From good to great

Very often, starting a new business or creating an innovative product, we are faced with a choice in which direction to move. And if you do not copy someone's idea, but do something truly new and unique, we have to rely only on our own intuition. Parallels Vice President Nikolai Dobrovolsky told in an interview with Multimillionaire how not to make mistakes from the first steps .

- Your company became world famous about 10 years ago. Can you say that the appearance of your key product - Parallels Desktop for Mac - is just luck?
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- Once the great American swimmer Michael Phelps was asked how luck and luck influence the number of his victories. He replied that the more he trained, the more often he was lucky. In our case, everything is the same. Before becoming a world leader in software production, we worked on our Parallels Desktop project for more than five years. And there were cases when the whole team for several months did not receive a salary.

- What is the secret of success? Why did you manage to make a world-class project, and hundreds of thousands of other programmers did not?

- In my opinion, the components of any successful startup: a clear vision, a good team and a focus on the product.

- Do you think that others do not?

- Quite often I observe a picture when a young team or a startup is united by an interesting idea. People start to do something and after a year or two, without getting results, they drop out, clutching at a new project. Then the story repeats. And now, after 10-15 years, people remain in place. Spent time, effort, energy, but there is no result. If you believe in your idea, do not give up after the first failure.

- How important is the idea?

- In my opinion, people overestimate the significance and importance of their ideas. It seems to some that everyone will definitely want to steal their invented unique know-how. In fact, to realize your idea is much more important than just come up with. Were there social networks before Facebook? Yes of course. But only Mark Zuckerberg managed to turn his project into something truly global, bringing together billions of people on the planet.

- How important was your meeting with Steve Jobs in your success story?

- Such meetings can be classified as amazing. We met him in 2008 at Apple headquarters. Being already known in the world, we came to negotiate the development of the distribution of Parallels software through the corporate channel of Apple. Initially, from a conversation with the head of marketing Phil Schiller and the macOS father Bertrand Serlet, it seemed that it would not go further, they gave very vague answers. Suddenly Steve Jobs entered the meeting room. He asked to introduce himself and tell us about our ideas. Then he asked several clarifying questions and, turning to his subordinates, said that it was worth starting the work. Further, our conversation continued in a completely different way. By the way, our products are still available in all Apple stores around the world and in the corporate channel.



- Let's return to the topic of choosing the right path and successful development. What is more important - the presence in the company of a captain, like Steve Jobs, or the ability to collectively make the right decisions?

- Much depends on the specifics of the corporate culture. In Parallels many issues are solved in a team. We have taken an interest in each other's opinions. Employees are very involved in achieving overall results. We generally resemble a large family. Of course, if there is no consensus, you have to make decisions individually, but usually everyone is motivated by the opportunity to be part of the common future.

- But is it impossible to form a common vision for a company consisting of hundreds or even thousands of people?

- Actually possible. In the case of Parallels, we know that the programs we create must meet the needs of our users. Our products must be intuitive, simple and convenient. It is no coincidence that one of the key metrics for us is NPS. The probability of recommending our software by users determines the correctness of our chosen course and the future development of the company. We understand that if we do not listen and hear users, our future is foggy. Another component of our development is a constant movement forward.

- What do you mean? Is it impossible to reinvent the bicycle?

- Have you seen bikes with an electric motor? Giro scooters? Cars Tesla? Agree that their basic functions remain the same, but the technologies used in them have revolutionized a step forward. I have before my eyes the history of Nokia, Polaroid, Siemens Mobile. These giants, which seemed unshakable, literally lost their superiority in just a few years. That is why Parallels is constantly evolving, looking for promising niches, creating new products and technological solutions. It’s not enough for us to be simply good, Parallels is committed to becoming a great company.