The Russians are coming. The Russians are coming. The Russians are coming.

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Russia has gone from a poor country to an increasingly wealthy one. Why? Oil prices. Now that oil is sitting around $100 a barrel Russia is sitting on a gold mine. Er, oil wells. And the cash is pouring in. One problem? They need to diversify and increase the number of companies that don’t have anything to do with energy. So, they are starting up a bunch of Venture Capital efforts.

I get the skinny on all this with Yuri Ammosov, a senior policy officer of the Russian Government in charge of venture capital and high tech development programs, talks with me about how Russia is flush with cash thanks to the rising energy prices (they are one of the world’s leading oil producers) and are working with Silicon Valley venture capital firms to diversify its economy. We talk about some of the smart people and smart companies that are popping up in Russia and tons of other stuff too.

I like his honesty. He told me that being an entrepreneur in Russia today is like being an entrepreneur in Silicon Valley in the 1960s (when Silicon Valley was still largely a farm town).

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Published by Robert Scoble

I give you a front-row seat on the future. Focusing most of my efforts now on next-generation augmented reality and artificial intelligence, AKA "mixed reality." SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER: http://clevermoe.com/scobleizer-news/ BUY OUR NEW BOOK: https://www.amazon.com/Fourth-Transformation-Robert-Scoble/dp/1539894444 "The Fourth Transformation: How augmented reality and artificial intelligence will change everything." WATCH MY LATEST SPEECHES: State of VR with Philip Rosedale (done in VR itself, very cool): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zAA1EVGUZU At GEOINT, June 2017: http://trajectorymagazine.com/glimpse-new-world/ Augmented World Expo, June 2017: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4xHILvLD8E At Leade.rs, April 2017: https://youtu.be/52_0JshgjXI +++++++++++ BIO: Scoble gives you a front-row seat on the future. Literally. He had the first ride in the first Tesla. Siri was launched in his house. He's been the first to share all sorts of technologies and companies with you, from Flipboard to Pandora to Instagram. Today he's focusing on mixed reality, AKA "next-generation augmented reality" which will include a new user interface for EVERYTHING in your life (IoT, Smart Cities, driverless cars, robots, drones, etc). That's based on his view thanks to his past experience as futurist at Rackspace. Best place to find Scoble? On his Facebook profile at https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble He has been a technology blogger since 2000, was one of five people who built Microsoft's Channel 9 video blog/community, worked at Fast Company Magazine running its TV efforts, and has been part of technology media businesses since 1993. ++++++++ SPEAKER PITCH: Apple and Facebook now have revealed their Augmented Reality strategies, which means your business needs one too. Rely on Robert Scoble, the world's top authority on AR, to bring to your conference what businesses should do next. SPEECH ABSTRACT #1: TITLE: The Fourth Transformation: What's next in mixed reality (AR and AI) and the future of technology? Here's an example of this talk at Leade.rs in Paris in April, 2017: https://youtu.be/52_0JshgjXI Why "the Fourth Transformation?" Soon we will have phones and glasses that do full on augmented reality. Everything you look at will potentially be augmented. This world is coming in late 2017 with a new iPhone from Apple, amongst other products. Microsoft is betting everything on its HoloLens glasses that do mixed reality and the industry is spending many billions of dollars in R&D and funding new companies like Magic Leap. This future will be the user interface for IoT, Smart Cities, autonomous cars, robots, drones, and your TV. This is a big deal and Robert will take you through what mixed reality is and how it will change every business. Learn more about Robert's speaking style and contact his agent at http://odemanagement.com/robert-scoble/Robert-Scoble.html ++++++++ SPEECH ABSTRACT #2: "The Next Two Clicks of Moore's Law." Over the next four years, or two clicks of Moore's Law, a ton about our technology world will change. Scoble will bring you the best from his travels visiting R&D labs, startups, and innovators around the world. He views the world through his rose-colored-mixed-reality glasses, which will be the new user interface for self driving cars, Smart Cities, IoT, and many other things in our world. He'll send you off with some lessons for companies both large and small. ++++++++ SPEECH ABSTRACT #3: "Personalized Meaning: What is Augmented Reality For?" As we enter a far more technological world where even cars drive themselves, I predict we'll see a blowback toward the analog, more authentic world. What role does augmented reality play in both worlds? Get Scoble's insight into where augmented reality is going, see tons of real-world demos, and understand what he means by 'personalized meaning.' CONTACT: If you are looking to contact me, email is best: scobleizer@gmail.com. ++++++++ ENDORSEMENTS: IZEA Top 25 Tech Influencers: https://izea.com/2017/07/07/25-top-tech-influencers/ Time: One of the top 140 Twitterers! FT: One of the five most influential Twitterers! Inc. Top 5 on list of Tech Power Players You Need to Know: http://www.inc.com/john-rampton/30-power-players-in-tech-you-need-to-know.html Next Reality: #4 on top 50 AR influencer list: https://next.reality.news/news/nr50-next-realitys-50-people-watch-augmented-mixed-reality-0177454/

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32 thoughts on “The Russians are coming. The Russians are coming. The Russians are coming.”

  5. Pingback: Russian Venture Fund « I Can’t Spell

  16. My Slavic brothers Russians already have arrived to USA in big numbers to high tech – see for example co-founder of Google – but obviously Russia has big potential not just because of high oil prices but because of intellectual potential – who was the first to go space? who built the first wholly titan-based nuclear submarines? etc etc . However still democracy in Russia is not full/complete so still some work required there…

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  17. My Slavic brothers Russians already have arrived to USA in big numbers to high tech – see for example co-founder of Google – but obviously Russia has big potential not just because of high oil prices but because of intellectual potential – who was the first to go space? who built the first wholly titan-based nuclear submarines? etc etc . However still democracy in Russia is not full/complete so still some work required there…

    Like

  20. Well, yeah, except for the rampant corruption and cult of personality and no freedom of speech. Call me old-fashioned, but I see those as obstacles to entrepreneurialism.

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  21. Well, yeah, except for the rampant corruption and cult of personality and no freedom of speech. Call me old-fashioned, but I see those as obstacles to entrepreneurialism.

    Like

  22. Pingback: Scoble blazes new paths of cultural insensitivity

  27. Clearly, Russia faces many challenges: the political system; the corruption; the poor way that, in recent decades, the country treated its brilliant engineers and scientists; the fact that it was effectively closed off from much of the world for so many years.

    However, no-one should think that all this means there aren’t massive opportunities for entrepreneurs. If Russia was ravaged by war (or civil war), it would be a different matter; but all the problems Russia has can be worked around…

    In fact, major Western VCs and corporate investors are actually already investing in Russian companies. For example, a few months ago, Index Ventures (Skype, MySQL, Last.fm, Joost etc) and Cisco Systems invested in a Russian company called OZON. What are they trying to do? Build the Russian version of Amazon.

    It’s a no-brainer that western VCs are going to put more money into Russian start-ups in the coming years… The same trend is going to happen in coutries such as China, India, The Philippines, and South Africa.

    Like

  28. Clearly, Russia faces many challenges: the political system; the corruption; the poor way that, in recent decades, the country treated its brilliant engineers and scientists; the fact that it was effectively closed off from much of the world for so many years.

    However, no-one should think that all this means there aren’t massive opportunities for entrepreneurs. If Russia was ravaged by war (or civil war), it would be a different matter; but all the problems Russia has can be worked around…

    In fact, major Western VCs and corporate investors are actually already investing in Russian companies. For example, a few months ago, Index Ventures (Skype, MySQL, Last.fm, Joost etc) and Cisco Systems invested in a Russian company called OZON. What are they trying to do? Build the Russian version of Amazon.

    It’s a no-brainer that western VCs are going to put more money into Russian start-ups in the coming years… The same trend is going to happen in coutries such as China, India, The Philippines, and South Africa.

    Like

  31. Well that Silicon Valley farm town, didn’t have a huge mafia infrastructure, where corruption was policy and it didn’t have a large leftover autocratic iron-will government. To suddenly call Russia a rule-of-law Republic, is seriously misreading things. And they have been here, just now as businessmen, instead of asylum seekers, just took the lifting of the Iron Curtain to make that happen. But not only the Russians, all of Eastern Europe.

    Now if we can just turn Istanbul back into Constantinople, and reclaim Byzantium over the OttoIslamic Curtain (carpet bombing, selling the population into bondage), then all will be well. Have some Crusade not run by the French, and some Richard with a real lionheart. 😉

    Like

  32. Well that Silicon Valley farm town, didn’t have a huge mafia infrastructure, where corruption was policy and it didn’t have a large leftover autocratic iron-will government. To suddenly call Russia a rule-of-law Republic, is seriously misreading things. And they have been here, just now as businessmen, instead of asylum seekers, just took the lifting of the Iron Curtain to make that happen. But not only the Russians, all of Eastern Europe.

    Now if we can just turn Istanbul back into Constantinople, and reclaim Byzantium over the OttoIslamic Curtain (carpet bombing, selling the population into bondage), then all will be well. Have some Crusade not run by the French, and some Richard with a real lionheart. 😉

    Like

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