McGill gave me the fundamentals of business. I majored in finance and accounting, and even though I became more of an entrepreneur, I think understanding financials and how business works in terms of numbers helped a lot.
McGill was very helpful in terms of preparing me for the business I went into. Faculty members who influenced my development towards my future career – and whom I remember fondly – include Reuven Brenner, an excellent economics professor, and Danny Sebag, who lectured in operations management.
After we graduated from McGill, a friend who was returning to Russia to work for their family business invited me to join them and manage some parts of the business. My friend and I (we had previously gone to school together in Israel) decided to start our own company. We founded VK.com, which became the largest social network in Russia. We saw Facebook as it was evolving. We adapted that idea in Russia and it was a big success.
After that, I founded Selectel, a data centre company, now one of the largest infrastructure service providers in Russia.
My current business, LVL1, is a consequence of what I’ve started and done before.
I set up LVL1 as my own family office that invests in funds, venture and technology, but it all started with VK, my first experience being involved in founding a technology company. From then on, I have been very focused on technology and venture business.
I think the best advice I could give McGill students would be to take risks and try things. That is the best way to learn. Everything I learned was from doing things, by trial and error. Starting a business, failing somewhere, then starting again. Just by working, you get most of your experience. Young, talented people should not be afraid to take risks.