From good to great

Very often, when starting a new business or creating an innovative product, we are faced with a choice in which direction to move. And if you do not copy someone’s idea, but do something truly new and unique, we have to rely only on our own intuition. Parallels Vice President Nikolai Dobrovolsky spoke about how not to make a mistake from the first steps in an interview with Multimillionaire . - Your company became world famous about 10 years ago. Can you say that the emergence of your key product - Parallels Desktop for Mac - is just luck?



- Once the great American swimmer Michael Phelps was asked how much luck and luck affect the number of his victories. He replied that the more he trained, the more he was lucky. In our case, everything is the same. Before becoming the world leader in software production, we have been working on our Parallels Desktop project for more than five years. Moreover, there were cases when the whole team for several months did not receive a salary.

- What is the secret to success? Why did you manage to make a world-class project, while hundreds of thousands of other programmers didn’t?

- In my opinion, the terms of any successful startup: a clear vision, a good team and focus on the product.

- Do you think that others do not?

- Quite often, I observe a picture when a young team or startup is united by an interesting idea. People begin to do something and after a year or two, having not received results, they give up, clutching at a new project. Then the story repeats itself. And now after 10-15 years, people remain in place. Spent time, effort, energy, but no result. If you believe in your idea, do not give up after the first failure.

- How important is the idea?

- In my opinion, people overestimate the importance and importance of their ideas. It seems to some that everyone will definitely want to steal the invented unique know-how. In fact, bringing your idea to life is much more important than just coming up with. Were there social networks before Facebook? Oh sure. But only Mark Zuckerberg was able to turn his project into something truly global, bringing together billions of people on the planet.

- How important was the meeting with Steve Jobs in your success story?

- Such meetings can be classified as amazing. We met him in 2008 at Apple headquarters. Being already known in the world, we came to agree on the development of distribution of Parallels programs through the corporate channel of Apple. At the beginning of the conversation with the head of marketing Phil Schiller and macOS father Bertrand Serlet, there was a feeling that things would not go beyond the discussion, they gave very vague answers. Suddenly, Steve Jobs entered the meeting room. He asked to introduce himself and tell us about our ideas. Then he asked a few clarifying questions and, turning to his subordinates, said that it was worth starting work. Further, our conversation continued in a completely different vein. By the way, our products are still available in all Apple stores around the world and in the corporate channel.



- Back to the topic of choosing the right path and successful development. What is more important - the presence in the company of a captain, like Steve Jobs, or the ability to collectively make the right decisions?

- Much depends on the specifics of corporate culture. In Parallels, many issues are resolved as a team. It is customary for us to be interested in each other's opinions. Employees are very involved in achieving common results. We generally resemble a large family. Of course, if there is no consensus, you have to make a decision personally, but usually everyone is motivated by the opportunity to be part of a common future.

“But it is impossible to form a common vision for a company consisting of hundreds and even thousands of people?”

- Actually possible. In the case of Parallels, we know that the programs we create must meet the needs of our users. Our products must be intuitive, simple and convenient. It is no coincidence that one of the key metrics for us is NPS. The fact that the probability of recommending our software by users is high determines the correctness of our chosen course and the future development of the company. We understand that if we do not listen and hear users, our future is foggy. Another component of our development is a constant movement forward.

“What do you mean?” Impossible to reinvent the wheel?

- Have you seen bikes with an electric motor? Gyro scooters? Tesla Cars? You must admit that their basic functions have remained the same, but the technologies used in them have revolutionary steps forward. I have before my eyes the story of Nokia, Polaroid, Siemens Mobile. These giants, which seemed unshakable, literally lost their superiority in just a few years. That is why Parallels is constantly evolving, looking for promising niches, creating new products and technological solutions. It’s not enough for us to be just good, Parallels strives to become a great company.