Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Learning Italian Language Key to Russia's Female New Media Tycoon

 

 The ANNOTICO Report

 

Most Educated Russians speak English, But Moscow State University wanted to encourage more Language skills, and decided to require the Italian Language above all others, That was either a Prescient, Whimsical, or Serendipitous decision, because just as the Soviet Union stated to break up, the disproportionately greater number of the first foreign business people to come to Russia were Italians, it provided great opportunities for Italian speaking Russians.

 

Irina Gofman was one of those students, who studied the Italian Language, and while researching her doctorate in Journalism, she helped Italian companies to set up their businesses in Russia. She soon became the general director of one of these Italian companies, which built and furnished offices and houses for the rising elite. The company had a permanent staff of 30 people, For five years she combined building offices with researching the Italian magazine market.

 

She soon became the general director of one of these Italian companies, which built and furnished offices and houses for the rising elite. The company had a permanent staff of 30 people, For five years she combined building offices with researching the Italian magazine market.

 

Gofman  then moved to the United States, where she worked as a media consultant, and received an MBA from Babson College.

Returning to Russia, she served two years as the vice president of Modern Times Group Russia, in 2004 she was appointed CEO of Rambler Media, whose vision is "to create a one-stop shop for information, entertainment and services for Russian speakers." Rambler Media is best known for its search engine -- Russia's second-most popular. The Internet in Russia is still in its infancy,  Only 20 percent of Russian households have Internet access, half that of Western Europe.

An amusing footnote, is that when Irena was first introduced to the Internet by her husband, she told him, " I Hate it, I'm Never going to use it!"

 

UNLIKELY LAUNCHPAD FOR RAMBLER CEO'S ASCENT

The Moscow Times

By William Bland
Special to The Moscow Times

Thursday, May 11, 2006. Page 11.

Irina Gofman's first experience in journalism was writing about underprivileged children for the provincial newspaper Za Kommunism. Fifteen years later she is in charge of Rambler Media, one of the fastest-growing media companies in Russia.

Gofman enrolled in the journalism school of Moscow State University just as the Soviet Union was disintegrating. She wrote well, but her first break was hardly planned.

"The university had to come up with a new language for us to learn, because all of us already spoke English," she said, speaking fluent English with just a hint of an accent. The students all signed up for French -- but since one of the students already knew the language they were told to learn Italian instead.

"Everyone freaked out at first," she recalled. "Italian is a nice language, but not a lot of people speak it."

Gofman, 35, owes her first business experience to this arbitrary decision of her professor. It turned out that many of the first foreign businesspeople to come to Russia were Italians. Apart from Moscow State University students with whimsical professors, not a lot of Russians spoke Italian. Gofman, now trilingual, found herself in demand. She made her first money as an interpreter for adventurous Italians while still a student.

When she graduated in 1992, Gofman was pragmatic: "I knew I wanted to be in media, but jobs in media didn't pay that well."

In order to keep in touch with the media world, she began a doctorate comparing the success of various Italian weekly magazines. But Gofman wanted her brain to "work in different directions," so while researching her doctorate, she helped Italian companies to set up their businesses in Russia.

She soon became the general director of one of these companies, which built and furnished offices and houses for the rising elite. The company had a permanent staff of 30 people, but whenever a big project came in, it would take on up to 400 extra people. Years later in business school she found out that this was known as a "virtual company."

For five years she combined building offices with researching the Italian magazine market. She only stopped working for the construction company for seven months before submitting her doctorate. She defended her Ph.D. while three months pregnant, organized a media conference in Italy in the summer and then moved to the United States in 1998.

In the United States, Gofman worked as a media consultant and received an MBA from Babson College. Returning to Russia was not an easy decision. After four years in the United States, she was beginning to feel comfortable, but said she doubted she could have found such exciting opportunities there as in Russia.

After two years as the vice president of Modern Times Group Russia, in 2004 she was appointed CEO of Rambler Media.

Gofman's vision for the company is "to create a one-stop shop for information, entertainment and services for Russian speakers." Rambler Media also owns a free-to-air television channel and provides SMS-based content for mobile phones, but it is best known for its search engine -- Russia's second-most popular.

The Internet in Russia is still in its infancy, Gofman said. Only 20 percent of Russian households have Internet access, a level of penetration that is half that of Western Europe. This is both a problem and an opportunity, she believes, as the market here is growing twice as fast as in other countries.

So, what's it like to be one of Russia's few prominent businesswomen? Gofman is almost confused by the question.

"The culture of working women is much stronger here," she said. Her mother is a leading endocrinologist and her grandmother a philologist. Both kept their maiden names. She suggested that the macho element in Russian business helps because "men are more gallant than in the States." Gofman has worked with Italians, Russians and Americans but argues that to be successful, women just "need to be good at what they're doing."

Starting her own company has always been Gofman's ultimate ambition. While she was in the United States she came up with a business plan that combined her three passions: magazines, travel and entrepreneurship.

"Travel and Treasures" was to be a series of magazines circulated in airports and airplanes where travelers could read articles about their destinations. The innovation was that the magazines would also provide a catalogue of products associated with each destination. The magazines would appeal to busy businesspeople and forgetful tourists alike. She laughs at this scheme now.

Gofman was moved to learn that after her first-ever article, one of the children whose misfortunes she described was given a wheelchair. The media in Russia has been transformed since the days of Za Kommunism -- and Gofman understands as well as anyone how to take advantage of the new possibilities. Even so, she said she was hardly enthusiastic when her husband first told her how the Internet worked. She told him, "I hate it! I'm never going to use it!"

http://www.themoscowtimes.com

/stories/2006/05/11/045.html

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