Founder's advice. Kirill Novikov, founder and CEO of Kodix Studio

The Founder Boards once again acquaint Megamind’s readers with the stars of the Russian IT market, the founders and managers of their own business.

Today’s hero of our regular column is Kirill Novikov. As he says himself, his biography is brief and does not contain high-profile stories and cases in large companies. From 2003 to 2008, Kirill went from a content manager to a web development manager at various web studios. And in 2008, together with his classmate Ivan Pipchenko, who had gone through a similar career path, he founded the Kodix studio, which partners are developing to this day. Kodix today is one of the market leaders in customized web development with core competencies in auto retail, e-commerce and corporate portals.

We talked with Cyril in many respects because the web studio had not seen such a rapid rise for a long time. Over the past year, Kodix has noticeably strengthened its position in industry ratings, such as Runet Rating , AdIndex and Ruward .
')

Stay on track

I think this is the main driver of business development. In 2008, there were two of us and we just wanted to make a couple of cool websites, get a couple of regular customers and earn money for a modest life, not working “for an uncle”, and calm down. A year later, 20 regular customers and 5 employees already seemed childish. And then it repeated from year to year, despite a steady annual growth of 50% -100%. Having reached the top 10 web developers and under 50 employees in the seventh year of Kodix’s life, which was not even in the plans a year earlier, we again believe that we haven’t reached anything yet and our journey is just beginning. Squeeze the experience out of the path traveled, but convince yourself at each moment in time that you rather just went rather than arrived. Do not let past successes give you a relaxing feeling like a business guru. As Marshall Goldsmith said in his book of the same name: “What brought you here will not lead you anywhere else.”

Move to the goal

A business without a goal is a walk; a business with a goal is a journey. Both options are possible, the difference in scale and significance for you, for the team, for the client. Actually, there can be almost any goal, I don’t believe that there are right or wrong goals. A goal is simply a spark that ignites motivation, concentrates efforts, and makes it possible to take the only right one of hundreds of possible decisions. Or incorrect, but in the end, no less valuable. One thing is true: the bigger the target, the bigger the spark.

Learn from mistakes, do not try to repeat success

Failure is a much better teacher than success. Moreover, personal failures are taught better than others, and examples of others' success - insidiously their own experience. The child, having burned himself on the stove, will know that it is no longer worth doing this, and, quite possibly, will save his life for himself. But having successfully made 12 steps into the river, on the 13th he can get into a pit and drown, and make it even more cheerful and confident if someone crossed the river ford in front of him. Be inspired by someone else's success, but do not try to repeat it. Move smoothly with the speed that allows you to be aware of your mistakes and draw conclusions from them, and they will form your unique way in business. Never repeat mistakes twice and demand the same from your team.

Do not be afraid to say "No"

Success often lies not in doing something, but in abandoning something. Do not boldly take up projects that you are not interested in or will not lead you to the goal, say “No” to clients or investors who do not value your product and believe that you should work for free, say “No” to careless employees who are unable or unwilling develop with the company. To yourself, too, often say “No”, whenever you want to do less and even more than planned, as well as something that does not bring you closer to your goal. As Peter Drucker said: “There is nothing more useless than effectively doing what you don’t need to do at all.”

Count money honestly

From the very beginning it is important to count money in the smallest details, to understand your cost price, to understand where you earn and where you lose. Be clear about your costs to know how much a particular project or product cost you. Firstly, it is very disciplined, and secondly, it helps to quickly understand what you do best, what you should give up and what you should pump. In a competitive environment, the temptation to make concessions, reduce the price, or even do something for free is high. However, working on the verge of and below the level of profitability, you risk going to the bottom, for which the client, who received a discount, is unlikely to thank you. If you still don’t consider money, while trying to entertain yourself by the fact that it is coming - know that up to half of what you are doing now brings you a net loss. It does not work just for the money. Such an approach will almost inevitably build your processes to bypass the creation of value for the client, which will not lead to success in the long term. It is tempting to cut the loot with a margin of 1000% on technology that no one has yet mastered. You will earn, but others will soon learn it, make it better and cheaper, and you will be left behind because gone too far by “expensive and bad,” and your pioneer title will not save you. Rolling out a double price for a project simply because you have become known and “customer haws” is also fraught with great disappointment. Profits are corrupted.

Part with people

Imagine a football team where the attacker looks cool, but runs slowly and cannot score a goal, the goalkeeper is kept only because he is a friend of the coach and went with him to one kindergarten, and the defender can never come in time to start the game. What are the chances of such a team to get to the finals of the highest league? For a long time, we too were subjected to the illusion that a bad employee could prove himself, change or make a breakthrough in work, you only need to give him time and motivate him correctly, because finding a replacement will not be easy and he knows the product / technology / customer / just really good the guy and worked in the company for X years (underline the necessary). Bullshit. Years later, I had to admit that people do not change, the old dog cannot be taught new tricks, and if you have doubts about someone, they will surely come true. So be decisive and quickly change the team of those who do not meet your expectations. Thus, as a result of cruel natural selection, only those who truly share your philosophy and keep your pace will remain under your banners. This is your team, and it is these people who should be motivated and invest in their development.

Limit yourself

Advice is extremely important for founders - people from developers, as a frequent example. Many people have respect for stories about people who worked 16 hours 7 days a week at the dawn of business. Of course, we started with this, but if I knew then what I realize now, we would grow much faster. Your task is not to remake all the cases, having checked everyone and completed everything, because “you want the best — do it yourself”, but to build a working structure and processes in which the employees are solely responsible for the entrusted piece of work. The more you control a person, the less he thinks himself. Almost never it is not possible right away - for a long time you will have to combine many roles, but it is important not to miss moments of transition to a new level - both your own and your people - and then not to go back, not to rush to write the code for the developer, to bill for account, no matter how hard their hands are to do it, they say, “Now all my labors will collapse.” Without limiting your own resources (in particular, time), you unknowingly, under the guise of "management", begin to make decisions for employees and thereby thwart business growth. Proper management - to provide the conditions in which everyone can achieve goals with his own mind, and the price of possible errors will be as low as possible.

Look in the mirror

The leader of any level is the reason for the success and failure of the whole part of the company below. The project failed not because of a bad developer, but because the manager did not recognize his uselessness in time; not because of a bad manager, but because of the inability of a department manager to develop his skills; not because of a bad department manager, but because of a director who incorrectly set goals and motivated him.

Editorial note: if you have a desire to participate in the “Founder’s Tips” section, write to us at editor (at) megamozg.ru