What is your opinion guys on start a web service startup in Russia? Google and Yahoo are there. Are you? | Hacker News Reader

What is your opinion guys on start a web service startup in Russia? Google and Yahoo are there. Are you?

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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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

'... 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.

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.

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

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

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