My impression of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Russia

After a week of visiting three cities, three universities, two venture capital firms, the ministry of youth affairs, a number of networking events, and many cultural experiences, I feel as if I got a good overview of the Russian entrepreneurial climate.  From the first meeting we had with Sputnik Technology Capital, it was clear that venture capital and the startup atmosphere was essentially a startup itself.  The field has only existed for roughly 5 years.  The combination of the Soviet Union making it illegal or highly discouraging private ventures and the dependence of the Russian economy on oil and gas has led to the only recent adoption of the entrepreneurial atmosphere.  That being said, for being so new, there are a number of opportunities for startups to find resources.  There are government funded agencies, such as Sk Foundation, that give grants as well as venture capital firms to provide financial assistance.  Universities are adopting new models for encouraging startups to come out of labs and competitions and incubators are popping up all over country.  This is a very exciting time to view the growth of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Russia; there are countless opportunities to become a part of it.  It will be interesting to see how it will develop over the next few years.

-ZJS

Mari's Reflection

Photo courtesy of Andrey Voronin.

From the moment our plane touched down in St. Petersburg to takeoff from Kazan, I found myself completely immersed in Russian culture and entrepreneurial spirit. Let by Bram Kaplan of Skolkovo and Lyuba Semirog of MIT, our group met with dozens of Russian students and business people, visited historic Russian landmarks across St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Kazan, and shared our personal experiences with entrepreneurship at MIT. Needless to say the week was a whirlwind of activity and excitement.

There are countless points during the trip where I learned about Russian schooling and business practices, and to reflect on all of them would be impossible. Instead I will focus on a particular evening. On our last night in Moscow we met over dinner with students from Skolkovo University, a program run by the Skolkovo Institute to encourage entrepreneurship among undergraduate students at Moscow’s top schools. The setting was informal and I enjoyed the opportunity to speak with students on a personal level, talking about everything from classes to music.

There were a number of facts that didn’t surprise me: Russian universities, I was told, do not offer any classes for engineers on entrepreneurship or business skills. What I found more surprising, however, was the extreme focus of students’ course of study. Instead of majors like mechanical engineering, Russian students majored in fields like laser electro-optics. Underlying this difference is the fact that MIT encourages a broad knowledge base among its students that goes hand and hand with entrepreneurship. The ability to do one particular thing is far less important than the ability to problem solve on a general scale.

Here lies one of the largest differences between my experience as a student at MIT and that of the Moscow students I spoke to: freedom of study. At MIT, I can pursue what interests me, both within my major and beyond. This cultivates students who are passionate and versatile, all characteristics typical of entrepreneurs. As Skolkovo Tech continues to develop, I foresee the success of a similar free and encouraging environment.

Welcome!

A group of MIT students just came back from a week long trip to St.Petersburg, Moscow and Kazan.  We all had a great time! Stay tuned for reflections on the trip.