Help, we are captured
Good day friends!
We understand that Habr is not a platform for clarifying relations, and certainly not our personal army, but the situation described in this post is extremely important for the entire IT industry in our country. We, the employees of Dream Industries (services Zvooq , Bookmate , Theory and Practice and Third Place ), want to announce the ongoing raider seizure of our company.
')
Perhaps some have already heard, and someone even read about what happened yesterday.
A detailed description of the events taking place in our office and with our company in this article by the Private Correspondent. As direct participants in these events, it is especially important for us to speak about what is happening. Official information transmitted by the new CEO, contrary to what we have faced in the last week.
So, on Thursday morning, December 13, incomprehensible people appeared in our office in Lubyanka, announcing the change of CEO. Instead of Alexey Ostroukhov, co-founder of Dream Industries and its main ideologue, we were offered to come under the management of Mikhail Ilyichev, former CEO of Rutube. Here is what our employee Dmitry Smolin recalls :
Since that morning, the normal work of our office stopped, all members of our team stopped visiting the office, fearing possible psychological and physical pressure, attempts to force them to sign any documents, etc. As a result of the seizure operation, bank accounts of our company were blocked for some time before the ill-fated Thursday, as a result, some employees still have not paid their salaries for November, and labels (Zvooq) and publishers (Bookmate) do not receive royalties.
Yesterday, December 19, we all received a letter from our CEO Alexey Ostroukhov, the company's founder, to the corporate email:
Then a letter came from the “new CEO" Mikhail Ilyichev:
And from Viktor Frumkin:
Firstly, we have reason to question the fact of the shareholder’s majority of the said persons during the voting.
Secondly, even if we assume the truth of the information specified in the letter, it is not clear how you can change the general director of the company without convening a board of directors, which, by the way, is deliberately delayed on the initiative of the invaders. Moreover, it is not clear why persons acting ostensibly legally need force support (see Dmitry’s note above).
Thirdly, if the “new leadership" of the company is primarily interested in supporting and developing (monetizing, as they say) existing services and is not going to reform the team of employees, then why block financial flows and actually undermine the work of services that are seriously dependent on relations with music labels and book publishers (which are undoubtedly at risk as a result of overdue payments).
Fourth, we do not consider the work of the company at the moment and its management ineffective, and, therefore, we do not consider it necessary to change the CEO. The current products of the company are being transformed, we make them unique not only for the Russian market, but also for the entire Internet as a whole. As far as we know, this course was approved by the shareholders and did not cause them any questions.
Thus, we are at least suspicious of the last two letters and believe that such methods of managing the company (if you do not call it a raider seizure) are completely unacceptable and hardly legitimate.
Invaders and sticks trying to lure the team to their side, promising to pay off wage arrears and insisting that "there are no irreplaceable people." We understand that some former employees still have offenses that played into the hands of the invaders and may be used further.
At the moment, most employees are on vacation, because they do not consider it safer to appear in the office. We have every reason to believe that psychological pressure and threats to physical security can be applied to us, as has already happened to Alexei Ostroukhov at a private meeting with Dmitry Kostygin - audio .
I think that few of the users of Habr after listening to this conversation will create a favorable impression about the upcoming changes in the company.
Some of our other shareholders have also come under pressure, and therefore at the moment they maintain enforced neutrality. We do not want to wait for the outcome aside, because we believe that Dream Industries is our company too. We have created a page on the Internet, where we try to promptly post all the information we have about what is happening. We will be very grateful to you in disseminating this information to all the means available to you, and especially if you share the link with familiar journalists.
It is important to understand that the opposing side is trying very hard to make this situation look no more than a personal conflict of shareholders that does not affect the interests of ordinary employees, while it directly undermines our work and endangers the company's existence.
We believe that the publicizing of this case will help in the legal settlement of the situation. The precedent in which the Internet community has helped to stop the raider seizure of high-tech business in Russia is extremely important for our entire industry.
This is a combined post from Dream Industries employees. We support the position of our director and founder Alexei Ostroukhov. Most of us are currently formally on vacation. We still support old projects and create new ones in conditions of incessant hackathon. We do not hang our nose and hope that Russia is a civilized place and the methods from the 90s do not work here anymore. If someone has questions after this post (and they most likely just appeared), we are ready to answer them.
The Team.
upd: we have a small blog on the toggle switch to inform
We understand that Habr is not a platform for clarifying relations, and certainly not our personal army, but the situation described in this post is extremely important for the entire IT industry in our country. We, the employees of Dream Industries (services Zvooq , Bookmate , Theory and Practice and Third Place ), want to announce the ongoing raider seizure of our company.
')
Perhaps some have already heard, and someone even read about what happened yesterday.
A detailed description of the events taking place in our office and with our company in this article by the Private Correspondent. As direct participants in these events, it is especially important for us to speak about what is happening. Official information transmitted by the new CEO, contrary to what we have faced in the last week.
So, on Thursday morning, December 13, incomprehensible people appeared in our office in Lubyanka, announcing the change of CEO. Instead of Alexey Ostroukhov, co-founder of Dream Industries and its main ideologue, we were offered to come under the management of Mikhail Ilyichev, former CEO of Rutube. Here is what our employee Dmitry Smolin recalls :
expand the text of Dima
On this day, strange-looking people appeared in the office who were unfamiliar to me. All but one - Viktor Frumkin, whom I, in general, had not really seen for a couple of years. I don't know how they got into the office. Officially, none of them were given access, so they “broke in”, apparently, would be the right word.
People were walking around the office looking around in a businesslike way. At first I just did not pay attention to them - well, they came to the meeting, you never know. At some point, our employee called me and said that there is information that something strange might happen in the office soon and it is better to leave it. He asked me to grab everything I needed to work for me and the guys who work with me at the same table, so that we can work outside the office. I started to get ready.
At this moment, strange people, hearing my conversation on the phone, somehow suddenly gathered around me. It was announced to me that from now on we submit to the new general director, Mikhail Ilyichev, whom I was immediately introduced to. They asked not to worry, they assured that it was not a raider seizure, they said that they were not going to interfere in the life of the company that day and just came to talk with Lesha, who is about to go. I was asked to do work as usual.
My reaction apparently clearly reflected on the face. I was dissatisfied and this is understandable - strangers showed up and impose on me to the authorities do not understand who. Victor intervened and began to tell with a soothing voice, what kind of a good man Mikhail was - something about how he led RuTube and how in the process he made a lot of money for some people who are still unfamiliar to me. I was not impressed. Briefly expressing to Victor my opinion about RuTube, I continued to gather.
The person who introduced himself as a lawyer joined the case. There were some vague threats against me and promptings to be loyal to the “new leadership”. At some point, there was a threat from him to fire me if I misbehave. Pretty thing guys. Who ever told you that I was going to work with you? I see you for the first time and I don’t like you anymore.
Next, they made it clear that they would not let me take the things with me. I phoned to our employee, which was discussed earlier, and he advised me to get out of the office in any form, as I can. But I, of course, did not intend to leave my laptop there. I headed for the exit.
One of the strange people who looked like a bouncer blocked my passage with his torso and shook his head negatively, smiling cheekily. The lawyer arrived and continued his vague threats. I was told that I would have to leave my laptop in the office.
Michael came up and started accusing me of sabotage. He was unable to answer the question of what kind of subversive activities they suspect me. Then I had to explain to him long and tediously that I had no desire to be in their company. That I am going to use my right to leave the office and work from home and for this my laptop should be with me. And, since they declared that they are not going to interfere in this day with work, it would be right for me not to interfere.
Having asked me what I do and what I heard and after hearing a bunch of technical terms in response, Michael apparently made sure that I was a “simple developer” and not some kind of “big shot” and there is hardly something “important” on my laptop. After that, I, so be it, was allowed to leave. The bouncer blocked my way again, but they gave him a sign and I left freely.
Later, I learned that Samatu, who was also in the office, was not allowed to leave with his own laptop until Simon intervened.
Later we learned that at least some of the cars left in the office had been climbed by someone. I don’t know what they could look for there, or what they could try to put there, but this is at least unpleasant, especially considering that some of the laptops that were in the office are the personal property of the employees and are not related to the company. By the way, I managed to say this to the people who had broken in when I tried to take a laptop with my colleague.
From this point on, the captured office gained a reputation as a place that is easy to enter, but you can meet very unpleasant people and it may not be easy to get out.
People were walking around the office looking around in a businesslike way. At first I just did not pay attention to them - well, they came to the meeting, you never know. At some point, our employee called me and said that there is information that something strange might happen in the office soon and it is better to leave it. He asked me to grab everything I needed to work for me and the guys who work with me at the same table, so that we can work outside the office. I started to get ready.
At this moment, strange people, hearing my conversation on the phone, somehow suddenly gathered around me. It was announced to me that from now on we submit to the new general director, Mikhail Ilyichev, whom I was immediately introduced to. They asked not to worry, they assured that it was not a raider seizure, they said that they were not going to interfere in the life of the company that day and just came to talk with Lesha, who is about to go. I was asked to do work as usual.
My reaction apparently clearly reflected on the face. I was dissatisfied and this is understandable - strangers showed up and impose on me to the authorities do not understand who. Victor intervened and began to tell with a soothing voice, what kind of a good man Mikhail was - something about how he led RuTube and how in the process he made a lot of money for some people who are still unfamiliar to me. I was not impressed. Briefly expressing to Victor my opinion about RuTube, I continued to gather.
The person who introduced himself as a lawyer joined the case. There were some vague threats against me and promptings to be loyal to the “new leadership”. At some point, there was a threat from him to fire me if I misbehave. Pretty thing guys. Who ever told you that I was going to work with you? I see you for the first time and I don’t like you anymore.
Next, they made it clear that they would not let me take the things with me. I phoned to our employee, which was discussed earlier, and he advised me to get out of the office in any form, as I can. But I, of course, did not intend to leave my laptop there. I headed for the exit.
One of the strange people who looked like a bouncer blocked my passage with his torso and shook his head negatively, smiling cheekily. The lawyer arrived and continued his vague threats. I was told that I would have to leave my laptop in the office.
Michael came up and started accusing me of sabotage. He was unable to answer the question of what kind of subversive activities they suspect me. Then I had to explain to him long and tediously that I had no desire to be in their company. That I am going to use my right to leave the office and work from home and for this my laptop should be with me. And, since they declared that they are not going to interfere in this day with work, it would be right for me not to interfere.
Having asked me what I do and what I heard and after hearing a bunch of technical terms in response, Michael apparently made sure that I was a “simple developer” and not some kind of “big shot” and there is hardly something “important” on my laptop. After that, I, so be it, was allowed to leave. The bouncer blocked my way again, but they gave him a sign and I left freely.
Later, I learned that Samatu, who was also in the office, was not allowed to leave with his own laptop until Simon intervened.
Later we learned that at least some of the cars left in the office had been climbed by someone. I don’t know what they could look for there, or what they could try to put there, but this is at least unpleasant, especially considering that some of the laptops that were in the office are the personal property of the employees and are not related to the company. By the way, I managed to say this to the people who had broken in when I tried to take a laptop with my colleague.
From this point on, the captured office gained a reputation as a place that is easy to enter, but you can meet very unpleasant people and it may not be easy to get out.
Since that morning, the normal work of our office stopped, all members of our team stopped visiting the office, fearing possible psychological and physical pressure, attempts to force them to sign any documents, etc. As a result of the seizure operation, bank accounts of our company were blocked for some time before the ill-fated Thursday, as a result, some employees still have not paid their salaries for November, and labels (Zvooq) and publishers (Bookmate) do not receive royalties.
Yesterday, December 19, we all received a letter from our CEO Alexey Ostroukhov, the company's founder, to the corporate email:
expand letter from Lesha
Friends,
We hurry to inform you the latest news.
As many of you know, having partners with people who have been doing business in Russia since the beginning of the 90s, we failed to properly protect us all from their criminal tendencies.
Under their influence, which is expressed by threats and psychological pressure, some of the representatives of the Finnish Essedel Foundation and, potentially, our other associates (be careful), who are also shareholders, also came in part.
A few weeks ago, the illegal seizure of our bank accounts was made, and last Thursday, administrative control was taken over our Russian companies, and an office in Lubyanka was seized. According to our information, now there is an armed guard with representatives of raiders.
The initiator and ideologist of the seizure is our main investor, Dmitry Kostygin, although the original script belongs to his longtime partner Augustus Meyer. The loudest of all, they “became famous” for the not quite successful seizure of the Lenta supermarket chain in 2010-2011, but similar schemes were used more than once. Each of us can easily find comprehensive information about these people on the Internet. A key tool was also a long-time friend of Kostygin, our former CFO, Viktor Frumkin. Having abused our trust, he became one of the key tools in the hands of raiders.
During this year we managed to build a company that is fully owned and operated by you.
Under various pretexts, several partners who are unable to accept this idea are now trying to fundamentally reverse this, and return certain hierarchies. We have every reason to believe that in the process they have violated and continue to violate the laws of several countries.
Now we and our friends are fighting to stop the crime and resume the work of the company in the reached manner. If there are influential journalists among your friends who do not care about our future, the future of civilized work in the country, you know what to do.
If you receive various offers, be especially vigilant and do not trust the appearance of logical and favorable arguments. If threats will come to your address, if attempts are made to exert psychological pressure, without delay inform the head of our security service, Mikhail Katyshev (89031306259). Any illegal actions against you will be resolutely stopped.
With love,
your friends
We hurry to inform you the latest news.
As many of you know, having partners with people who have been doing business in Russia since the beginning of the 90s, we failed to properly protect us all from their criminal tendencies.
Under their influence, which is expressed by threats and psychological pressure, some of the representatives of the Finnish Essedel Foundation and, potentially, our other associates (be careful), who are also shareholders, also came in part.
A few weeks ago, the illegal seizure of our bank accounts was made, and last Thursday, administrative control was taken over our Russian companies, and an office in Lubyanka was seized. According to our information, now there is an armed guard with representatives of raiders.
The initiator and ideologist of the seizure is our main investor, Dmitry Kostygin, although the original script belongs to his longtime partner Augustus Meyer. The loudest of all, they “became famous” for the not quite successful seizure of the Lenta supermarket chain in 2010-2011, but similar schemes were used more than once. Each of us can easily find comprehensive information about these people on the Internet. A key tool was also a long-time friend of Kostygin, our former CFO, Viktor Frumkin. Having abused our trust, he became one of the key tools in the hands of raiders.
During this year we managed to build a company that is fully owned and operated by you.
Under various pretexts, several partners who are unable to accept this idea are now trying to fundamentally reverse this, and return certain hierarchies. We have every reason to believe that in the process they have violated and continue to violate the laws of several countries.
Now we and our friends are fighting to stop the crime and resume the work of the company in the reached manner. If there are influential journalists among your friends who do not care about our future, the future of civilized work in the country, you know what to do.
If you receive various offers, be especially vigilant and do not trust the appearance of logical and favorable arguments. If threats will come to your address, if attempts are made to exert psychological pressure, without delay inform the head of our security service, Mikhail Katyshev (89031306259). Any illegal actions against you will be resolutely stopped.
With love,
your friends
Then a letter came from the “new CEO" Mikhail Ilyichev:
expand the letter from Carabas Barabas
Good day!
My name is Mikhail Ilyichev. I have been working in the media for more than 10 years, seven of which are directly related to online media.
Details of my professional history can be found here. In addition to the official information on LinkedIn, I should also say that I am the ideologist of the Gazprom-Media Digital sales house, which focuses on online video advertising sales and took 57% of this market right after the first year of operation (the sales house was created on the basis of commercial department of Rutube). The last six months have been largely devoted to mentoring and other assistance and support for young projects in search of investment and business solutions.
Thus, it can be said that the greatest experience has been gained in business development, marketing, sales and management.
I am sincerely glad to join the Dream Industries team, which I have always maintained a very high opinion from the moment Zvooq came out.
Innovative things are what drive progress and evolution. And beautiful innovative things also enrich the inner world.
I am ready to apply my skills and efforts, share experiences and time to contribute to the development of Dream Industries.
The wishes of the majority of the shareholders do not look eccentric or unreasonable. A successful and stable company is always two components: demanded products and their effective monetization.
Dream Industries has a chance to become a successful company, as it has already proven its worth in the first part. Therefore, I plan to focus my main efforts primarily on the second component of success, namely, the development of a business based on products created in Dream Industries.
Therefore, I will not try to convince you that absolutely nothing will change and business processes will exist somewhere in isolation from R & D. It does not happen. The very fact of having a new person in a team is already a change.
But at the same time, I believe that all changes, carried out consciously, are always aimed only at improvements.
At this stage it is difficult for me to talk about the details, but in general, I see a strategy for further actions as follows:
Save the entire existing team, continue the processes and activities in the field of R & D, including work on the new product, which was devoted to the last months.
To assemble team “B”, the main function of which will ensure the exploitation of products created in the company (customer support etc.) and their monetization.
I will be mainly in the office at M. Cherkassky, 2, where we can always meet in person.
See you!
Mikhail Ilyichev
I know that not everyone last week received the last payment on s / n. The fact is that after the procedure of changing the CEO begins and before its completion, there is no formal person for the bank who has the right to sign documents and make financial transactions impossible. Today, the registration of all necessary papers was completed, tomorrow from 12.00 Svetlana on M.Cherkassky, d.2 will continue to issue s / n.
My name is Mikhail Ilyichev. I have been working in the media for more than 10 years, seven of which are directly related to online media.
Details of my professional history can be found here. In addition to the official information on LinkedIn, I should also say that I am the ideologist of the Gazprom-Media Digital sales house, which focuses on online video advertising sales and took 57% of this market right after the first year of operation (the sales house was created on the basis of commercial department of Rutube). The last six months have been largely devoted to mentoring and other assistance and support for young projects in search of investment and business solutions.
Thus, it can be said that the greatest experience has been gained in business development, marketing, sales and management.
I am sincerely glad to join the Dream Industries team, which I have always maintained a very high opinion from the moment Zvooq came out.
Innovative things are what drive progress and evolution. And beautiful innovative things also enrich the inner world.
I am ready to apply my skills and efforts, share experiences and time to contribute to the development of Dream Industries.
The wishes of the majority of the shareholders do not look eccentric or unreasonable. A successful and stable company is always two components: demanded products and their effective monetization.
Dream Industries has a chance to become a successful company, as it has already proven its worth in the first part. Therefore, I plan to focus my main efforts primarily on the second component of success, namely, the development of a business based on products created in Dream Industries.
Therefore, I will not try to convince you that absolutely nothing will change and business processes will exist somewhere in isolation from R & D. It does not happen. The very fact of having a new person in a team is already a change.
But at the same time, I believe that all changes, carried out consciously, are always aimed only at improvements.
At this stage it is difficult for me to talk about the details, but in general, I see a strategy for further actions as follows:
Save the entire existing team, continue the processes and activities in the field of R & D, including work on the new product, which was devoted to the last months.
To assemble team “B”, the main function of which will ensure the exploitation of products created in the company (customer support etc.) and their monetization.
I will be mainly in the office at M. Cherkassky, 2, where we can always meet in person.
See you!
Mikhail Ilyichev
I know that not everyone last week received the last payment on s / n. The fact is that after the procedure of changing the CEO begins and before its completion, there is no formal person for the bank who has the right to sign documents and make financial transactions impossible. Today, the registration of all necessary papers was completed, tomorrow from 12.00 Svetlana on M.Cherkassky, d.2 will continue to issue s / n.
And from Viktor Frumkin:
expand the letter from Kashchei
Dear Colleagues!
Last year, the composition of the shareholders of our company has changed. The company attracted funds from investors and new owners - Dmitry Kostygin ($ 25 million) and the Essedel fund ($ 5 million).
Accordingly, to date, the equity capital of Dream
Industries are distributed as follows:
Victor Frumkin (co-founder) - 22%
Simon Dunlop (co-founder) - 22%
Alexey Ostroukhov (co-founder) - 22%
Dmitry Kostygin (investor) - 22%
Essedel Capital (investor) - 6%
Other partners, investors - 6%
Many of you, even without being directly involved in this process, could notice and appreciate the positive effect of the fundraise on indirect grounds: there were ambitions to create global products, scaling the team and processes, a significant improvement in working and living conditions in the office, indexing and growing salaries. n, business trips to participate in specialized and industrial events, etc.
The shareholder agreement, which was signed by the entire composition of the owners, identified the main goals for the development of the company and the direction of expenditure of attracted investments. The shareholder agreement provided for, among other conditions, the performance of certain actions, both in terms of product development and in the direction of business development based on these products. We, as members of the Board of Directors and representatives of the majority shareholder of the company, have to state that a significant part of these conditions and the obligations assumed by the company’s management are not fulfilled on time. The executive management of the company in the person of its shareholders, having a minority part of the capital (Alexey Ostroukhov and Simon Dunlop), against the background of non-fulfillment of their obligations, has already spent more than half of the attracted investments.
We believe in the team and the quality of the products you create. We also believe that it is possible to create a successful business on their basis, which will provide the company with the necessary funds, some of which can be systematically reinvested in the creation of new modern products, which in turn will become the basis for the subsequent increase in the scale of business and development him new directions. Taken together, this is the formula for a sustainable company.
Any young successful project comes to a stage when an excellent working and popular product is in the hands, requiring constant support and development, but not yet generating enough income for it. And this moment is very important for any company: on the one hand, one cannot miss the dynamics of product development and at the same time it is necessary to launch a lot of parallel and product-related processes aimed at building a product-based business.
That is why in July 2001, after attracting significant investments in the development of the company and its business, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, for example, reinforced Google with Eric Schmidt. In a very similar situation and for similar purposes, we consider it necessary to strengthen the Dream Industries team with people with the skills and experience of business development.
This will preserve the pace and quality of the development of existing and new products and at the same time create sustainable mechanisms for their monetization, which will ensure stability in the company.
In this regard, we present to you the new CEO of Dream Industries, Mikhail Ilyichev. Mikhail officially takes office from today and will present himself in more detail in a separate subsequent letter.
From today, the management structure of the company is as follows:
· Mikhail Ilyichev and Simon Dunlop - EO and co-CEO, respectively, with the last word on Mikhail Ilyichev
· Alexey Ostroukhov - Chief R & D Officer
The remaining positions and positions remain unchanged.
It is particularly necessary to note that we do not change the strategic goals and mission of the company. We continue to look at Dream Industries as a unique platform presented by outstanding and talented people who are able to create the most innovative products at the global quality level. And we want to achieve recognition of each of these products separately and the achievements of the company as a whole, which cannot be complete in the absence of success in business.
Last year, the composition of the shareholders of our company has changed. The company attracted funds from investors and new owners - Dmitry Kostygin ($ 25 million) and the Essedel fund ($ 5 million).
Accordingly, to date, the equity capital of Dream
Industries are distributed as follows:
Victor Frumkin (co-founder) - 22%
Simon Dunlop (co-founder) - 22%
Alexey Ostroukhov (co-founder) - 22%
Dmitry Kostygin (investor) - 22%
Essedel Capital (investor) - 6%
Other partners, investors - 6%
Many of you, even without being directly involved in this process, could notice and appreciate the positive effect of the fundraise on indirect grounds: there were ambitions to create global products, scaling the team and processes, a significant improvement in working and living conditions in the office, indexing and growing salaries. n, business trips to participate in specialized and industrial events, etc.
The shareholder agreement, which was signed by the entire composition of the owners, identified the main goals for the development of the company and the direction of expenditure of attracted investments. The shareholder agreement provided for, among other conditions, the performance of certain actions, both in terms of product development and in the direction of business development based on these products. We, as members of the Board of Directors and representatives of the majority shareholder of the company, have to state that a significant part of these conditions and the obligations assumed by the company’s management are not fulfilled on time. The executive management of the company in the person of its shareholders, having a minority part of the capital (Alexey Ostroukhov and Simon Dunlop), against the background of non-fulfillment of their obligations, has already spent more than half of the attracted investments.
We believe in the team and the quality of the products you create. We also believe that it is possible to create a successful business on their basis, which will provide the company with the necessary funds, some of which can be systematically reinvested in the creation of new modern products, which in turn will become the basis for the subsequent increase in the scale of business and development him new directions. Taken together, this is the formula for a sustainable company.
Any young successful project comes to a stage when an excellent working and popular product is in the hands, requiring constant support and development, but not yet generating enough income for it. And this moment is very important for any company: on the one hand, one cannot miss the dynamics of product development and at the same time it is necessary to launch a lot of parallel and product-related processes aimed at building a product-based business.
That is why in July 2001, after attracting significant investments in the development of the company and its business, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, for example, reinforced Google with Eric Schmidt. In a very similar situation and for similar purposes, we consider it necessary to strengthen the Dream Industries team with people with the skills and experience of business development.
This will preserve the pace and quality of the development of existing and new products and at the same time create sustainable mechanisms for their monetization, which will ensure stability in the company.
In this regard, we present to you the new CEO of Dream Industries, Mikhail Ilyichev. Mikhail officially takes office from today and will present himself in more detail in a separate subsequent letter.
From today, the management structure of the company is as follows:
· Mikhail Ilyichev and Simon Dunlop - EO and co-CEO, respectively, with the last word on Mikhail Ilyichev
· Alexey Ostroukhov - Chief R & D Officer
The remaining positions and positions remain unchanged.
It is particularly necessary to note that we do not change the strategic goals and mission of the company. We continue to look at Dream Industries as a unique platform presented by outstanding and talented people who are able to create the most innovative products at the global quality level. And we want to achieve recognition of each of these products separately and the achievements of the company as a whole, which cannot be complete in the absence of success in business.
Firstly, we have reason to question the fact of the shareholder’s majority of the said persons during the voting.
Secondly, even if we assume the truth of the information specified in the letter, it is not clear how you can change the general director of the company without convening a board of directors, which, by the way, is deliberately delayed on the initiative of the invaders. Moreover, it is not clear why persons acting ostensibly legally need force support (see Dmitry’s note above).
Thirdly, if the “new leadership" of the company is primarily interested in supporting and developing (monetizing, as they say) existing services and is not going to reform the team of employees, then why block financial flows and actually undermine the work of services that are seriously dependent on relations with music labels and book publishers (which are undoubtedly at risk as a result of overdue payments).
Fourth, we do not consider the work of the company at the moment and its management ineffective, and, therefore, we do not consider it necessary to change the CEO. The current products of the company are being transformed, we make them unique not only for the Russian market, but also for the entire Internet as a whole. As far as we know, this course was approved by the shareholders and did not cause them any questions.
Thus, we are at least suspicious of the last two letters and believe that such methods of managing the company (if you do not call it a raider seizure) are completely unacceptable and hardly legitimate.
Invaders and sticks trying to lure the team to their side, promising to pay off wage arrears and insisting that "there are no irreplaceable people." We understand that some former employees still have offenses that played into the hands of the invaders and may be used further.
At the moment, most employees are on vacation, because they do not consider it safer to appear in the office. We have every reason to believe that psychological pressure and threats to physical security can be applied to us, as has already happened to Alexei Ostroukhov at a private meeting with Dmitry Kostygin - audio .
I think that few of the users of Habr after listening to this conversation will create a favorable impression about the upcoming changes in the company.
Some of our other shareholders have also come under pressure, and therefore at the moment they maintain enforced neutrality. We do not want to wait for the outcome aside, because we believe that Dream Industries is our company too. We have created a page on the Internet, where we try to promptly post all the information we have about what is happening. We will be very grateful to you in disseminating this information to all the means available to you, and especially if you share the link with familiar journalists.
It is important to understand that the opposing side is trying very hard to make this situation look no more than a personal conflict of shareholders that does not affect the interests of ordinary employees, while it directly undermines our work and endangers the company's existence.
We believe that the publicizing of this case will help in the legal settlement of the situation. The precedent in which the Internet community has helped to stop the raider seizure of high-tech business in Russia is extremely important for our entire industry.
This is a combined post from Dream Industries employees. We support the position of our director and founder Alexei Ostroukhov. Most of us are currently formally on vacation. We still support old projects and create new ones in conditions of incessant hackathon. We do not hang our nose and hope that Russia is a civilized place and the methods from the 90s do not work here anymore. If someone has questions after this post (and they most likely just appeared), we are ready to answer them.
The Team.
upd: we have a small blog on the toggle switch to inform
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/163369/
All Articles