Alexey Beltyukov Senior Vice-President of the Skolkovo Foundation participated in the Russian StartUp Tour in Astrakhan. In an interview he spoke of startups commercialization and shared an insight regarding the Tour’s accomplishments and the quality of innovative projects in Russian regions.
Q: Alexey, you were at the opening ceremony of the Russian StartUp Tour in Yekaterinburg. Today you are in Astrakhan. What is your assessment of the Tour’s meaning and results?
A: I believe, so far Russian Startup Tour is a success. This type of national event is unique as a group of seasoned experts travels the country to consult startups.
It seems to me, the major achievement of the Russian Startup Tour is attention young innovators in distant Russian towns get from the Tour and realize they are not alone in their pursuit – their ideas are not peculiar marginal stories that are scrutinized and not taken seriously. The message they got is that they are part of a major trend for the Russian and world economy. That is why startups shouldn’t consider their research inadequate or irrelevant. Instead they should understand they are at the forefront. I believe this is the major accomplishment of the Russian StartUp Tour: young people around the country realize that their work is justified; it contributes to the progress of our future.
Q: Do local Astrakhan companies measure up to your expectations?
A: There is certain diversity in the quality of work. Unfortunately, all startups make similar mistakes. I think it is unrealistic to expect to find a local Newton. It takes time to go through a project’s lifecycle until it becomes a success or fails. It is similar to evolution and natural selection – some of them will become a success, some and hopefully a minority will fail. Free market will sort it out.