Seluminov Vasily Alekseyevich

Seluminov Vasily Alekseyevich

First-person biography

Childhood, adolescence and youth

I cannot say that my parents paid a lot of attention^[1] my upbringing^[1] But it turned out that I myself did not want to do anything that would cause their discontent. On the contrary, I liked the teachers to praise me, weaving in my tail was not in my character. I studied at a sports school, which I chose myself. I was engaged in athletics - I ran a long sprint of 400 and 800 m. For running short distances, another muscle mass was required, and I confess that I did not like running long distances. I still do not like tasks, the solution of which is too stretched in time: I like to see the result of my work in the foreseeable future. Running 400 m is also very difficult, the result is given with tears - but one circle, you fell from fatigue, and everything is free... But I was not going to become a professional athlete, I had to spend my health on it, and I was ready to give only my time to run.

In the late 70s, we were all fond of electronics, believed that thanks to it our lives would be better. I had no problems with mathematics and physics, so I deliberately looked for a university with the most technical content. I stopped at the Moscow Energy Institute: there was a faculty of electronic technology at MPEI, besides, the institute was not far from home.

My specialty was comprehensive - "industrial electronics." We were taught everything, but most of all I was carried away not by power plants, not transformers, but by microprocessors. We also studied programming at the level of algorithmic understanding and setting problems.

At the institute, I was actively engaged in public work, from the first to the last year I traveled with a student construction team to Siberia. I loved creating something from scratch, from scratch; probably then I realized how motivating the tangible results of my work.

My universities

Like many graduates of our university, by distribution I ended up in a closed research institute, where I worked for five years, bringing a small fraction of my work to the general defense capability of our country. The laboratory was engaged in automation of production processes, I worked with computers and was engaged in programming.

In those years, government agencies actively purchased computers of "white" (European or American) and "yellow" (Indian) assembly. The first Russian capital was made on these supplies. I also bought automated jobs for my research institute. However, unlike the pioneers of our business, I have not yet outlived the belief that the state will be able to rebuild itself. A serious blow to her was 1991 - when salaries at the state research institute ceased to be enough to feed the family.

For some time I was a free programmer until in 1993 I ended up in the company "Party." He started as a sales floor manager, and soon became responsible for all sales of computer and office equipment. I must say that in the "Party" we, the sellers themselves, were engaged in marketing as a strategy, with the active participation of the shareholder: we sat down and came up with it from scratch. The era of deficit continued, and our slogan: "It doesn't matter how much the goods cost, it is important that people know: we can always buy it from us," the buyers perceived with approval.

In an unsaturated market, we did what no one tried to do before us in Russia: we sold shelves in stores to manufacturers, brought scarce things from abroad and handed them out to customers, played cars. We persuaded vendors to fork out for incredible promotions - we entered into an agreement with the Time Machine group, which was supposed to give several concerts per year as advertising support, collaborated with the Academy cabaret duo, bought spreads in Moskovsky Komsomolets, and held many bright and unusual events at that time.

"Party" became a big school for me, we then made a company with a beautiful, recognizable brand. In general, the 90s. were happy for me. I left the "Party" five years later from the post of assistant to the president.

A New Life in the People's Market

Even before the 1998 crisis, I had a desire to change the field of activity. In the existing business, everything became clear and clear, there were no peaks that had to be conquered. And I wanted to implement new, interesting projects, solve new problems. So I found myself first in the White Wind company, a long-time competitor of the Party, and then in R-Style Computers, where I first launched an online store, set up the assembly of computers, built a sales channel - in general, I gained a very valuable and new experience for myself.

2000 was an important moment in my career - I was invited to manage sales at Landata. In time, my arrival coincided with the signing of an agreement between Landata and Avaya. This was exactly the moment when Landata headed for project distribution. We learned to sell not just high-tech equipment, but comprehensive solutions with the full range of necessary support. It was a really interesting job, requiring maximum returns and clear knowledge of the current market situation. Our next victory was the conclusion of an agreement with IBM. Here we chose a sales model from the warehouse, for which we needed a serious market analysis, an understanding of the vendor's product strategy, and the ability to predict.

In general, working in the project distribution segment is not an easy task. It is necessary to process a lot of information, monitor all market trends. Here, the manager is required to anticipate possible events and be able to competently respond to a changing situation.

Quotes

September 2011

- What time was more favorable for the case - 90s or 2000s?

"It's hard to give a clear answer here. On the one hand, the more stable the state, the easier it is for businesses to plan. On the other hand, in the 90s, when there was no stability, a high level of margin allowed trying several options. The profits made in one experiment more than covered all the risks. Now the situation has changed fundamentally. The price of a mistake is very high: you can lose everything overnight.

- Your motives for doing business, for 20 years now?

• Once I was in Vienna at a seminar organized by one of the manufacturers. It was my first outing of its kind. And there, from my English colleagues, I heard the phrase "Business needs to be done so that there is free time that can be devoted to hobbies." My hobby was travel. And today I have the opportunity to actively work, and it's nice to relax. To be honest, I like both of these processes.

- What principles are you guided by?

• The main thing is to be honest with the partner, to discuss problems with him as they arise. I once said that for me business is done face-to-face. I have to know who I work with, my partner and I have to trust each other. Another principle: "Whatever happens, happens for the better," helps me move forward a lot.

- What is most valuable to you in business?

"I like to feel comfortable. The concept of "comfort" in my understanding includes material remuneration, and moral satisfaction with the results, and the atmosphere in the team. Our business requires live communication with people, it is very difficult to do this through the secretary.

"Probably the absence of a midlife crisis is a credit to the family?"

• I have a small family: a wife and a son. We celebrated a silver wedding this year. Now the wife is a housewife. However, when it was difficult in the 90s, she fed the family for six months, earning on operations with vouchers. Since then, decision-making in our family has been her prerogative.

The son inherited from me only the ease in formulating thoughts. Otherwise, he is very different: a humanist with a philosophical mindset. This year he graduated from the Faculty of Public Administration of Moscow State University. Lomonosov is in a free search for his place in life, in which I try not to interfere.

- Your personal tasks for the next five years?

• From school bench I try to learn English, several times made attempts to learn to speak at everyday level, but each time enthusiasm gradually faded. My son knows English perfectly, and also speaks a little German, French, Spanish. Mastering the language is an important task for me. Having solved it, it will be possible to take up the second - to make a trip with your family through one-story America.

Notes