, will it have a chance to be implemented in FLV or your principles are unshakable?
3. What interesting projects and concepts do you see for adaptation now in the West?
4. List the main trends of the coming 2012 in Russia and in the world, as you see them.
5. What is the fundamental difference between the Russian business mentality from the American or, for example, European? What are our strengths, weaknesses?
6. It is often said that laws in Russia are imperfect, laws on doing business - especially. Are there any problem areas in the venture business, something that interferes with work and would be worth changing? What are the positive aspects of our legislation?

If you have more ideas, criticism of this list and suggestion is welcome.