
Rhythm: Story of a Soviet startup (2015) - bholdr
http://yansh.github.io/articles/rhythm/
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woodandsteel
Anybody know first-hand what the situation is like for startups in Russia
today?

We see so little innovation coming out of that country nowadays, except for a
few fields, that I assume that the atmosphere is pretty bad, like lots of
bribes to pay, and if you really get anywhere, a corrupt businessman with
political connections will get the courts to take your enterprise away and
give it to him. You certainly don't see ambitious techies from other countries
flocking to Russia, like they do with the US. Am I reading things right?

~~~
guard-of-terra
Start-ups are no longer about innovation but rather about eyeballs, aren't
they? Russia is in economic recession so Russian eyeballs nonlonger worth very
much. So many new developments target wider world audience, and they don't
even have to be startups. Make a good mobile game, for example. But often,
just outsourcing is simpler.

Atmosphere is bad mainly for internal projects which we don't see much of,
anymore.

~~~
woodandsteel
But the economic recession has been for only the last two years. Are you
saying there was a vigorous startup scene before that? That is sure not the
impression I have had.

And beyond that, there is lots of technological innovation going in the US and
other countries, but not Russia, even before the recession. It seems to me
this must be due to fundamental problems like the ones I described.

~~~
guard-of-terra
Well wasn't there? Russia has multiple social networks, webmail providers,
multiple search engines, multiple mapping services complete with traffic and
navigation, multiple UBER-style mobile taxi services, etc, etc...

Most of those alive and kicking today, holding against megacorps' offerings.

You can say most of those are copycats of preexisting ideas, but face it,
people have copycat needs that still need to be fulfilled. People don't fall
for uniqueness alone.

What's technological innovation? Is maps.me one? Because it's a game changer
isn't it?

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anthonybsd
As someone who lived in there, 1988 Soviet Union is Soviet in name only. Once
co-ops started rolling it was basically over for planned economy.

~~~
guard-of-terra
Unfortunately, most people on the whole territory are still not free from
Soviet spell.

Even those who claim to be anti-Soviet express all the same thinking patterns.

WRT the article: The real start-upers bartered western PCs (faxes, etc) for
raw materials, quickly got a good capital and were able to start serious
enterprises. You could get a train car of aluminium for a fax machine, since
having one was A Thing for late soviet bureaucrats and they had aluminium to
spare.

I think Volozh did something like that before he decided to start Yandex.

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efoto
Cudos to the author. Having joined a cooperative in Kiev in 1988, I can relate
to this story, and I wish my son asked me what I was doing back then and
posted it to HN!

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PerfectDlite
You've submitted this an year ago, why re-submit now?

