In 2009 Alexey invited Yves to the first edition of AgileEE. Yves loves the first time a conference takes place. There is a dynamic that usually can only be found the first time. And surely that was the case at AgileEE. Yves still remembers the hallway conversation with JB. They agreed that Alexey and his team made a lot of mistakes that they could have warned him about. And you know what, it did not matter. The conference was great. And Yves would add, the things they called mistakes made the conference what it was. Their advice would have been wrong. Alexey knew perfectly what would work there. On top of that, Yves is jealous of the balance that Alexey has found between building a business and watching out for his personal life. Alexey was invited by Diana Larsen (Not published yet)
What is something people usually don’t know about you but has influenced you in who you are?
I am a free-ride skier. I am bass guitarist. I like living in a wild forest. I am not a social guy by any means. I’d had no idea I would engage myself in training and consulting activities. It still surprises me.
If you would not have been in IT, what would have become of you?
I had been preparing myself to enter a biological university before the programming virus struck me. I had been very serious about biology back in college. And then I programmed the “hello world”… And the new world replied to me.
What is your biggest challenge and why is it a good thing for you?
Well. I have a sort of a speaking impediment. When I was in the school there was no way one would make me speak in public. This caused me lot of trouble back then. Now I still do have that issue, but apparently I stopped caring about it. What I have to say became much more important than how I do that. Seems people like my speaking. I have gotten a bunch of compliments on my recent talks.
What drives you?
I am a free-rider by nature. I love new stuff. I love collaboration. I love being in a team doing something together.
What is your biggest achievement?
I was able to delegate a lot of things to my teammates that I used to do before. Like organizing conferences.
What is the last book you have read?
Four steps to epiphany by Steve Blank. Great ideas. I think the text needs serious refactoring though.
What question do you think I should also ask and what is the answer?
What are my plans for the next few years? I have no idea. I guess I’ll be between software and people. Hopefully, I’ll start a technology-oriented start-up. And most likely I will move to USA or Europe. Hate what is happening in Ukraine these days.
Who do you think I should ask next?
- Robin Dymond
- Alek Kozlov (Skype, Estonia)
- Nataliya Trenina (ScrumGuides)
- Marcin Niebudek (Agilers, Poland)
- Dusan Kocurek (ScrumDesk, Slovakia)
- Pawel Lipinski (Poland)