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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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