The Russians are Coming! (and they mean business)

It was always gonna be great. A talk of thrilling new opportunities in in Russia and Ukraine, headlined by Marina Treschkova (Fastlane Ventures), Viktoriya Tigipko (TA Venture) and Katia Gaika (Skolkovo Foundation). Three of Eastern Europe’s strongest and most prominent female bosses, pooled with the always-sharp David Rowan of WIRED UK - nothing not to like about that.

For those of you who don’t know yet, Russia is where it’s at. Some of the most exciting startups are run by Russians these days, making the nation a hotspot for talent and investors alike. 

The developments are closely tied to the booming Internet culture in Russia, Treschkova explains. “We live in a unique moment of momentum, numbers are booming. In 2001, 6 million people were online in Russia. Today it’s 70 million.”

This gives early stage developers and investors like Fast Lane great opportunities. “Two years ago, there was nothing. Now we have 20 companies with investments of more than $100 million.” It’s a fast track to success, and one that no one can afford to miss.

“Russia is a great country, with great potential,” Treschkova says. “Western investors should see Russia as their primary focus for expansion.” Katia Gaika of the Skolkovo Foundation jumps in and adds “And! Russians like to spend, too! A lot!” 

And if anyone would know, it would be Gaika. At Skolkovo, she oversees a major IT cluster project, started by the Kremlin to boost the Russian start-up scene and create “a Russian Silicon Valley.”

Ukraine is another country where things are picking up fast. Viktoriya Tigipko of TA Venture even speaks faster than most, almost as a reminder of how switched on you need to be to keep up with the developments. 

“In Ukraine, we have 80% year-on-year growth in e-commerce. That’s 8-0, EIGHTY!. 30% use mobiles to connect. 10% of users have smartphones. The ecosystem is changing tremendously.”

The three women - sitting on a row, stylish with determined looks and attentive smiles - impersonate female success in each their own way. As the session comes to an end, Gaika is soon to point out an interesting point about why Eastern European women are becoming so successful in a blooming but competitive industry.

“It’s the legacy,” she claims. “In the USSR, we didn’t have a free market. But we had equal rights. Female leadership was promoted, and today we see the result.”

What’s Hot According To DLD12 Delegates

The ultimate trend whirligig: In partnership with SurveyMonkey our DLD team developed a survey, just two weeks before the start of the DLD12 conference in Munich, asking delegates about what comes next.

Exclusively for Wired.co.uk David Rowan displays the results.

Just to give you a taste, questions tackled for instance Facebook’s post-IPO prospects, thoughts about disruption and start-ups to watch.

Photo: Hubert Burda Media/DLD conference

Bringing Large Venue Experiences To Intimate Spaces

Leonard Brody of the Anschutz Group sat down with moderator David Rowan of WIRED Magazine for a talk about digital innovations in the area of large-scale spectator experiences. 

Anschutz powers more than 10,000 live events each year across more than 100 venues around the world, including sports events, concerts, festivals, and much more.

As the head of the group’s digital arm, Brody is in charge of keeping up with new trends in the industry, including how to engage with an audience that wants the best of both worlds; massive live experiences and a much more intimate personal mode of engagement. 

This is no easy task. The Anschutz Group has developed live events that have come to define cities like the O2 concerts in London, and bringing this spectacle to digital users requires a sound strategy as well as a solid portion of innovation. 

In the words of Brody, “live experiences are incredible hard to replace.”

The answer may lie in a combination of providing quality content while engaging audiences. 

Brody used the example of a recent project in which spectators of a football games are prompted to influence the ingame actions via mobile devices. Controversial in nature perhaps, it is indeed innovative.

Brody is aware of the possibilities. According to him, “2011 was the kickoff of the small-room era on the Internet.” Users increasingly look towards a simpler, more restricted approach to online and live experiences.

Another project, Examiner.com, also serves as an example. Through collecting user created quality content around local communities, Examiner.com empowers editors as navigators and pushes local information.

There are possibilities. But Brody is aware: “Good content and good experiences will win. The real winners will be those who produce real experience and cool content.”