[01:16] Can you tell us about your history?

I got my first computer at 12, it was a Pentium One and I played Heroes 3. I made my first app in Basic. It was simple; you just drive a car that was a big dot. That made me decide to be in IT.

[03:20] Tell us about how you find your people.

My philosophy is simple. Just focusing on one person at a time. Everyone wants to work for a big company, but they don’t focus on doing the simple things. I look for regions that have good workers. Currently, Kazakhstan and Armenia are good regions for workers at because of the ratio of workers’ skills and price. Then, I look at the number of people I need.

[09:20] How do you differentiate between good and bad coders?

We have a 4-level interview. First, we look at skills and proactivity where we dig into specifics of experience. Next, we dig down into precise projects and roles, and then we look at technical ability through questions. Then, the final step is a practical test. The interview process is easy. Scouting them is the hard part.

[17:40] How do you deal with language barriers considering you work overseas and recruit from overseas?

It’s less of an issue because many people know English now. The harder thing is finding soft skills. They’re used to doing the bare minimum and not being proactive.

[20:30] How do you teach people to be proactive?

We assign mentors. They check everything and coach them. They check the code, they check the builds, and they check how they interact with customers.

[22:38] What does your company specialize in, and why should someone from the US hire you?

Umbrella IT provides web and mobile app development. We have 3 main services: we hire remote workers, we outsource development, and also offer a service that updates you every 2 weeks with detailed reports from the Umbrella Geniuses.

[24:40] How do you convince someone that has had nothing but trouble with outsourced workers?

We need to break down their problem piece by piece and attack each side. We’ll work out a plan for updating and improvements.

[27:00] What do you do better than other companies of your type?

We can create things quickly and with quality. We guarantee that within 2 weeks of starting you will have something that works, or else it will be free. That’s how we can compete.

[29:05] How do you become rich as an IT guy?

You just need to get one more contract.

[31:09] What’s your endgame? What motivates you?

I was from a very poor family, so I am not afraid of failing. I also love the game of entrepreneurship. How can you do this better and different from others? Make it a game. Right now, it’s hard to find clients in our field, so I like to make a game of areas to look at. It’s easier to create new applications and upsell them to existing clients.

[39:00] You have Unspot as an application, but what else do you have under your belt?

Currently trying to build an application to track and manage employees in other parts of the world along with hiring. It tracks productivity and it also can see what their happiness level at work is.

[42:25] Could someone use this across their whole company and does it tell you if someone is working?

Yes, it tracks activity and engagement. It also allows management to like or dislike your progress, etc.

[50:20] What’s your message for technology-minded people?

Just try to get one client.