Moscow
I discovered several things in London, Munich, Paris, and Amsterdam that were utterly missing in Moscow. The technology entrepreneurship scene and early-stage venture capital financing. Yes, it sounds way off in today’s news bubble, but back then, through the late noughtys and early twenty-teens, the word “democracy” was still in a dictionary. I began to blog, tweet, and talk about entrepreneurship and customer development. Co-organised a few professional events for startup enthusiasts later. And even taught entrepreneurship class at the Higher School of Economics. My twitter account gained several thousand followers in 2008. Clearly, not something to be excited about today. Back then, It gave me some visibility in the up and coming community of tech people, business, and government leaders.
2009-2012 was probably the best time in Russia’s contemporary history. Shortly after the crisis, the economy climbed up again, and everything seemed possible. Moscow, the third most pricey capital in the World, was building the tallest buildings in Europe. Aeroflot ranked among safest and ‘best in service’ airlines. I fancied the idea of investing in tech startups and, creating a business-acceleration vehicle. Making a few efforts on my own as an angel investor, I quickly ran out of cash. I attempted to build the CVC fund at a large Internet company. It didn’t work out as expected due to the many constraints of a corporate structure.