What is your opinion guys on start a web service startup in Russia? Google and Yahoo are there. Are you? - ivan
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tomh
You need local understanding to make it work. Google's story was that they
bought out an ex-Russian entrepreneur who ran Dulance.com and made him head of
R&D; for Russia. And while you have 140mln population, keep in mind that a)
it's decreasing every year by 600-700k, and b) less than 30mln are online.

Certainly the cost of a Russian programmer is less than the cost of an Indian
programmer, but keep in mind that salaries decrease as soon as you get outside
of Moscow. In neighboring Kharkov, Ukraine for example, QA staff can be had
for $400 a month, and experienced hires will be hired for $800-$1200 a month.

Also keep in mind that locals are already snapping up large parts of the
startup space. There is already a RuTube, a Russian Amazon (Ozon.ru, who just
got $18mln funding BTW), and a Russian Google (Yandex.ru). So, your first
mover advantage might be over already.

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amg
I'm an american living in India and there are opportunities for a million web
1.0 models. But the fact is it may be too early in the game to build anything
of lasting value. But the Baazee deal was impressive considering it was long
after the bubble had burst.

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zaidf
What I've realized about startups in international markets(specifically
India/Asia) is that they are either backed by folks who understand the local
culture but can't develop a great product or folks who develop a great site--
but doesn't connect with the geographical audience.

Every now and then you get a decent startup. ie. baazee.com in India played
its cards somewhat right(acquired by ebay for 50mil but took 10+mil in funding
I believe).

That is why google and yahoo have such an edge - they usually send an American
exec. at some level to oversee international markets.

-Zaid

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mukund
As long as you are catering to needs of users, as long as its worth paying for
or worth looking up, if it has a solid model, then anyplace would be fine. Its
just that as zaidf pointed out, as long as it fits well with culture and
profile of the place.... things will run smooth. So go ahead and start it.

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timg
My most recent startup somehow became much more popular in London and the
Netherlands than in the US.. so where you're located isn't so important.
What's important is that you understand the people in this location's needs
better than others.

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bootload
Why not. lots of smart young well educated people, good education levels. The
one downside is the instability with the government. Of course if you are a
local or have good local insight this may not be a problem.

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ivan
I'm not local, however my name can indicate that (even I taught russian
language 10 years 'cos we were a part of communist block), only thinking about
it. everyone goes to the west, but Russia is virgin land in on-line business,
there are 140milion potential customers not counting satellite states, like
Ukraine where people speak russian. that's my opinion :) Stability is not
important, you can run on .com domain, or buy domain at the same company as
google for $20 and host anywhere in stable country in case, we are talking
about on-line business.

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bootload
_'... Stability is not important, you can run on .com domain, or buy domain at
the same company as google for $20 and host anywhere in stable country in
case, we are talking about on-line business ...'_

The way I interpreted the question asked was _'would you start a startup "in"
Russia?'_ [0]. So having some local knowledge would you recommend locating a
startup somewhere in Russia? Taking advantage of the local environment
(programming & scientific talent, closeness to the east, differences in
RUB/USD, etc.)

I take your point. As for the market, yes the numbers (0.5 a US) is pretty
compelling. One thing I would recommend is a _middle man_ or someone who is a
native or has been native.

I remember an instance where a product was to be launched into Japan and the
translations done where very straight boring and while good Japanese not
exactly the _hip_ type language the local market would expect. Having a
cultural understanding will avoid potential disasters.

 __Reference __

[0] But reading it again maybe that's wrong.

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staunch
Taking a new and popular thing from the US and creating version for a
different country has made more than one person rich. The reverse also works.

Create an MP3 company.

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theoutlander
Hence, I am coding for Localization from the start!!

~~~
ivan
Right approach, utf-8 and separated language files :)

