• "Svyaznoy"
• CONNECTED AWARDS
• RETAIL CHAIN ​​ENTER
• SVYAZNOY BANK
• BEYOND CONNECTED

Maxim Nogotkov is the youngest Russian billionaire, Forbes magazine estimates his fortune at $ 1.3 billion. He founded the Svyaznoy mobile retailer, which has grown into the largest retail chain in Russia, specializing in the sale of services of mobile operators, mobile phones, electronics, digital audio and photographic equipment. For more than ten years that Svyaznoy has existed in the digital retail market, it has gone through "fire and water", having survived the crisis and remains the main competitor of Euroset.

Maxim Yuryevich can be called successful, purposeful, promising and, undoubtedly, charming and self-sufficient person. However, having achieved a lot in life, he does not stop.

Success story, Biography of Maxim Nogotkov

THE CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH OF MAXIM NOGTOKOV

Maxim Nogotkov was born on February 15, 1977 in Moscow. Maxim's father was always strict and very thrifty, an engineer by profession, his mother is a doctor. The usual average family with an average level of income.

At school, Maxim Nogotkov studied "good" and "excellent". I went to the House of Pioneers for classes in computer science, dreaming of becoming a programmer.

“I loved mathematics, and even more loved programming - I started writing programs from the age of 12. At that time I had a small computer at home, with a black-and-white monitor and a total memory of 64 kilobytes.

Outwardly, Maxim did not look like a born businessman in any way (especially since such a word was not yet in use), but thanks to the right upbringing, he was already a very responsible, purposeful and, most importantly, independent person as a child. Even then, he was striving with all his might for freedom and independence from his parents, so he began to earn his first money very early.

“My parents always raised me as an independent person. Since childhood, I knew exactly my family responsibilities and quite consciously fulfilled them, realizing that I had to do something myself, take responsibility for it. In addition, I had a rather strict father, and as a result, I was surrounded by numerous “no”: this is impossible, this is impossible. And I had to overcome these ... "

Maxim Nogotkov started his business in 1993, studying in the 9th grade: he copied and sold computer programs. « At first it was a little embarrassing, - admitted Nogotkov. - The intellectual upbringing had an effect, but then it all somehow passed by itself and resolved».

FIRST STEPS AND SUCCESS OF MAXIM NOGTOKOV IN BUSINESS

After school, Nogotkov entered the Bauman Moscow State Technical University. After selling copied computer programs, having bought several phones with caller ID (AON) at a small wholesale price, Maxim profitably resold them at retail. Then the idea was formed to produce phones on their own: “…I started selling phones. Caller ID phones were very popular back then. I noticed a simple thing that it was possible to buy a lot of such phones at the Mitinsky radio market for 3800 rubles, and then sell them for 4500 one by one. At that time, the amount of 3800 rubles was relatively impressive, and I did not have it. Parents did not give money - they did not believe. The first phone I resold was not mine, but my friend's. By agreement, I left this money for myself for 2 weeks, during which time I scrolled it several times - that's how it all started. He placed ads in the newspaper "From hand to hand", sometimes he went to install these phones. Then I decided that it was more profitable to buy parts, hire people who were then idle in electronic factories, and get ready-made phones at the exit, after which they would be sold - it was more profitable that way. I produced somewhere around 20-30 phones per month. And so it continued until I entered the institute, until the summer of 1993. By that time, the demand for phones had fallen sharply.”

In the second year, Maxim Nogotkov decided to go on academic leave. “I passed almost the entire session, there was only one exam left. And then it dawned on me that it was better not to take it, but to postpone my studies for six months in order to try to constantly do business. This decision came suddenly and was implemented just as quickly. At that time, I had already lost my desire to be a programmer. I was earning 10 thousand dollars a month, it was a lot of money, especially since I was only 18 years old ... ", Maxim recalls.

By 1995, when Maxim and three of his friends (who later also left the university) registered their company "Maxus" - “... at some factory we rented a small office - about 20 square meters. m. We had several outlets, but the main activity was reduced to wholesale trade in the radio markets and through the office. They traded audio players, appliances and telephones, while buying in large wholesale - they sold in small ones.” Soon the sales volume of the newly formed company reached $100,000.

Business grew at such a pace that there was no time to remember the abandoned university. Maxus settled on Gorbushka and acquired regional clients. “I remember well the day when we opened our “point” on the “Gorbushka”. Back then, everyone traded on the street, right from the wheels. I didn’t have a car or driver’s license then, we drove my friend’s VAZ-2104. There are huge KAMAZ trucks around, and we perched somewhere on the side. Our “four” looked very funny against the background of these trucks.”

Nogotkov did not forget about telephone novelties either. In the late 1990s, for Maxus, these were digital DECT radiotelephones. For their sake, the company even signed a distribution agreement with Siemens and as a result won half Russian market corresponding models.

Moreover, thanks to this direction, Maxus survived the August 1998 crisis. The events of that time could well put an end to the company. “At that moment, the warehouses were overwhelmed, and sales were very small. And we immediately suffered losses.” - recalls Nogotkov.

In 1997, Maxim Nogotkov felt a noticeable lack of education: “As they say in America, there must be the ability to see everything from a helicopter and at the same time from the inside, in detail. The scale of my knowledge was limited to the Mitinsky radio market and Gorbushka, that is, “details”, and the view from the helicopter was not enough. Decided to study. Entered MIRBIS, passed in two years MBA training. It made it possible to take a broader look at the world, opened up new horizons, I am very pleased! I think that such programs are well structured and expand opportunities.”

He constantly monitored the conjuncture, life itself constantly pushed to search for new ways - “Any business has several stages: rise - stability - dying. I worked on determinants for two years, then high-quality imports began, I had to switch to selling calculators. But they are not durable, the market quickly became saturated - demand fell. I switched to audio players." In 1998, after the crisis, Nogotkov had to leave this business too: times were difficult, and the first thing that people refused then was non-everyday goods. You can't live without a refrigerator, without food, and a player is already a luxury. Sales dropped sharply. We ended August with a minus, like September. On the first day of October, he called the meeting. He did not fire anyone, but announced a forced decision to halve wages. Nobody left. Already around November, the company recovered, they began to sell digital home phones, which were just coming into use.

Along with halving salaries and optimizing rental payments, it was digital radiotelephones that allowed Nogotkov's firm to stay afloat. But selling radiotelephones, Nogotkov's company again quickly ran into limited market volumes. And in 2000, the company found another niche for itself - cell phones. The tariffs of cellular companies and the prices of telephones by that time had noticeably decreased. This attracted Nogotkov - the goods became massive. In addition, the extensive network of regional distributors of "Maxus" allowed the company to count on preferences from handset manufacturers.

In the same year, an agreement was signed with almost all major manufacturers, with the exception of Nokia. “They try to choose such partners who have already proven themselves in the market and have fairly large sales volumes, and we were an unknown, start-up company for them. The latest to enter the market. Our main competitors started this business much earlier, in 1993-1995.” , - explains the position of the Finnish partners Nogotkov. (Maxus signed a distribution agreement with Nokia only in the summer of 2003.)

A serious blow was the losses (about $50,000) that the company "Maxus" suffered on the very first "cellular" deliveries. It turned out that selling digital cordless phones and mobile phones is not the same thing at all. On average, the price of mobile phones fell by the same amount in a month as the price of radiotelephones falls in a year. “We were completely unprepared for this. We thought that we would be able to sell the goods quite calmly.” , - says Nogotkov.

But already in 2001, Maxus took first place in wholesale deliveries. And the company's turnover exceeded $ 100 million. It is not surprising that against the background of such results, Nogotkov decided to engage in retail as well.

ENTERING THE RETAIL MARKET OF MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS

By that time, Maxus had several retail outlets in the electronic markets of Moscow, where, among other things, mobile phones were also presented. But until 2001, “mobile retail” was more of a side business for Nogotkov.

However, as it already happened in Maxim's life, the side direction became the main one. In 2001, his company bought six salons for $100,000. cellular communication"Artex". “We decided to create a retail network. And at first we bought already operating salons, because we didn’t understand at all what this business was, but we wanted to try ” , - Maxim Nogotkov explains his decision.

At first, the business seemed to the owner of "Maxus" very unprofitable and uninteresting. The small turnover of retail outlets was frightening, because in the wholesale trade everything was already set up: they sold quickly and a lot. And it worked just as fast. Retail is different. “We thought that if we make a lot of outlets, create a good brand and back up with advertising, then our stores will definitely be better than our competitors, and we can make the business profitable” , - says Nogotkov.

In August 2001, Maxus acquired 8 more Grand Prix stores located in the center of Moscow. At the same time, work began on creating a brand of a single network. To do this, the company was invited to the position of marketing director of the former promotion director of the radio station "Maximum" Alexei Chebotok. By the end of the year, the new brand was approved.

"Svyaznoy"

Svyaznoy officially appeared on April 23, 2002. 81 salons were opened in Moscow (the then leaders of Euroset and Techmarket each had more than 70 outlets). In the same year, the first Svyaznoy salon appeared in St. Petersburg, and the new player began to strike at the pride of the “mobile kings”. The latter reacted differently to the ambitions of Maxim Nogotkov. Yevgeny Chichvarkin, manager of the trading house Euroset, immediately saw a serious competitor in the newcomer and concluded that Svyaznoy was no more than six months behind Euroset in terms of development. On the other hand, Techmarket Marketing Director Vladimir Bogdanov did not express much concern then, arguing that Svyaznoy was not destined to gain a decisive advantage in the market and miscalculated. Already in the first year of work, Nogotkov set a goal - to overtake Techmarket and displace it from second place in sales. The goal has been achieved. In the last months of 2002, Svyaznoy overtook its dormant competitor.

After the launch of the Svyaznoy brand, the company's retail network continues to develop rapidly, not only in Moscow and the Moscow Region, but also in other cities. In total, by the end of 2002, 120 salons were launched, and the turnover reached $140 million.

In November 2002, Svyaznoy launched the Adult Toys promotion. The company was apparently exploiting the same idea as the competitor (with prices that, as the famous commercial suggests, are just wow). “We owe a lot of our success to advertising. The first campaign - "Adult Toys" was especially successful. We spent $ 1 million on it. In November-December 2002, when this advertisement went on, we were literally bombarded with calls from customers - everyone wanted to buy such phones. We didn't even know how to respond to such requests. I believe that it was after Adult Toys that Svyaznoy became a full-fledged brand. Then we used some of these images in the formation of our brand, because it seemed to us that they quite accurately reflect what we do. If we talk about the authors, then the image of "Adult Toys" was invented by an employee of the NetProfit advertising agency with which we worked, and the name is mine. The situation with the "Top Models Available" campaign followed the same pattern. For some reason, it always works out this way for us: we hire advertising agency, but key ideas, as a rule, are still born within the company. Not necessarily at my place - a group of 5-6 employees gathers, and we brainstorm together. Probably because we have a better sense of what suits us and what doesn’t.”

In 2004, Maxus undergoes reorganization and the Svyaznoy group of companies arises, of which Maxim Nogotkov became the general director, now he is the president of his own company.

In 2005, Nogotkov expected to increase his company's turnover to $1.2 billion and open 400 new stores. As a result, Svyaznoy opened 450 stores, and the turnover turned out to be less. In August 2005, the Ministry of Internal Affairs seized more than half a million "gray" mobile phones and searched the warehouses of the largest sellers of communications equipment, including Svyaznoy. But, unlike competitors, operatives did not find counterfeit products from Svyaznoy. Nevertheless, the nervous situation affected sales, and as a result, Svyaznoy's annual turnover turned out to be 10% less than planned.

In June 2007, the Svyaznoy Club loyalty program was launched - bonus program for regular customers. The program makes it possible to receive points in Svyaznoy and exchange them for any goods.

The Svyaznoy website appeared in 2002. Like most online retailers, it mostly performed a presentational function, although an online store was also present. In 2009, Svyaznoy decided to accelerate the development of sales via the Internet: the market has already grown significantly, a lot of players have appeared and the first significant results. Since 2010, sales via the Internet have been gaining good momentum and now online sales bring about 10% of all revenue.

In 2012, the company sold more than 9 million mobile phones and smartphones, and its turnover exceeded 500 billion rubles. At the same time, financial payments amounted to 337 billion rubles.

Today Svyaznoy is the only independent retailer on the cellular communications market, and the company does not intend to give up its positions. However, Nogotkov himself thinks not so much about preservation and conservation, but about the development of new markets, and in particular about retail financial services, which he started recently. “I think that in Russia this is an underdeveloped industry. Until now, 90% of people first withdraw money from the card at an ATM, and then go with them to the machine for receiving payments and deposit them at some kind of interest. But why? It is clear that the situation must change. There is a huge hole here that needs to be filled. And besides, I am sure that the development of the financial services market will help Svyaznoy grow further.”

These are the key words - "grow further", "develop". It seems that Nogotkov never knew any other motivation for himself. Even in his deep childhood, he did not particularly need money for any specific purchase. With one exception. “When I was ten years old, I spent all my savings on stamps. The albums are still somewhere in the parents' apartment. And after the stamps, I never had a goal to buy something.

“Interesting” and “grow further” - this does not mean every time some kind of radical novelty. Yes, today every now and then you have to hear about skills needed in the 21st century, as if life is changing so rapidly that a person almost every three to five years needs to be retrained, and once every seven years, everything should be started from scratch. But Nogotkov is conservative in this sense. “My personal life experience is stacked in layers. And I do not think that you need to regularly reset or reset. Another issue is that a person should always be open to new things. Ready for risk, for the game, for decisive action. And if his inner freedom is such that he can abandon his former views, then this is rather a good quality.

And when such freedom only confirms the correctness of the choice made once, then this is even better. Therefore, Nogotkov does not consider it necessary to impose iron discipline in the company.

The attitude of people to work, their interest in it, the freedom to take responsibility for new projects - all this for Maxim Nogotkov is much more important and valuable than the spirit of competition - “If we hit somewhere, then our goal was there.” This is indeed a wise approach, although it differs significantly from the usual ideas about how business is done.

Of course, Maxim Nogotkov has no particular illusions about work. large companies: “A lot of things change when the number of your employees first exceeds a hundred, then they become 400, 500, 1000… When you know everyone by sight, management is almost family in nature. But then you have to build relationships a little differently. ” On the other hand, Nogotkov gives preference to "family" companies - “They work better. If only because in them people make long-term decisions: for 5 or 10 years. And an ordinary company lives from a quarterly report to a quarterly report. And managers only make sure that the current shareholders who bought them today are happy so that tomorrow they can resell them at a profit. Of course, not everything is so sad with us, but I never plan anything more than three years in advance.

Nogotkov is sure that money does not affect a person in any way. He checked this for himself: even after first million earned Nothing really changed in my head. “You just mentally tick the “done” checkbox and that’s it. This is about the same as saying to yourself: "Tomorrow I will wake up at 8 in the morning." If it worked out, then you set a new goal, for example, wake up at 7.30. What's special here?

CONNECTED AWARDS

For all the years of its activity, Svyaznoy has repeatedly been awarded various major awards in various categories.

• Brand of the Year - 2002, first place awarded by Siemens.
• For the largest volume of sales of Gigaset Siemens Mobile cordless phones in 2002, the first prize in the nomination was awarded by Siemens.
• Breakthrough of the Year - 2002, awarded by Samsung electronics.
• In 2003, Svyaznoy takes first place from Beeline GSM in terms of dealer sales.
• Brand of the Year/EFFIE 2003, second prize in the category Trade Networks and Centers.
• Brand of the Year/EFFIE 2004, second prize in the Retail Chains and Centers category.
• In 2005, Svyaznoy received the Superbrand title, which is awarded only to leading brands within the national market. It is important to remember that this is a very prestigious award.
• In 2005, the company also receives awards for the best and most professional staff and for the highest and quality service in the network of salons "Svyaznoy".
• In 2006, the company received the title of "Best Retail Chain in Russia 2006".
• "Golden Networks - 2007" group of companies "Svyaznoy" deservedly received the award in the nomination "The best network of communication stores."

RETAIL CHAIN ​​ENTER

In the fall of 2011, Svyaznoy launched another project - the Enter multi-channel retail network, where you can buy non-grocery goods from toys to furniture in any convenient way: go to an offline store, order the necessary item via the Internet or by phone. “I did not choose any special time to start - I knew that sooner or later such a retail format would appear in the list of my projects. Creation ideanon-food retailer of a new format was born two years ago, howeverEnter opened in October - I was waiting for the team under contract with MTS to be released.

Today the network has 89 stores in 47 cities of Russia. According to the company itself, in 2012 the turnover of Enter amounted to $100 million.

There are many competent employees among Enter employees who are ready to share this knowledge within the company. They hold master classes for colleagues, thereby the company not only trains people, but also saves money, identifies and motivates the best, accumulates an archive of mistakes and achievements. Educational workshops and trainings personal growth are held in the evenings by non-professional trainers: leadership, time management, oratory , conflict management, negotiation rules. There is no obligation - they were offered to go only to those who want to. The internal coaches may not have the skills, but they do have insider information, which makes learning closer to life.

SVYAZNOY BANK

In 2010, on the basis of Promtorgbank, Nogotkov and the Svyaznoy group of companies founded the bank of the same name, which today is one of the largest in the country.

Svyaznoy Bank is gradually expanding its range of services for retail and corporate clients, actively developing the card business and other areas of retail banking. Today, Svyaznoy Bank services over 3,000 legal entities, including organizations operating in the field of financial services, wholesale and retail, industry, transport and communications. to corporative clients The bank now offers a standard set of banking services (settlement and cash services, lending, deposits, payroll projects, depository services, cash collection services, documentary operations), as well as trade finance, corporate and customs cards, acquiring services, factoring, etc.

In mid-2012, Maxim Nogotkov left the board of directors of Svyaznoy Bank, while remaining the main shareholder credit institution. The reason for the change in the composition of the board of directors is optimization strategic management bank.

“I don't consider myself a manager, I consider myself an entrepreneur. And to teach entrepreneurship, in my opinion, is more difficult. Although I would love to study, but I have to make a choice ... I study while working, I study every day at meetings with partners, with clients. I learn from my own and others' experiences. I… don’t like management, anything to do with management, execution, reporting…”

At the beginning of 2013, the bank introduced its own development of an Internet bank for a wide range of IQ-Bank clients. For those who prefer a laconic design and wide functionality from booking air and railway tickets to buying movie tickets. Also this year, a specialized Internet bank Self was developed and the SumUp system was launched for individual entrepreneurs, which turns smartphones and tablets of individual entrepreneurs (aibabul, taxi drivers, couriers, etc.) into mobile terminals, thanks to which they accept payments bank cards MasterCard and Visa.

BEYOND CONNECTED

In addition to his own group of companies Svyaznoy, Maxim Yuryevich Nogotkov heads several other projects, including non-commercial ones.

In 2010, Nogotkov begins jewelry business. Shops open at this time beautiful name Pandora. 2011 is the year of the creation of the Nikola Lenivets Land Park with beautiful architecture and rich history, which has successfully started and is profitable. In autumn 2012, Maxim Nogotkov launched a non-profit social project"Yopolis", which should help "establish a dialogue between citizens and government officials." Since 2008, he has also been executive director company "KIT-Finance".

As for personal achievements, there is something to be proud of. At the age of 20, Nogotkov became a dollar millionaire. For 10 years, he increased his capital hundreds of times and entered the list of the 33 most successful men under the age of 33 (Finance edition). In 2010, Maxim Yuryevich becomes the businessman of the year (Ernst & Young auditing company). And last year, the entrepreneur earns a billion and is included in the corresponding Forbes list, taking 1153 positions in it.

“There must always be a goal - for what? I set myself a plank. At first I wanted to become a millionaire at 20, and I really had a million dollars at 20. What is the feeling? Cool! Especially when your mom is a doctor, dad is an engineer, and both remember well what a communal apartment is. Then I set myself the goal of becoming “number one” in Russia. For almost a year he did everything for this. Then he took off the idea - there is nothing here but the satisfaction of personal ambitions. It is more important to do something useful than to achieve victory. The task of winning is unworthy. By the way, it is also ineffective, as a rule ... "

PERSONAL AND FAMILY LIFE OF MAXIM NOGTOKOV

In his undertakings and bold projects, family support is very important, and Maxim has it. He is married to a beautiful and intelligent woman, Maria, they have three sons. Maxim Nogotkov devotes all his free time from work to his wife and family.

To the question whether he is preparing his son as his successor, Nogotkov replies: “Until the child grows up and tells me that he wants to sell mobile phones and cannot live without it, I will not prepare him for anything special. It will turn out so randomly - it means it will turn out. If it doesn't work, then no."

Marigold still does not have his own Facebook page, firstly, he does not have time for this, and secondly, he considers it unnecessary and useless. Maxim Yuryevich is alien to glamor in all its manifestations, he almost does not participate in social life. He visits restaurants rarely and then on business.

He has a yellow Maserati convertible, while he does not consider it something shameful to travel by subway. He is not attracted to accessories either, he prefers classic and comfortable clothes. But he has a passion for travel and new hobbies. The best rest for him are trips with the whole family to distant countries. He is also interested in tennis and photography, downhill skiing and windsurfing, loves to read (favorite books are "The Unbearable Lightness of Being", "Funny Loves", "Authenticity" by Milan Kundera) and relax while watching his favorite films ("The Game", "Matrix-1 ”, “Pulp Fiction”, comedies by Leonid Gaidai, “Kill the Dragon” by Mark Zakharov).

When Maxim is asked what is the secret of his success, he says: “Start as early as possible! When most of my friends were out clubbing on Saturdays and Sundays, I spent most of my days making plans for the future."

Maxim has a balanced character, it is not in his style to make hasty decisions. He is a perfectionist and conducts his business with the highest quality, also appreciates his employees.

“I believe that the highest profit comes from the right appointments of people. The secret to success is the right people in the right places with the right motivation. The ability to work with people is more important than any technology. It is also important to gather in the company people with internal activity, who themselves take the initiative, who do not need to be specially stimulated. It's very important to us," he says. - But we must understand that one declaration of values ​​is not enough. The culture of the company and its values ​​can differ significantly from what it actually is. For an example, remember Soviet Union when one thing was declared from the stands, but in life everything was different. Therefore, we did not formalize our values ​​and hang slogans in our offices. It is much more important that employees feel the spirit of the company, its atmosphere and act in accordance with this corporate aura.

The company tries not only to look for the right employees in the labor market, but also grow personnel within their company - “Many people who started working with us 15 years ago as simple salespeople have taken high positions in business, and there are many such people. For example, the person who manages our retail network started out as a sales manager. But it is less customary for us to invite accountants and lawyers to a lesser extent, since we do not law firm. For example, we took and still take “narrow specialists” in a banking project from the market (for example, with the help of such recruiting agencies like the STATUS company - http://status-personal.ru ), and in areas where we ourselves are sources of knowledge, we nurture personnel on our own.

In addition to everything, Maxim Nogotkov is an intelligent and tactful person, able to find compromises even in very difficult situations. He is also an optimist in life and has necessary degree self-criticism – “In general, we have achieved our goals - we have passed the mark of a billion dollars,” Nogotkov comments. Everything that happens to us makes us stronger. As a rule, after any negative event, a positive one usually follows. But even if pleasant events are not in a hurry to replace the “darkness”, I still try to fix my attention on the fact that I have gained new experience and become, I hope, smarter. There is a saying: "Everything that is done - everything is for the better." I am very impressed with this attitude to life, because I myself try to find something positive in any, even the most negative, moments. Any situation can be viewed as good or bad. What matters is what you focus on, what gets stuck in your head. How to keep this positive attitude for every day? For this you need self-confidence, to the best of my ability. Not self-confidence, but precisely confidence, a sober understanding of what you are stronger in, what you are weaker in, what you really stand for. This helps keep you afloat. Difficult situations are easier to handle for people who believe in something. For one, religion can become a fulcrum, for another - something else. I am driven by the desire to constantly develop and improve.

And here is what Maxim Nogotkov says about the prerequisites for the emergence in Russia of a greater number of young millionaires in particular and businessmen in general - “Before, to do business, you had to have a lot of capital. The economy was built on production, to start its activities it was necessary to build a plant, invest huge amounts of money in it. We now live in a post-industrial economy. The value of ideas and brains is much higher than capital, so there is an opportunity for development a large number startups. Everything related to the media, the Internet, mobile applications, financial services, has become more developed and at the same time open to new players. And the capital raising industry has become much more advanced, it has become much easier to get money than 20-25 years ago, so quite young people can be entrepreneurs. However, unfortunately, only 3% of our population uses these opportunities.” how to become a magnet for money WITHOUT magic and esotericism!

“It’s better not for optimists like me to become bankers,” Nogotkov grins. He decided to engage in financial services back in 2006, when he realized that “he was no longer interested in building another Svyaznoy store.” At that time, his network was in second place among competitors and already had about 400 outlets, the group's turnover was about $ 1.8 billion.

Nogotkov did not have any special experience in the banking business, therefore, initially to build financial project he met with partners - the "daughter" of the American GE Money Bank and "KIT Finance" Alexander Vinokurov. Size necessary investment in the bank Nogotkov estimated at $50 million. Vinokurov was ready to invest $80 million in the project of the financial broker SvyaznoyKredit in exchange for a 50% stake. Nogotkov was owed his "experience in retail, enthusiasm, brand and, of course, points of sale." Together they intended to sell GIM Bank loans and deposits, pension funds and investment products of KIT. “They were going to take off with this, and then to connect other partner banks,” explains Nogotkov.

But everything went wrong. In the midst of the financial disaster of 2008, Americans rushed to wind down business in Russia. And KIT Finance, where Nogotkov even managed to work for several months as the head of the retail division, did not survive the crisis, was sanitized and went under the control of Russian Railways.

The Svyaznoy brand was invented by the founder of the trading network Maxim Nogotkov himself (Photo: Ekaterina Kuzmina / RBC)

After two failures, Nogotkov decided that he would do the bank himself, and bought Promtorgbank - or rather, exchanged it for a 7.8 percent stake in the Svyaznoy retail chain. The sellers were partners of the owner of the "United Machine-Building Plants" Kakha Bendukidze. Together with Nogotkov, the former chief financial director GE Money Bank in Russia Michael Touch (now - CEO of the Svyaznoy group of companies).

How to break into the tight circle of retail banks? Nogotkov chose a clear but costly path: to offer people favorable conditions. Interest on bank loans should have been a little less than that of competitors, and on deposits - a little more. Svyaznoy had to follow the global trend - to move away, as far as possible, from cash payments. “Mobile payments are convenient, and we have invested a lot of money in the platform, payment system, online banking and IT,” Nogotkov is convinced that this model is the future.

However, what the entrepreneur called "a bank for people" was perceived by citizens as a "freebie", the current head of Svyaznoy Bank Evgeny Davydovich is categorical. At first, bank cards were issued free of charge: “Maxim was sharply opposed to forcing people to pay for them, most of the cards were not used then,” recalls the top manager.

With the light hand of Nogotkov, all clients initially received a "bonus" - 10% on card balances. Davydovich believed that a high percentage should have been given only to those who make a lot of transactions. “But Maxim said: Russian Standard has 10%, and we will have the same amount, and no “stars” in advertising,” recalls the former top manager of Svyaznoy: but the same Russian Standard and "asterisks", and footnotes just were.

Nogotkov's approach turned out to be expensive, but effective. At the start, the bank, according to him, grew "even too well", issuing 5 thousand cards a day (today so much is issued per month). Portfolio for 2011 credit cards grew almost from zero to 13.8 billion rubles. The bank's assets at the end of the year amounted to 38.1 billion rubles.

“We swung, because everything looked very rosy,” recalls Nogotkov. The bank grew faster than expected, and management assumed that this pace will continue for several years. That is why Nogotkov decided to invest "a lot more" in the banking project than was planned at the start. The total investment in the development of Svyaznoy Bank, according to the business plan, increased to $400 million. According to Nogotkov, the bank should have received its first profit in 2014. Two of his former managers claim that according to the plan, the bank was supposed to go to zero in 2012, and by 2014 the profit should have grown to 6-8 billion rubles.

Nogotkov took money from his own "big wallet" - the holding company Trellas Enterprises. In the "purse", according to him, were dividends from retail projects, more than $150 million received for the project of creating a retail network for MTS, prepayments for several years in advance under contracts with mobile operators.

By the end of 2012, Nogotkov poured almost 11.7 billion rubles into the bank. in the form of loans financial assistance and payment for additional share issues, follows from the bank's financial statements under IFRS. By mid-2014, this amount had grown to RUB 14.8 billion.

“Maxim wanted to overtake Sberbank, he wanted to grow even faster, but he considered us cowardly and incapable of rapid growth,” recalls the former top manager of Svyaznoy Bank. Nogotkov does not deny that he was a supporter of rapid development and thought that his team was acting too cautiously.

Banks at that time gave him loans very easily - under the success story of "Svyaznoy" and "simply because Maxim is well done," says an acquaintance of the entrepreneur. “The amounts we borrowed seemed adequate against the background of the company's valuation,” Nogotkov retorts. In 2012, he was going to conduct an IPO of the Svyaznoy network, selling shares for $500 million. For the deal, investment banks valued the company at $2 billion, the entrepreneur says (read the inset below about the history of Svyaznoy).

"Don't Be Afraid, Grow Up"

The IPO had to be canceled - due to the threat of a Greek default in 2012, the markets closed. And then the company itself stopped growing at the pace that I would like to “sell” to investors. The fall in rates is the result of the war with mobile operators. After Euroset went to VimpelCom and MegaFon, these operators did everything to "kill us," Nogotkov is convinced. Having received their own retail, they began to close contracts with an independent network.

Then Svyaznoy learned to sell other services, and the bank helped a lot in this, says Nogotkov: now Svyaznoy's income from financial services and services is 70% more than from mobile operators.

But the bank itself and the pace at which it grew cost the entrepreneur very dearly.

At the end of 2010, the deposits and accounts of individuals in the bank had less than 3 billion rubles, by the end of 2012 - 56 billion rubles. A sharp increase Svyaznoy did not hide from the attention of the Bank of Russia. At that time, the regulator feared that a bubble was inflating in the retail lending market. To begin with, Svyaznoy Bank received several letters of recommendation from the Central Bank with a proposal to limit the pace of attracting funds from citizens. But no one paid attention to these signals. “There is no need to be afraid, we need to grow” - this is how the bank’s management perceived the Central Bank’s warning, recalls its former top manager. And in December 2012, the Central Bank took active steps and issued not a recommendation, but an order limiting the growth of deposits to 1% per month.

The loan portfolio of Svyaznoy Bank to individuals at that time amounted to 43 billion rubles, reserves - only 5.1 billion rubles. “We were approaching 12% in terms of reserves, and it was already dangerous, we had to slow down,” says former manager jar.

Starting retail, Nogotkov had to catch up with competitors. In the picture (from left to right) after Nogotkov: Technosila President Vyacheslav Zaitsev, M.Video Vice President Alexander Zayonts, Evroset founder Evgeny Chichvarkin, Eldorado President Igor Yakovlev and Mir CEO Evgeny Kabanov (July 2006 of the year) (Photo: Kommersant)

The Central Bank's order expired six months later, but by that time Svyaznoy began to slow down in a natural way.

Nogotkov himself explains it this way. When the bank started, people's salaries grew by 12% year-on-year, and the credit burden was low. But the growth of citizens' incomes has stopped, and the volume of loans that they have taken on themselves has become threatening. “Retail banks began to be covered,” Nogotkov says. They had to create additional reserves for bad debts. Growing reserves began to catch up with Svyaznoy Bank. At the end of 2013, they reached 13.5 billion rubles, and it was already almost 30% of the loan portfolio.

The Central Bank has achieved that the owners of banks began to go twice more money on the formation of capital, states Nogotkov. But the entrepreneur has no complaints about the regulator: the Central Bank acted correctly.

At the end of 2013, Svyaznoy Bank showed no longer a profit, but a loss of 2.5 billion rubles. In the first half of 2014, the bank lost another 3.8 billion rubles.

“Now we are paying for the euphoria that both we and consumers felt in 2011-2012,” Davydovich admits.

Nogotkov expected that wealthy Muscovites who go to his salons would take loans and pay them regularly, Oleg Tinkov, co-owner of TCS Bank, thinks. The premium audience really goes to the Svyaznoy salons, but they do not take loans, Tinkov explains the mistake of the competitor. In debt takes the same contingent as in all other banks. “And Svyaznoy Bank, with its tariff policy [low interest rates on loans, high rates on deposits] got into scissors,” says Tinkov.

Life is short

In parallel, Nogotkov launched all new projects, each of which had to shoot for several years. Why so many and so quickly? “Life is short,” explains the 37-year-old entrepreneur.

In his piggy bank was the Pandora chain, which he brought to Russia under the franchise of the Danish jewelry chain of the same name; Internet retailer Enter, copying the British Argos (a hybrid of on-line, off-line and paper catalogs) and several other startups, including the Israeli TVzor and the British project VisualDNA.

It was like a sprint, which the Svyaznoy chain did not stay away from: in 2011, the retailer opened 850 new stores, spending about 2 billion rubles on this. New points opened at the expense of own funds companies, and the loans went to "shareholder projects," says Michael Touch.

Nogotkov's startups demanded more and more resources. By the end of 2013, the entrepreneur was "indebted" no less than the clients of his bank. Its debt exceeded one billion dollars: Trellas owed $561 million, another $471 million was owed by the trading network, Forbes wrote. In the spring of 2014, these debts were supplemented by another $400 million loan from Sberbank secured by shares of CJSC Panclub (manages the Pandora franchise). Many loans were subject to Nogotkov's personal guarantees.

A former employee of Enter, a major counterparty, says that when he saw the plans for a new online store, he was amazed at their ambition. Nogotkov invested about $300 million in Enter, it was supposed to bring the project into profit in just three years. “There were turnovers and dynamics that this market has never shown,” says RBC's interlocutor. "They were comparable to the frenetic pace of the online gaming industry."

“We have been building the largest player in Russian online retail from the very beginning,” Nogotkov comments. How? Including due to beautiful and convenient points of issue of goods. At the same time, managers convinced Nogotkov that it was necessary to develop Enter on the existing infrastructure of the Svyaznoy network - its logistics and IT capacities. Touch recalls that he argued about this more than once with Nogotkov. But he disagreed: “Startups die in big companies. For a large company, a project like Enter is a distant and bright future, to which not every top manager plans to live. Everything new should be independent and should not depend on a large structure.

Enter's revenue grew in 2013 by almost 140%, exceeding RUB 7.3 billion. But the company never became profitable. So far, Nogotkov is forced to invest 300 million rubles a month in this project. The business plan was not implemented and revised more than once. In 2013, cuts began at Enter, and Nogotkov began looking for a co-investor.

"Black Monday"

In addition to the “optimism” negotiation room, Nogotkov’s office has two more negotiation rooms called “obligation” and “responsibility”. When the money began to run out, and creditors needed to repay their debts, Nogotkov decided to sell part of the business. Since mid-2013, he has been negotiating with everyone for whom his assets might be of interest. Among the potential buyers were Leonard Blavatnik, ONEXIM Mikhail Prokhorov, AFK Sistema Vladimir Yevtushenkov and others.

Nogotkov came closest to the deal with ONEXIM - together they were going to develop both the Svyaznoy network and the bank of the same name. But the negotiations fell apart - “macroeconomics, then Crimea” failed, Nogotkov believes. And only in November 2014 it turned out that the entrepreneur managed to take a bridge loan for 6 billion rubles from a failed partner. The collateral for it was a controlling stake in Trellas.

Nogotkov believed to the last that he would settle accounts with ONEXIM. But the arrest of Vladimir Yevtushenkov put an end to these plans, with whom Nogotkov practically agreed to sell 30-50% of the Svyaznoy network, based on an assessment of the entire company at about 30 billion rubles.

In the fall of 2014, looking for a new buyer was already insane: the owners of banks and companies had a headache about where to get the money themselves. Foreign markets were closed due to sanctions, just like that no one gave loans to anyone, and even more so it was not about investments.

"Black Monday" banker Nogotkov came November 10th. The Kommersant newspaper reported that Svyaznoy was late in paying the debt to ONEXIM. The depositors of Svyaznoy Bank also learned about the default through the media. In a few days they took out 7 billion rubles from it, in two weeks - in the amount of 10 billion rubles.

But "Svyaznoy" resisted. “We were building a bulletproof bank,” explains one of his former top managers. The model was based on the fact that the bank is able to withstand the outflow of 30% of deposits within a month. Nogotkov confirms these data. “We focused on the experience of various banks that have experienced an outflow of depositors, and took into account that Svyaznoy Bank is young, and deposits are its main source of funds,” he says.

During the crisis week from November 10 to November 14, this saved the bank, Davydovich is sure. According to him, since the beginning of the flight of depositors, the bank has lost 25% of deposits. When the acute phase passed, Davydovich gathered all the employees of the bank and delivered a speech for 40 minutes - the longest in his life. He says that he read to his colleagues an excerpt from Arthur Hailey's book The Money Changers, which dealt specifically with the banking panic. “The only right decision in this situation was to continue to give people money, and I decided that we would do this until the last ruble,” says Davydovich. Now the outflow of deposits has stopped, he says.

At that time, Nogotkov was busy negotiating with ONEXIM - the situation with the default was discussed for three days. The owner of Svyaznoy asked for a delay, but did not receive it. On account of the debt, ONEXIM and Welfare took Svyaznoy and Enter. Lenders wanted to take only profitable assets, but Enter ended up in a deal because both projects are best developed in parallel.

Color of the nation

Everything last days Nogotkov feverishly continues to look for money. He claims that he has already found a partner who will help with the bank, but does not disclose any details. Two acquaintances of the entrepreneur say that so far he has managed to attract only a subordinated loan for 600 million rubles. This will allow the bank to feel calm for "a few more months," says one of them. Nogotkov confirmed the size of the loan to RBC, but declined to comment further.

But what if these partnership talks, like so many others before, end in nothing? Nogotkov has no reserve "parachute".

The only asset that is now profitable for him is Pandora.

When the businessman negotiated a five-year franchise with the Danes, he, by his own admission, had only a general understanding of the size of the market and "a superficial idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe passions of Russian women." But now more than 130 Panclub mono-brand stores and about a hundred more partner outlets operate under the Pandora brand in Russia. According to the entrepreneur, the project's EBITDA is about $80 million a year, and investments in it were half that.

But the profits of the jewelry network will not be enough to capitalize the bank and service the Sberbank loan, Nogotkov admits.

The businessman offered a partnership in the bank to Tinkov, Mikail Shishkhanov, Rustam Tariko, sources told RBC (Nogotkov himself does not comment on this). The founder of Svyaznoy believes that buying a stake in his bank is an excellent opportunity to get up to 10% in the retail unsecured lending market in a short time. But all applicants were primarily interested in the points of sale of the bank's products - the salons of the Svyaznoy network, says the failed buyer (according to Svyaznoy, now the network has 3,100 outlets in 900 cities of the country). When the bank and the network belong to different owners, there is a risk that the owner of the network will either kick the bank out of it, or raise commissions so that it becomes simply unprofitable to sell, RBC's interlocutor continues. Nogotkov assures that one of the terms of the deal with ONEXIM is a six-year contract for the sale of the bank's products in the stores of the Svyaznoy network. So far, this contract, like the entire deal, has not been closed for the Svyaznoy and Enter networks, recalls a source in ONEXIM. Both sides explain the delay big amount technical details.

It is time for observers to bet on the future of Svyaznoy Bank. Potential interests in the asset "behind the back" say that the bank cannot do without the help of the state. Nogotkov doesn’t even want to hear about it: “There were no and no reasons for reorganizing the bank.” “Svyaznoy Bank really does not have a hole in the capital and there is no gap in liquidity yet,” says Expert RA CEO Pavel Samiev. “But the bank is losing money every month,” Tinkov throws up his hands: this man is driving downhill, his trajectory is clear.

But whatever the trajectory in the moment, “such as Nogotkov is the color of the nation, and it is probably useful for many to go through bankruptcy,” the head of Sberbank German Gref shared his opinion with RBC.

Market Capture: How Maxim Nogotkov Created a Euroset Competitor

“At the age of 16, I became disillusioned with production,” this is how Nogotkov begins the story about the creation of the Svyaznoy network. “Production” consisted in the fact that the schoolboy Nogotkov bought imported spare parts for telephones at the Mitinsky radio market, assembled telephones with caller ID from them and sold the finished product on the same market. But there were so many complaints about the quality of the products that he decided to end the assembly. In the 1990s, even a schoolboy “could make a fortune in such a business,” laughs the president of M.Video, Alexander Tynkovan: “To make these phones, almost no money was needed: a simple board and a screen for the identifier. Anyone could enter this business, and the entry fee was minimal.”

Further, Nogotkov describes the canonical story of how he sold calculators, audio players and cordless telephones. Starting from one point on the Mitinsky radio market, in a few years it “captured” other sites where wholesale trade flourished in Moscow in the mid-1990s - Konkovo, the market on Prazhskaya and, of course, Gorbushka. Wholesalers from the regions came to the tents of his wholesale and retail distributor "Maxus", "like a fish market", at 4 in the morning.

The Russian manager of the Phillips concern, who was in charge of personal equipment and accessories, according to Nogotkov, found it himself at the Mitinsky radio market. Through this acquaintance, he concluded his first direct contract for bulk purchases from a foreign manufacturer - the next ones were already easier. By 2000, when mobile phones had fallen in price to $300 and were being sold with might and main on Gorbushka, Nogotkov decided to expand the assortment. The contract for Siemens home phones helped. In the Russian mobile market, the German concern had 35%. Nogotkov negotiated the distribution of popular mobile phones, and later won contracts with Motorola (20% of the market) and other brands.

Svyaznoy mobile phone stores often opened door to door with competitor stores (Photo: Kommersant)

He dropped out of the Bauman Institute, having not completed his studies, back in 1995: “I was earning $10,000 a month then, and the programmer I studied for was only $300, and I still had to go to college for four years.”

For direct supply contracts from foreign manufacturers, Nogotkov flew to New York, Amsterdam, Singapore. Beautiful shops, interesting showcases - after what he saw, Nogotkov also decided to develop retail. He opened the first store under the Svyaznoy brand in 2001. He came up with the name himself, so the development of the brand cost a symbolic $3,000. The latest public valuation of the brand is $140 million.

Svyaznoy's competitors at the start were Techmarket, Dixis, Anarion and, of course, Yevgeny Chichvarkin's Euroset. “We had to catch up with everyone - they already had hundreds of points,” says Nogotkov. - Svyaznoy has 80. The business did not go right away: “By December 2002, I spent all my $40 million on the development of Svyaznoy, but the retail network continued to suffer losses, and I was already thinking of closing it,” the entrepreneur recalls. “But by some miracle, sales began to grow by 30% year-on-year, and we finally went into plus.”

In the dumping wars and the struggle for retail outlets with Chichvarkin's Euroset, Svyaznoy has grown to several hundred stores. “But we have always been less aggressive, Euroset then bought Tekhmarket, raked in everything it could on the market, we were afraid to move as fast.” “By the 2008 crisis, Euroset had more than $800 million in debt, we approached it with almost zero debt,” says Nogotkov.

Svyaznoy did not have any special secrets in the competitive struggle, he says: “The stores are a little bigger and cleaner and the staff is a little nicer.”

Unlike Chichvarkin, Nogotkov conducted his business carefully and managed without high-profile scandals with customs service, because of which his competitor was forced to sell the business and flee the country. Nogotkov does not hide the fact that his company also had problems - like everyone else, Svyaznoy at that time traded in goods that could be imported into the country "in gray".

When tax claims were filed against Svyaznoy in 2007, Nogotkov also did not raise a fuss. After a series of checks, the Federal Tax Service added more than 3 billion rubles to Svyaznoy. for unpaid VAT. “It was half the value of the company, we didn’t even have that kind of money on our hands,” says Nogotkov. "Svyaznoy" then fell under the distribution of more than one - "demonstrative flogging" was arranged for several large sellers at once, reminds Nogotkov, although he admits that the claims of the tax authorities were quite justified. To pay off, Svyaznoy began the bankruptcy of its structure, which was engaged in the supply of equipment. “We kept retail, transferred supplies to another company, and this one began to sue tax office", says the entrepreneur. It was possible to sue a little, the company paid the last debts several years ago.

Maxim Nogotkov the youngest Russian billionaire, Forbes magazine estimates his fortune at $ 1.3 billion. He founded the Svyaznoy mobile retailer, which has grown into the largest retail chain in Russia, specializing in the sale of services of mobile operators, mobile phones, electronics, digital audio and photo equipment . At the age of twenty, Maxim Yuryevich, who became a dollar millionaire, is a successful, purposeful, promising and, undoubtedly, charming and self-sufficient person. However, having achieved a lot in life, he does not stop.

Born February 15, 1977 in Moscow. Maxim's father was always strict and very thrifty, an engineer by profession, his mother is a doctor. The usual average family with an average level of income.

At school, Maxim Nogotkov studied "good" and "excellent". I went to the House of Pioneers for classes in computer science, dreaming of becoming a programmer. Outwardly, he did not look like a born businessman (especially since such a word was not yet in use). Nogotkov began his business in 1993, studying in the 9th grade: he copied and sold computer programs. “At first I was a little ashamed,” admitted Nogotkov. “An intellectual upbringing had an effect, but then it all somehow passed by itself and dissipated.” He studied in Moscow, changed several schools. After the 9th grade, he went to school at the Moscow State Technical University. Bauman, where he later entered the Faculty of Informatics and Control Systems. Maxim loved mathematics, but he loved programming even more: he started writing programs at the age of 12. At home, he then had a small computer, with a black-and-white monitor and a total memory of 64 kilobytes. Even as a ninth grader, he copied and sold computer programs, then bought up components, gave them for assembly and sold finished telephone sets.

In 1995 he entered the Moscow State Technical University named after Bauman. Soon problems began at the institute, I simply did not have time to corny ... It all ended with the fact that after the second year I took an academic leave. At that time, according to Maxim himself, he no longer wanted to be a programmer. He was earning $10,000 a month, which was a lot of money, especially since he was only 18 years old.

Maxim never worked for anyone. As he notes himself: “I never had a goal to go and find a job. I never sent out a resume, I never even had a resume. I didn’t understand why I should look for a job when I knew that I could earn money on my own ”

From the age of 14 he began to trade on the radio markets of Moscow. Started selling phones. Caller ID phones were very popular back then. Maxim noticed a simple thing that it was possible to buy a lot of such phones at the Mitinsky radio market for 3,800 rubles, and then sell them for 4,500 one at a time. At that time, the amount of 3,800 rubles was relatively impressive, and he did not have it. Parents did not give money - they did not believe. The first phone he resold was his friend's. By agreement, Nogotkov kept this money for himself for 2 weeks, during which time he spun it several times, and that's how it all started. He placed ads in the newspaper "From hand to hand", sometimes he went to install these phones. Then he decided that it was more profitable to buy parts, hire people who were then idle in electronic factories, and get ready-made phones at the exit, after which they would sell them - it was more profitable that way. Produced somewhere around 20-30 phones per month. And so it continued until entering the institute, until the summer of 1993. By that time, the demand for phones had fallen sharply. Then, I tried to sell calculators at the Konkovo ​​fair. Every day all summer he worked: in the evening he bought, in the morning he sold. Then, when I started studying at the institute, from daily work I had to refuse, but I worked on weekends.

On October 9, 1995, the Maxus company (a derivative on behalf of) was registered, a small office was rented at some plant - about 20 sq. m. There were several outlets, but the main activity was reduced to wholesale trade in the radio markets and through the office. They traded in audio players, appliances and telephones, while buying in large wholesale and selling in small ones. In 1997, Maxim Nogotkov felt a noticeable lack of education: “As they say in America, there must be the ability to see everything from a helicopter and at the same time from the inside, in detail. The scale of my knowledge was limited to the Mitinsky radio market and Gorbushka, that is, “details”, but I didn’t have enough from a helicopter. I decided to study. I entered MIRBIS, took an MBA course. The training gave me the opportunity to take a broader look at the world, opened up new horizons, I am very satisfied!"

In 2004, Maxus undergoes reorganization and the Svyaznoy group of companies arises, of which Maxim Nogotkov became the general director, now he is the president of his own company.

Svyaznoy is the only independent retailer on the cellular communications market, and the company does not intend to give up its positions.

“The brand was born in my head. But at the same time, there were doubts. I liked the word, but after all, the associations with the war, with a soldier in a tunic, who crawls among the trenches with wires clamped in his teeth. In a word, we turned to a special company that comes up with names. We were given 40 options! ... and won - you know what? - Maxus. But we left Svyaznoy. Why? Because Maxus is, of course, something reliable, calm, but somehow ordinary. And the word “connected” caused laughter during the discussion, some emotions - I decided that this was more important ... "

For all the years of its activity, Svyaznoy has repeatedly been awarded various major awards in various categories. Here are some of them:

· Brand of the Year - 2002, first place awarded by Siemens.

· In 2003, Svyaznoy takes first place from Beeline GSM in terms of dealer sales.

· Brand of the Year/EFFIE 2004, second prize in the Retail Chains and Centers category.

· In 2005, Svyaznoy received the Superbrand title, which is awarded only to leading brands within the national market. It is important to remember that this is a very prestigious award.

· In 2005, the company also received awards for the best and most professional staff and for the highest and highest quality service in the network of Svyaznoy salons.

· In 2006, the company received the title of "Best Retail Chain in Russia 2006".

· "Golden networks - 2007" group of companies "Svyaznoy" deservedly received the award in the nomination "The best network of communication salons".

Own bank was a logical continuation of the business development of Maxim Nogotkov. The Svyaznoy company has been engaged in financial services since 2006: it launched a project for the sale of GE Money Bank credit cards. In 2007, a project arose to create a network of financial supermarkets with the KIT Finance bank. But the crisis destroyed these partnerships. In addition, only by selling products of other banks through its network, the company had no influence on the content of these products. Therefore, the idea of ​​partnership was replaced by the idea of ​​creating your own bank. Svyaznoy Bank appeared in 2010, and already in 2012 it took the seventh place in the credit card market in Russia. However, Nogotkov himself has already left the board of directors of the bank. “We have achieved significant success quite quickly,” says Nogotkov, “the project can and should move forward on its own.”

In the fall of 2011, Svyaznoy launched another project - the Enter multi-channel retail network, where you can buy non-food products from toys to furniture in any convenient way: go to an offline store, order the necessary item via the Internet or by phone. “I did not choose any special time to start - I knew that sooner or later such a retail format would appear in the list of my projects. Today the network has 89 stores in 47 cities of Russia. According to the company itself, in 2012 the turnover of Enter amounted to $100 million.

In addition to his own group of companies Svyaznoy, Maxim Yuryevich Nogotkov heads several other projects, including non-commercial ones.

In 2010, Nogotkov starts a jewelry business. At this time, shops with the beautiful name "Pandora" come off. 2011 is the year of the creation of the Nikola Lenivets Land Park with beautiful architecture and rich history, which has successfully started and is making a profit. In the fall of 2012, Maxim Nogotkov launched the Yopolis non-profit social project, which should help "establish a dialogue between citizens and government officials." Since 2008, he has also been the Executive Director of KIT Finance.

As for personal achievements, there is something to be proud of. At the age of 20, Nogotkov became a dollar millionaire. For 10 years, he increased his capital hundreds of times and entered the list of the 33 most successful men under the age of 33 (Finance edition). In 2010, Maxim Yuryevich becomes the businessman of the year (Ernst & Young auditing company). And last year, the entrepreneur earns a billion and is included in the corresponding Forbes list, taking 1153 positions in it.

“There must always be a goal – for what? I set myself a plank. At first I wanted to become a millionaire at 20, and I really had a million dollars at 20. What is the feeling? Cool! Especially when your mom is a doctor, dad is an engineer, and both remember well what a communal apartment is. Then I set myself the goal of becoming “number one” in Russia. For almost a year he did everything for this. Then he took off the idea - there is nothing here but the satisfaction of personal ambitions. It is more important to do something useful than to achieve victory. The task of winning is unworthy. By the way, it is also ineffective, as a rule ... "

Nogotkov considers the habit of immediately implementing emerging ideas to be unconditionally positive: “If I am interested in some project, then I just do it: I don’t meditate on how great it would be, I don’t do manilovism, but I’m looking for partners, money and a team.”

In his undertakings and bold projects, family support is very important, and Maxim has it. He is married to a beautiful and intelligent woman, Maria, they have three sons. Maxim Nogotkov devotes all his free time from work to his wife and family.

When asked if he is preparing his son as his successor, Nogotkov replies: “Until the child grows up and tells me that he wants to sell mobile phones and cannot live without it, I will not specially prepare him for anything. It will turn out so randomly - it means it will turn out. If it doesn't work, then no."

Marigold still does not have his own Facebook page, firstly, he does not have time for this, and secondly, he considers it unnecessary and useless. Maxim Yuryevich is alien to glamor in all its manifestations, he almost does not participate in social life. He visits restaurants rarely and then on business. He has a yellow Maserati convertible, but he does not consider it something shameful to travel by subway. He is not attracted to accessories either, he prefers classic and comfortable clothes. But he has a passion for travel and new hobbies. The best rest for him are trips with the whole family to distant countries.

Maxim Nogotkov is the owner of the Svyaznoy network and an entrepreneur who became a dollar millionaire at the age of twenty. As a ninth-grader, he copied and sold computer programs, then bought up components, gave them for assembly and sold ready-made telephone sets. Due to employment, he left Moscow State Technical University. Bauman, where he studied as a programmer, but then completed the MBA program. In 1995, he registered his first company, Maxus, and a few years later he came up with the Svyaznoy brand. Two years ago, he entered the list of 33 most successful young men in Russia according to the Finance magazine. He loves books by Milan Kundera and says that business is not a war, but a long run along parallel paths. Member of the Snob project since December 2008.

Birthday

Where he was born

Moscow

“My parents always raised me as an independent person. Since childhood, I knew exactly my family responsibilities and quite consciously fulfilled them, realizing that I had to do something myself, take responsibility for it. In addition, I had a rather strict father, and as a result, I was surrounded by numerous "no": it's impossible, it's impossible. And I had to overcome these ... "

Where and what did you study

“... studied in Moscow, changed several schools. After the 9th grade, he went to school at the Moscow State Technical University. Bauman, where he later entered the Faculty of Informatics and Control Systems. I loved mathematics, and even more loved programming - I started writing programs from the age of 12. At that time I had a small computer at home, with a black-and-white monitor and a total memory of 64 kilobytes.

Studied at Bauman Moscow State Technical University.

“In 1995, problems began at the institute, I simply did not have time ... It all ended with the fact that after my second year I took an academic leave. At that time, I had already lost my desire to be a programmer. I was earning 10 thousand dollars a month, it was a lot of money, especially since I was only 18 years old ... "

At the Institute Mirbis REA them. G.V. Plekhanov studied under the MBA program "Marketing".

“Never regretted it. My outlook has increased many times over, I began to see more, what the West calls "the ability to see from a helicopter." Before training, I saw from below and understood the details. And then I began to see more widely, which helped me a lot. I studied there for 2 years, and I was very pleased: I think that such programs are well structured and expand opportunities.”

Served?

Where and how did you work?

“I never had a goal to go and find a job. I never sent out a resume, I never even had a resume. I didn’t understand why I should look for a job when I knew that I could earn money on my own.”

From the age of 14 he began to trade on the radio markets of Moscow.

“...I started selling phones. Caller ID phones were very popular back then. I noticed a simple thing that it was possible to buy a lot of such phones at the Mitinsky radio market for 3800 rubles, and then sell them for 4500 one by one. At that time, the amount of 3800 rubles was relatively impressive, and I did not have it. Parents did not give money - they did not believe. The first phone I resold was not mine, but my friend's. By agreement, I left this money for myself for 2 weeks, during which time I scrolled it several times - that's how it all started. He placed ads in the newspaper "From hand to hand", sometimes he went to install these phones. Then I decided that it was more profitable to buy parts, hire people who were then idle in electronic factories, and get ready-made phones at the exit, after which they would be sold - it was more profitable that way. I produced somewhere around 20-30 phones per month. And so it continued until I entered the institute, until the summer of 1993. By that time, the demand for phones had fallen sharply. Then I tried to sell calculators at the Konkovo ​​fair. Every day all summer he worked: in the evening he bought, in the morning he sold. Then, when I started studying at the institute, I had to give up daily work, but I worked on weekends.

In 1995, he founded the Maxus company and became its president.

“On October 9, 1995, the Maxus company (a derivative of my name) was registered, at some plant we rented a small office - about 20 sq. We had several retail outlets, but the main activity was wholesale trade in the radio markets and through the office. They traded in audio players, appliances and telephones, while buying in large wholesale - they sold in small ones.

Since 2002, he has been developing a network of Svyaznoy mobile communication centers, where he became the general director. Now he is the General Director of Svyaznoy 3 CJSC.

“The brand was born in my head. But at the same time, there were doubts. I liked the word, but after all, the associations with the war, with a soldier in a tunic, who crawls among the trenches with wires clamped in his teeth. In a word, we turned to a special company that comes up with names. We were given 40 options! ... and won - you know what? - Maxus. But we left Svyaznoy. Why? Because Maxus is, of course, something reliable, calm, but somehow ordinary. And the word "connected" caused laughter during the discussion, some emotions - I decided that this was more important ... "

Since May 2008, he has been the Chief Managing Director of KIT Finance Bank, responsible for the retail business.

Achievements

In 2006, he was included in the first list of 33 most successful young men under the age of 33 of the Finance magazine. The magazine estimated his fortune at $500 million (No. 103 in Russia).

public affairs

The Svyaznoy company participated in charity event"Red noses are a good heart."

Participated in scandals

At the end of 2007, Svyaznoy CJSC filed a number of lawsuits against the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate for Moscow related to the application of tax laws.

I'm interested

the photo

skiing, windsurfing, tennis

I love

favorite films: "The Game", "Matrix-1", "Pulp Fiction", comedies by Leonid Gaidai, "Kill the Dragon" by Mark Zakharov

Milan Kundera's books The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Funny Loves, Authenticity

outdoor team games

Well I don't like

“I… don’t like management, anything to do with management, execution, reporting…”

Family

Wife Maria, 3 sons.

“I cannot say that I want my son to be a businessman or an architect or a singer. I believe that it is very important for a person to understand himself and try to understand what gives him pleasure, what he manages to do best, what he sincerely wants to do ... "

And generally speaking

“Since childhood, I began to earn money in order to realize my desires. And since no one gave me money for a stamp collection, but I really wanted to have it, I started working. Even from the collection of waste paper ... "

“I can’t be 100% honest always and in any situation, but 99% of the time I prefer the bitter truth.”

“There must always be a goal - for what? I set myself a plank. At first I wanted to become a millionaire at 20, and I really had a million dollars at 20. What is the feeling? Cool! Especially when your mom is a doctor, dad is an engineer, and both remember well what a communal apartment is. Then I set myself the goal of becoming "number one" in Russia. For almost a year he did everything for this. Then he took off the idea - there is nothing here but the satisfaction of personal ambitions. It is more important to do something useful than to achieve victory. The task of winning is unworthy. By the way, it is also ineffective, as a rule ... "

“I don't consider myself a manager, I consider myself an entrepreneur. And to teach entrepreneurship, in my opinion, is difficult. Although I would love to study, but I have to make a choice. I learn by working, I learn every day at meetings with partners and clients. I learn from my own experience and others'.

I worked for 2 years in this company, in an office in Moscow.
Provided evidence in December
In Sat about predator. (modified by moderator) Nala.
They asked me to resign, promising to look into everything.
Well, these guys dosihpor work. here's a CONNECTED one for you.
Feedback about Svyaznoy from the site Rabotyaga.Ru
from 29.01.2011 at 16:29

Maxim Nogotkov wife.

Maria Vadimovna Hayward is wife of Maxim Nogotkov.

The surname, of course, was invented ten or fifteen years ago to divert your prying eyes.

Information here:

http://www.forbes.ru/-slideshow/52010-leto-leto/slide/4

http://22.klg.msudrf.ru/modules.php?name=info_pages&id=160

http://marker.ru/news/523383

President of the Svyaznoy group of companies Maxim Nogotkov with his wife
at the 16th Silver Galosh Award Ceremony in Moscow.
Author of the photo: Valery Levitin
Photo date: 06/18/2012 20:45:00

Maxim Yurievich Nogotkov. Or divorced?

Nogotkov Maxim Yurievich. Acquaintance.