What do Russian startupers do poorly

Everyone knows that in Russia the best programmers. But in the number (and quality) of startups, we are far behind.

You can and should be proud of our teams, which have received, inter alia, international recognition. But you need to be aware that in the US there are many more such teams.

There are, of course, objective reasons for this lag. The amount of money in Silicon Valley is much more than in the Russian Federation. We are not yet ready to seriously invest in our country (with certain exceptions).

But I highlighted four more qualities that American startups have, but are often absent from the Russian one. And the lack of these qualities seriously hinders the emergence of new IT companies in the vastness of our homeland.

So, Russian startups are not good at:

1. Present your developments

Since childhood, Americans have been taught to speak beautifully and express their thoughts correctly. They make reports, participate in disputes, and elect class presidents. As a result, the average American embarks on a professional life with the ability to clearly state his thoughts, speak beautifully and coherently.

Our programmers are talented, but often unsociable. They do not like the public and long communication. It’s easier for them to write a cool product than to make a decent presentation of 20 slides about it.

What to do? To learn to communicate, replenishing skills lost in childhood. Or at least cultivate them in not so talented, but more socially active programmers, turning them into managers.

2. Interact with investors

Americans are used to investors, they understand their logic and rules of the game. They know that these are the people / companies who came to earn some money on them. This means that these investors need to show exactly the growth potential of the company.

(A small digression is needed here - American investors are tuned for long-term investments. Therefore, they do not expect instant profit or even return on payback. For them, market share and, as a result, growth of the company's capitalization are more important. But when the company captures the market, it will be possible profitable to sell or come up with a monetization model.Russian investors are not so “good", they need profits on a fairly short horizon.)

Ourstartups often perceive investors as “wizards in blue helicopters” with lots of money and are ready to tell them about their wonderful product. And investors want to hear the numbers. How will the market share be captured, the approximate volume of this potential market, payback periods, etc.

Unfortunately for our developers, they are not used to thinking in such categories.

What to do? To hire external temporary consultants to prepare investment proposals and to communicate with investors. Hires the same business freelance programmers.

3. Sell your developments

As far back as the 1950s, Americans had the saying, “It’s easy to do, but you sell!” The crowded markets after the Great Depression dictated their rules. Since then, the main people in American companies are sellers and those who are developing the business. All startups of the past and our time are built around them. Wozniak was a technological genius, but Apple Computers "took off" thanks to Steve Jobs.

In ourthe country has always been paramount to production. First, there was a recovery after the Civil War, then industrialization, then recovery after the Great Patriotic War, then mass construction of housing, the storming of space, mass production of consumer goods. Demand was itself, but talented engineers (such as Korolev) were always worth their weight in gold. that is why our startups are usually built around the creators of the product who do not have enough experience to bring it to the market.

What to do? Programmers will have to call good sellers to the company and give them a voice in the management of the company. Well, or grow out of yourself a universal personality at the level of Edison - perhaps the only successful inventor and businessman in one person.

4. Be calm about your products.

For Americans, the main thing is not a product, but the company's financial result. First of all, they are not creators, but businessmen. Perhaps the only exception was Steve Jobs, but for him the commercial result and product quality were closely related. If for business you need to change the product, cut the functionality, stop development altogether - the Americans will do it right away. Their programmers are more likely artisans.

Ourprogrammers are creators! Their products are their brainchild. Something to change ??? Yes, they did not sleep at night, honing this functionality! Invite external developers ?? Yeah, so they climbed into a quality code with their own hands ?! Write some block that sellers are asking for ?? Guys, I have not finished yet with a really beautiful thing that may not bring money, but it is painfully interesting to implement!

What to do? Prioritize. Understand what you want - fame, money, or the feeling that this programlinna, which is on the computers of thousands of people, is made with your own hands. If you want money, follow the wishes of marketers and sellers. Moral Satisfaction Needed - Follow Inspiration. Sometimes it even matches.

In fact...

... everything is not so bleak. Wargaming, MSQRD and many other projects are becoming world leaders in their industries and niches.

So we can. So - you just need to learn a little bit ...