Our day started outside the Russian Federation Council building, as we were watched closely by a number of guards with large automatic weapons. Once our host escorted us inside, we had the opportunity to meet with one of Russia´s most prestigious senators. He exhorted us (as future US business leaders) to think about expanding our businesses into Russia and starting new businesses within Russia.
Perhaps our most highly anticipated meeting of the trip was our visit with Yandex, the ¨Russian Google.¨ We peppered the co-founder and CEO, Arkady Volozh, with questions about the firm´s competitive positioning, relationship with Google, and talent recruitiment and management. The meeting was a great success and we all left wishing that we had more time together. After the meeting, we were able to conduct a first-hand comparison of the Yandex cafeteria to the various offerings at the GooglePlex in Mountain View -- we all agreed that Google wins!
In the evening, the culture-seekers among us indulged in some traditional Russian dance at the Moiseev Ballet. The dancers were captivating, and dozing off was much rarer...
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