Businessman and philanthropist, founder of IDeA Charitable Foundation Ruben Vardanyan gave a lecture on “Effective Business Models: Happiness as Super Motive” at Skolkovo Moscow School of Management on March 20. Mediamax presents excerpts from the lecture and answers to the questions. The lecture was broadcast live on M24.ru website.

Motivation

I managed to define myself in the way I would like to see me. It’s also important to learn how to measure your success and to realize what risks you are ready to take to achieve it.

When we were setting up “Troika Dialog”, our goal was to establish an investment bank that would impact the situation in the country and would be recognized by international customers. “Troika Dialog” really changed Russia. People who came to our company right after their universities were the ones to build not only the company but also the entire industry and market.

Formula of success

I would pick out three components:

1. Clearly set goal.

2. Strong team.

3. Consistency.

The impossible possible

My goal is not to earn as much money as possible but to make the impossible possible. I remember our vigorous arguments with the [Russian] Minister of Economic Development German Gref who did not believe Russian businessmen would be willing to donate funds to establish SKOLKOVO School.

You should strongly believe in the project. I was once invited to a private dinner at which Founding Father of Modern Singapore Lee Kuan Yew was also present. I told him about the Skolkovo idea and he told me: “I like your dream and I would like to contribute to its implementation”. He used to arrive here every year and my dream was coming true right before his eyes.

Lee Kuan Yew promised to go to Armenia with me after SKOLKOVO School construction is completed, and he kept his word. Once I asked him why he eventually decided to support SKOLKOVO project. Lee Kuan Yew is a very pragmatic person and he said that 20 years down the road Singapore will start ceding to Dubai and Shanghai and to remain competitive Singapore considers all countries, which are located on 7 hour flight distance at most. In this sense, we will benefit if the coming generations of Russian businessmen who will study at SKOLKOVO School know about Singapore.

Trust

One of our favorite activities is to speak about why we won’t make it. One of the main reasons for it is the lack of trust. Count the number of people and institutions you trust. You will most likely count 10 people and 3 institutions or organizations, at best.

Every promising idea pulls like a magnet if you are ready to share it. Involvement of other people is highly important for me.

People

Many a time I have been saying that people are the main asset of the 21st century. Every undertaking can fail or become a success but it all depends on people. There are various models – a team of “stars” can be set up or you can “cultivate” the team yourself. What matters for me is that the person in the team cares for the project.

You should not be afraid to involve strong people. Many people enrolled in “Troika Dialog” were much more talented and experienced than I was.

It hurt and it was also very hard for me to dismiss people who were not making a mistake and neither doing anything bad. But I had to do it as they were not ready for big changes.

Mistakes and flaws

I have been making mistakes time and again in my life, and I still make them. Which is the mistake I regularly make? Each time I decide to deviate from my principles and look for reasons to make concessions or exceptions I “get struck on the head”. I don’t fire the person who should have been fired as early as yesterday. I agree to go to a meeting which I shouldn’t have gone.

My main flaw is that I am trying to grasp the immensity. And as a result, I spent the last four nights in the plane.

Honesty

People are weak and it is highly important to be loyal and to always tell the truth without resorting to manipulations and double standards.

Learning

In my case, it’s life-long learning. I am lucky to have had many smart mentors.

Family and work

I have four children and my wife greatly helps me with the realization of important projects. My family, apparently, “suffers” and it’s very hard. Unfortunately, there is no balance between the work and the family.