How did it start?

I moved to America in 1996. I was 14 years old at the time. I always kept myself busy and wasn’t afraid to “get my hands dirty”. At the age of 15, I began working at a pet shop where I had to clean up after animals. It was definitely not a glamorous job, but it was honest work and it taught me a lot of responsibility. At the age of 20, through continued hard work, saving, and dedication, I was able to start my first business.

Our turnover reached $1 million a year in the first year, and for me this was the sign that I was on the right track. Though success seemed to have reached me, difficult times seem to come when you least expect them. In October of 2012, Hurricane Sandy devastated New York, causing the drowning of our warehouse. It would seem that all our dreams were crushed by the ruthless force of nature — a force majeure from which there was no escape. The whole situation looked like we would never make it out of debt, but my brother and I pulled ourselves together. Despite all the hardships we faced after losing everything, we started over again from scratch, launching our brand of headphones. It turned out that this flood was a blessing in disguise, as it washed away all unnecessary things and helped us build something better and stronger.

What about present day?

Today, at the age of 36, I have risen to be one of the best Amazon sellers, with eight independent brands (Symphonized, Artix, Kidrox, Shhhmouse, DigiOrange, Shower-Mate, Kitchenized, Antipoleez) and hundreds of products including headphones, speakers, noiseless computer mice, backpacks, adapters, knives, and much more. It would seem that my dream has already come true, but the real champions do not rest on their laurels, especially when I have such a powerful example set for me by my eldest brother Dmitry, the vice president of Google. It was he who inspired me to enter the IT business where I discovered the cryptocurrency market. That’s where I was able to challenge myself once again. There was the relatively young and unexplored world of blockchain with its problems and peculiarities, its pains and needs, which I decided to respond to, or at least try to.

Today, I dream of going down in history as an innovator, businessman, and philanthropist. I wish to create a large company or group of companies that would be useful to the community so that our products and services can be enjoyed by as many people as possible. Another dream of mine is to create a large charitable foundation.

The BaseCore project is something that inspires me today because it is the opportunity to discover almost a new kind of “investment fauna”. I get to deliver this to a community that did not have access to the rare species before, really turning the tables. Improving product and service quality as well as making it more accessible to the client is my credo of life.