Today we will get acquainted with the biography of an entrepreneur who has become the idol of many Russians, including those who are not directly related to business. The fact is that Maxim Nogotkov is a rare example of a person who realized himself “from scratch”, without “connections and acquaintances” at the level of the highest echelons of power and without access to oil wells. He started by trading in pirated software, continued his electronics business, then went into banking. Having become a significant figure in society, he began to realize himself as the leader of socially significant initiatives, as a participant in the political process. Marigold, importantly, an adherent of family values. His personality is a combination of experience, success and constructive beginnings.
Enterprising good man
Nogotkov Maxim Yurievich - Muscovite, born in 1977. His first type of earnings was the sale of copies of software for the BK-0010 computer. At that time, the future businessman was in the ninth grade and quite successfully - for fours and fives. Revenues from sales of programs were small, but allowed Maxim to significantly increase his well-being amid peers.
Nogotkov was generally a fan of computer technology: he programmed, attended youth courses in computer science at the Pioneer House. After graduating from school (in 1993), Nogotkov entered the Moscow State Technical University. Bauman. He studied there for two courses and decided to go on academic leave without passing the last remaining exam. At first, Maxim planned to return to study in six months, but he was attracted by the prospects of opening his own business.
First steps in business
In 1995, Maxim decided to leave the university, preferring entrepreneurial activity to student life. He began to sell phones with Caller ID, opening the company Maxus. The company's turnover reached 10 thousand dollars a month, and Nogotkov earned his first million dollars in 1997, when he was 20 years old. In the same year he goes to study at the Moscow School of Business MIRBIS. In 2004, Nogotkov transforms Maxus into a group of companies under a new brand - Svyaznoy, and becomes its president.
Maxim connects the new business with the sale of mobile phones, as the demand for stationary devices, according to the entrepreneur, has fallen. The Svyaznoy brand was no longer new to the market by that time: Maxim Nogotkov opened the first stores with the same name back in 2002. The new business was called to compete with Euroset, which had been working in the mobile phone sales segment for several years.
Expanding horizons
In 2008, Maxim began cooperation with KIT Finance Bank. The plans were to deploy a network of supermarkets for the provision of financial services, but they did not succeed in realizing their plans because of the emerging economic crisis. However, the businessman decided to react to the situation "asymmetrically", personally engaging in banking. In 2010, the Svyaznoy group of companies included Promtorgbank. In 2011, Nogotkov created a new trading business - an online consumer electronics store under the Enter brand.
It is noteworthy that the entrepreneur achieved the right to sell products under the Apple brand without using intermediary channels. Nogotkov also has a “non-core” business - a chain of jewelry stores Pandora. Despite the large number of projects related to entrepreneurship, Maxim repeatedly noted in various interviews the low importance of the monetary factor for himself: having earned that same million by the age of 20, he was able to buy everything in accordance with an adequate level of consumption.
Business is not without politics
The biography of Maxim Nogotkov includes social and political activities. In the election of the President of Russia in 2012, the businessman worked in the team of Mikhail Prokhorov as a proxy. Nogotkov took part in public life, opening the Nikola-Lenivets art park in the village of the same name. The entrepreneur met people from there in 2007, and then repeatedly came to this place. Subsequently, he began to support the Arkhstoyanie art festival, on the basis of which it is planned to create the ArkhPolis site. Maxim’s personal competence is the strategic development of this project. The businessman sees huge potential in Russian architects, artists and designers. The entrepreneur plans to create projects related to the development of the institution of e-democracy. In 2012, he invested $ 1 million in the project “your police” - a site where citizens will be able to raise their concerns about the development of the city, send ideas to the authorities, and suggest improvements to the work of administrative structures.
On the top peaks
In 2008, the entrepreneur entered the KIT Finance senior management group and took the position of Chief Executive Officer. He was in charge of the retail business of the Bank. Now this structure is the key in the development strategy of KIT Finance, which is due to the rapid growth rate of this market segment. In his current position, Maxim Nogotkov creates a network related to the sale of financial services. Among the most important tasks are expanding the line of banking products and improving sales channels.
Priority will be given to the development of partner interaction programs, which will allow for a more dynamic expansion of the network. The Svyaznoy and KIT Finance group of companies signed an agreement on a project in the lending segment. A new banking product has appeared on the market , including the sale of plastic cards, the issuance of consumer loans and other services. Within the framework of this project, investments of $ 80 million are planned.
Having achieved a lot
Having occupied undeniably high positions in the business and management structures of large corporations, such an active person as Maxim Nogotkov could not calm down on this. The biography of the entrepreneur, in addition to the fact that at 20 he became a dollar millionaire, includes a number of other noteworthy information. In 2006, he entered the list of 33 most successful men under 33 years old (according to the version of the business magazine "Finance"). At the time of compiling this rating, Maxim’s fortune was estimated at $ 500 million. In 2010, Nogotkov became the winner of the "Entrepreneur of the Year" competition, which was organized by the largest audit corporation Ernst & Young. In 2013, the businessman’s fortune was estimated at $ 1.3 billion (according to the Forbes.ru portal). About Maxim Nogotkov and the successes of his business, a lot of material was created in the media, including various videos.
Family man
Maxim Nogotkov comes from a simple family. His father works as an engineer, his mother is a doctor. My sister works in a “family” company - “Svyaznoy”. The entrepreneur is married to Mary Hayward, who has long lived in England and owned a tourism business. The wife of Maxim Nogotkov in 2012 opened the Oldich Dress & Drink store. It sells vintage clothing, home decoration and other items. This type of business is very different from those owned by Maxim Nogotkov. Photos of unusual goods for Russia attract visitors from shop windows.
The main idea of this institution is to abandon the themes of the retro style of the Soviet era. Maria likes to emphasize that the store promotes the English style and, in principle, should not be similar to anything Russian. The business woman sees the target audience of clients as expats - citizens of far abroad who live and work in Moscow. The main language of communication with the guests of the store, including online correspondence is English. Maxim and Maria have three sons. A businessman dreams that his children do not emigrate outside Russia.
Principal rival
Among Russian business, there was a secret confrontation between the leading trading brands of the mobile devices segment - Svyaznoy and Euroset. Experts note a big difference in the business philosophy of the founders of both companies - Maxim Nogotkov and Evgeny Chichvarkin. The first, for example, was a supporter of good relations with suppliers of mobile devices, the second was famous for a different approach, which is why manufacturers often refused to conclude contracts with Euroset.
A number of vendors rejoiced at the appearance of Svyaznoy as a competitor to the Chichvarkin brand. Marigold never violated the contract, and the discipline of Euroset financially did not differ in a high level. According to many market players, Maxim was significantly more polite than Eugene, could speak English fluently. Chichvarkin called the competitors “complaisant,” while he preferred to determine the pricing and assortment policy in dealing with vendors.
Through the mouth of a hero
Nogotkov’s business philosophy is a storehouse of useful instructions for young entrepreneurs. Maxim believes, for example, that the secret to success is to find people with the right motivation and give them work in the right places. The ability to interact, according to Nogotkov, with people is more important than any technology. There is no category of errors in the philosophy of a businessman. He believes that there is only the problem of choice and a certain development of events. Maxim Nogotkov is sure that he has not made a single mistake in business.
At the same time, the businessman likes to emphasize that most of his projects have arisen accidentally as a result of individual meetings and conversations. Each person, according to Nogotkov, has strengths and weaknesses. Trying to find one that is good in all respects, the entrepreneur believes, is impossible. He selects people into his team with the expectation that two different people can compensate for each other's shortcomings.