Igor Shoifot, startups and investors from Silicon valley

A very lively interview with Igor Solfoton. Igor lives in San Francisco, has created 10 startups: Epsilon Games Fotki.Com TMT Investments and others. he is Now engaged in a new start-up, investment in the Fund TMT Investments, and also teaches at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley). Started the project Fotki.Com with his co-founder ω Dmitry in the late 90s with the idea that sooner or later people will start keeping your pictures on the Internet. The guys were among the first to come up with tools to promote with different viral mechanisms.


Hello, Igor. Can you tell us about what you are doing, and how you came here in San Francisco?
With a great pleasure. Born in Siberia, grew up mostly in Moscow. Spent 12 years in new York, a year and a half in my beloved city of Boston. Three years ago, at the urging of my friend and partner Fotki.Com Dima don, moved to San Francisco and since then has been happy.
Now working on the 11th his startup. But before we can celebrate two successful projects: one — Epsilon Games, a large gaming portal at microsoftworld.tv other — Fotki.Com. And now, along with very nice people, engaged in seed and venture investment in the company TMT Investments.

Tell us about your project Fotki.Com.
How do you get started? What difficulties did you encounter? And how did you do it all skillfully to overcome?
Basically, we overcame all very clumsily. And now, looking back, I think a bunch of those barriers, through which we tried to jump and catch on there claws, the boots, the tails were not the same barriers. In the wrong direction jumped, not ran.
But, perhaps, honest startups saying, "We from one success to the second move".
The project was started in 98-th year, as a hobby, my very good friend Dima Don, whom I have known for 15 years, and then joined me. We made him one of the most photosharing sites — millions of users, millions revenues, large B2B customers: Telecom Italia, Telecom Argentina and other companies.
And success: we were able to grow and has always been profitable (profitable), we never a penny of money out of nowhere is not raised.
Failures: we, unfortunately, lived on the East coast (West coast USA). Guys, don't live on the East coast. Moved here to the San Francisco Bay Area, there's a warm, good, nice people, seagulls, pelicans, water, sea food, wonderful girls. And we made a mistake. We had to move here many years ago. And there would then no flickers, no tabacaru. But we didn't.
We have created several mechanisms of growth, whose names we did not know at the time. "Viral mechanisms", when our customers themselves would have brought other clients. And so we grew from zero to several million people. Built quite sensible business processes.

How did you get the idea of this start-up?
And how did you get started?
But, the beginning was funny. Dimka, who is my very good friend, bought for mad money a totally awesome camera.
It was the end of the 90s. It cost about 2 thousand dollars.
The resolution was about one and a half megapixels. And Dima is with her to run around and tell everyone that the future was digital. Everyone, including me, said, "Yeah, okay, why is this? Why is it so necessary?" And he had a great vision (point of view), and, eventually, me and the rest he was persuaded.
Persuaded that the picture will be digital and people will send them by email, and will keep it somewhere “on the Internet”. And will share links to these albums.
First and Dimka began in a remarkable way. He's just at work at his Desk hid the server on the sly bosses. Bosses found out about it, but allowed him to continue to keep the server.
Our project began to grow, and we of the tens and hundreds of users have made hundreds of thousands and millions.
Just as the iPad is the first tablet. It was a lot to him. iPhone not the first smart phone.
But someone in the end get to do it in such a way that users are so much "dragged" that just do is send each other and said, "Guys, here's the buzz!".
And, in General, without false modesty I can say that we made enough buzz for the time of the late ' 90s.
And, probably, for the beginning of the 2000s we also did a lot of Goodies.
We have made albums that you can password-protect, folder, a lot of very interesting, which was not, and still even is not present.

What are the important lessons you have learned from this experience of a startup, except that you need to move to the Bay Area?
By the way, is the first and most important lesson.
Guys, don't listen to anyone, throw everything, moving to the Bay Area.
Everything here is so high that you will get.
And even if you can't make it work, it is also perfectly normal. Here I respect those who make the attempt.
And even now, as an investor, when I talk to people who are “pitch-ayut” (short speech with a description of the startup, which is uttered before the investor in order to obtain investments) is something I see a huge contrast. New York or Boston — very different, not to mention other countries.
No offense to anyone from those who live there. I love new York, I love Boston. But even the attitude of investors there — completely different. This is probably the most important thing.

As for advice, and why something works or does not work:
The more mistakes you make, the more of something you learn.
I now have this proverb, he came up with (in English):
“Few things are as misleading as your own successes.” (“Little that is so deceptive, as their own success.”)
So, first, we need to be in the right place.
The second must be with the people you love.
If you're in a startup working with some people with whom you on a personal level is not going well, it is better, as they say, to depart.
Perhaps, as in marriage, it's relationships.
And the third point, he's probably very much applies here.
Don't be afraid of investors. In fact, investors are very cool guys. In addition to the money they can open you many doors, but they need to carefully choose.
To those people with whom you are communicating with whom you are pleased to work together, which will really help you as partners.
And the fourth, and most importantly: whatever you do, the most important thing is not the product. The most important is growth.

We want to motivate our Russian startups and businessmen, so they created more businesses to also prosper.
That is, in fact, our goal is not “PR,” San Francisco and Bay Area.
Our goal is to make sure that Moscow was even steeper than San Francisco.
Do you have any ideas about how to improve the “climate” and infrastructure innovation in Russia?
Can also share your opinion about what recently happens in Russia.
I like Moscow as a city of my youth. Very important is attitude (attitude, approach).
This not only applies to Moscow, but to new York or Boston, which I also love.
It is important that the attitude was: “Screw it, let's do it!” (Drop everything, do it.)
There are a lot of smart, talented people!
It amazes me that when there is someone does not work, no one ever slopehead. No one ever says, "Oh, the rascals, they did not. They stole“.
As Picasso said: “Talented artists copy, great artists steal.”
Now, if everyone will each other to infect this attitude that guys like, let's do, no boss, no employee. All along, all along, all help each other. I think the most important thing.
All the rest: investments, distribution channels, virality, selling companies will follow.

What can you say of Russian startups, in order to motivate them?
The most important wish now what: sometimes you need to step back, to sit, to think, to try to understand and to weigh.
Many, especially those who already have accomplished something, believe that doing their job correctly. But there is always something that can be done better. And the “star” moment every person occurs when the person thinks: “so I did what I was doing wrong.” And just, like, trying to weigh his life, to be aware of.
I had such a moment. I sat and thought: "Damn, you're past 40 years."
From Julius Caesar was such a wonderful diary entry, when he participated in his Gallic wars: "Hell, I'm under 30 years old". And in ancient Rome it was like 60. "I haven't done anything yet, I was there for some official small, what will happen to me?" He had a moment of realization that you need something to do.
Julius Caesar wouldn't be so famous if it where what is now Spain,
not sat one day, with an open amphora fine Greek wine
and said: "What am I doing wrong". The main advice is to sit down, look at yourself, your partners, what you are doing in your business, and think.

Application:
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Article based on information from habrahabr.ru