At the age of 29, becoming the first Russian finalist in the status competition for women entrepreneurs, the Cartier Women's Initiative Awards, speaks for itself. The path to the business elite was hellishly difficult: Marina started as a distributor in a cosmetics company and a promoter in the market. “The first thing that comes to mind about that period is that I was constantly freezing,” says Marina. - And nerves, and ate without logic. Now I have become ten times stronger, I laugh at problems, and 10 years ago there was no time for jokes. I came home, lay down on the bed and cried with fatigue. " But … soon the girl was noticed by an advertising agency and invited to train new employees. Behind the agency - a film studio named after Gorky, where Marina took up the staff, then "Amedia" and the TV channel "Russia". I worked a lot, but at the same time I was looking for a truly "mine". And in 2010, Ross received an MBA at the Skolkovo School of Management, went on an internship to Boston, in order to return in two years and create NanoBarrier, a business that allowed her and her partner to receive 40 million in revenue a year.
About the tears of a strong woman. I am not ashamed to admit that I had stresses and breakdowns even when, having gained experience, I became the head of NanoBarrier. About once a month I thought about giving up everything. I myself am a bad psychologist. Husband and friends help out. In such situations, it is very important to cry on someone's shoulder. But no matter how much stress I feel, I understand that I cannot live otherwise. Because only this business inspires me and I cannot imagine myself without it.
About trust. It is important for me that the product brings not only benefits, but also benefits to society and the planet as a whole. It's all Skolkovo! There they "zombie" about a socially responsible attitude to the environment. And life in the States has left its mark: in America there is no principle of "grab and run away", you have to work on trust and not hide intentions. True, this approach a year ago brought me to a microstroke. Last year, one of our employees, who was responsible for production and warehouse accounting, got caught stealing. Andrei Grunin, my companion, and I should have checked it more often, but we did not. Good lesson! Now I believe that the most difficult thing in any business is to assemble a decent team.
About blinkered minds. In Boston, a girl who started a business is looked at with respect, while in our country it is still more often perplexed. But what to go far: my mother still does not lose hope that I will quit nanotechnology and find myself a "normal" job. She knows that my friend works in the Ministry of Justice, and she wants me to join her. During the formation of the business, when our first and main product Hydrop (protective sprays with nanoparticles for clothes and shoes) was in development, and its prospects on the market looked very vague, I was not discouraged from this venture only by the lazy. And even acquaintances from Skolkovo laughed, they say, you're pretty, get married and don't bother with fantasies!
The friend dipped his tie into a glass of juice. Not a trace on the fabric! Revolution, I realized, and the next day I quit all jobs to move the invention
About fantasy and a matter of chance. I am probably one of the few who benefited from this rainy summer. I even wanted to place a comic banner on the website: "Summer sponsor - HYDROP". The sales decline for our main product is 30% lower than the usual summer decline. This business was made possible by one chance acquaintance. Five years ago, Boston. In the general company, I get to know the physicist Andrey, who graduated from Moscow State University. My future companion. It was so interesting with Andrey! Since childhood, I have been drawn to the unusual, technological, innovative. I was drawn to, but this knowledge was given with great difficulty. In the exact sciences, I am a terrible ignoramus. Therefore, I seized on a new acquaintance, asked Andrey, who agreed to become my tutor, to give me some lessons on popular science topics.
On the first day of communication, we came up with the idea of making clothes dirty. I tell Andrey: I dream of returning to Moscow and walking in a white raincoat, but the eternal slush interferes. And he: they say, I will try to create a tool that will help clothes to keep clean. A dreamer, I think.
A month after our conversation, I returned from Boston to Moscow - virtually nowhere. For two years in the States, she lost all ties. A creative search began - I was looking for myself, interesting proposals, tried, for example, to create a social network for racers and yachtsmen. And Andrei continued to "chemize" in the laboratory over that magic remedy that will allow you to walk through puddles in expensive suede boots.
Six months later we meet with Andrey, go to a cafe, and … he suddenly dips his tie into a glass of mango juice. And - lo and behold! - drops of liquid have rolled down the fabric. The tie was impregnated with a composition developed by Andrey. The "lotus effect" has worked, the leaves of which, floating on the surface of the water, have a hydrophobic effect - they are not wetted by water and are capable of self-cleaning. I realized that I want and will only promote and sell this, and the next day I quit all my jobs.
One fine night I dreamed of the word "Skolkovo". In the morning, the first thing I did was google whether the school was built …
About free employees. Yes, I was tormented by fears: will I be able to understand the high-tech business? Will I need it? But man is such a creature - he adapts to everything. Grunin and I began to work: he disappeared in the laboratory, I rushed around the city, offering our nano-product, which had neither a name nor a package - for example, a bottle with a cloudy liquid. At the same time, Andrei immersed me and the two employees we hired in the details of the invention, introduced it to its properties, features of use.
Andrey and I had half a million savings for two - and we turned to them. Believe it or not, for the first six months the people we hired worked for free! I managed to infect them with enthusiasm, to convince them that there will be money, but later. And people were inspired. Soon I found investors who invested the first 10 million rubles in NanoBarrier. One of the investors was also a Skolkovo graduate.
About yoga and ambition. I heard about Skolkovo School of Entrepreneurs in 2005, a year before its official opening. She witnessed the conversation between Irina Prokhorova and Grigory Mazmanyants, executive director of the Give Life Foundation. They spoke with such enthusiasm about the future brainchild that I realized: I must study at this new Hogwarts. I thought and forgot. I had to earn a living. And three years later, when the crisis hit and I was actually left without work, the question arose of what to do.
And then one fine night I dreamed of the word "Skolkovo". In the morning, the first thing I did was google whether the school was built. It turned out that there were 4 days left until the end of accepting applications for the first full-time MB stream! I urgently collected the documents and after several months of difficult tests and tests I entered. Then there were internships in China and America.
We've always apologized and, you know, people behaved better than we thought. One man even remarked: "What can't you do for the sake of science …"
In Boston, I instantly felt that this city is imbued with the spirit of entrepreneurship - at every table in a cafe, people discussed new projects. I liked it, because from the very childhood I wanted to work for myself. In Boston, I found like-minded people and opened a small business: Spiky Life yoga mats, like Kuznetsov's hippikator. But a year later I realized that this did not correspond to my ambitions, although the product was in demand.
On the recruitment of a young chemist. For many years I have not been able to find a balance between sleep and wakefulness - I sleep 4 hours a day. Unfortunately. But the ice was broken: in July, for the first time in three years, my husband Sergey and I allowed ourselves a rest - two weeks on the islands. True, a full sleep will not shine for me soon. Now my partner and I are developing for Rusnano a training module for 500 schools - chemist's kits, which will contain our compositions and instruments for conducting experiments. We are also launching sales in America - in the near future our funds will be available on amazon.com. Sales in France will start in September.
In Russia, Hydrop is currently represented in 24 cities, but I plan to halve the number of points of sale. Rapid growth through franchises has brought both pluses and problem areas: the implementation of the sales target is lame. Now our product (this is a Textile product that repels dirt from shoes and clothes made of suede, textiles and nubuck, Clean foaming cleaning, Fresh liquid iron and Phantom reflective spray) monthly purchase about two thousand customers, but we hope that from the fall, when we we will start selling in chain stores, the figure will increase. But Internet sales in the regions are lame - after all, offline reigns in Russia.
About sacrifices for the sake of science. One of the principles of our business is a guaranteed money back for those who are dissatisfied with the quality of the goods. It is not typical for Russia, besides, there are risks of facing dishonest buyers who can start to parasitize, demanding money over and over again. Even mentors dissuaded us from such a policy. But the first months of the business's existence, customer dissatisfaction was justified: the composition formula was not perfect. We've always apologized, and, you know, people behaved better than we thought. One man even remarked: "What can't you do for the sake of science …" And now, when the composition has been brought to mind, the complaints have stopped - completely.
About business qualities. I consider myself an atypical woman in business. I believe that a businesswoman should not develop masculine qualities. It's like driving: there is masculine, there is feminine, and both ways have a right to exist. Although, I confess, sometimes my kindness and soft smile play against me. I heard that some are grinning behind their eyes: "What does this girl with a naughty head understand in business?" But we have existed and developed for more than three years, and this speaks for itself. However, I believe that women's entrepreneurship should be women's. For example, on holidays we give flowers to our regular customers and sweets to our customers. Love and care are the main female weapons.
Photo: archives of press services
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