About
Where my perspective comes from
The ideas I discuss today come from decades of building companies, investing my own money, and living with the results of both good and bad decisions.
Background
I was born in Minsk in 1958. In August 1989, my family and I left the Soviet Union as refugees. We spent the next six months in Austria and Italy, waiting for permission to enter the United States. In February 1990, we finally arrived in America and started over.
My first jobs paid about four dollars an hour. I worked as a loader at a grocery store, delivered pizza, sold shoes, and studied English at night. In 1991, I shipped a used car from the United States to Minsk and sold it there. That transaction led to my first company, which went on to ship hundreds of cars overseas.
Over the next three decades, I built businesses in international trade, consumer food brands, autosport, real estate development, and healthcare. Some succeeded. Some did not. Each one gave me a clearer view of how markets, regulation, competition, and human judgment affect a business.
That experience is the basis of what I discuss today: business, politics, the economy, technology, healthcare, and the changes taking place around us.
I don’t tell people how to live. I ask questions, examine what happened, and explain how I reached my own conclusions.
Timeline
The major chapters
- 1958 MinskBorn in the Soviet Union.
- 1989 Leaving the Soviet UnionMy family and I left the Soviet Union as refugees and spent six months in Austria and Italy waiting to enter the United States.
- 1990 Starting over in AmericaArrived in the United States in February and started over with jobs paying about $4 an hour.
- 1991 First businessBegan shipping used cars from the United States to the former Soviet Union.
- 1990s International distributionBuilt an international distribution business serving markets across the former Soviet Union.
- 2004 Midland F1Became managing partner of Midland F1 in Russia and co-owner of the Formula One team.
- 2005 Real estate developmentFounded Perga Development and later became involved in development projects in Russia and Ukraine.
- 2008 Corrado GroupBecame the controlling shareholder of Corrado Group while continuing my involvement in real estate development in Russia and Ukraine.
- 2020 Tripment HealthFounded a healthcare marketplace designed to show patients procedure prices before treatment.
- Today YouTubeVideos about business, politics, the economy, technology, and society.
Contact
Interview, media, and speaking requests
If you’d like to invite me to an interview, podcast, or event, send a message with the subject, format, and proposed date.