The Power of letter "O"

Here I’m in this photo with my grandparents in the Siberian village where I was born. I was a young boy of 16 when I left.

Today, I run a 4.5 bln. dollar company. One of the biggest food producer in Eastern Europe.

This is my wife, Irina. Last Sunday, we celebrated 23 years together.  She is an actress and theater director. 33 years inside that world. Together, 10 years ago, we built a children's theater. We have 30 kids with us.

Irina believes that THEATRE is a way of life to make the world a better place.

But let me tell you! If we change the word THEATER and put the word BUSINESS… 

Business could be a way of life to make the world a better place. 

And I… have an idea HOW.

4 years ago, in our company, we asked ourselves – How to Live further? We realized that food has stopped being a safe haven. That we’re big. At the same time, we can feel safe for 10-15 years maximum. Moreover, if we want to keep staying alive in 20-30 years, we must find out what will be demanded 100%!

We did a simple exercise. We tried to answer the question – what challenges does the global food industry face right now? We found three of them:

• The first one is the famine (10 bln people can’t be fed the way food is produced today)
• The second one is environment (The way food is produced today is the perfect way to ruin the planet)
• And the third one is our health (food industry makes too many compromises in terms of chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, growth hormones, antibiotics, chemical castration, sugars, fast carbs ...)

So, we assumed that, if our products answer each of these three challenges at the same time, then we'll probably find someplace for ourselves in the future. Four years ago, we decided to deal with products and technologies, which are at the same time:

• Good for the people,
•  Good for the Planet,
• Affordable for everyone.

Then we noticed a Y-Combinator biotech startup, which developed technology for producing fats from microorganisms. And, very clearly, we saw the end of our core business. Total disruption from precision fermentation.

We said to ourselves:

If WE do food and don't do biotech, sooner or later, biotech will start “doing” US, and OUR food.

THAT’S WHY:

• We’ve tripled investments in science and innovation
• Built our own Scientific center. 12 laboratories. 100 researches work with us.

That's how we created the Healthy Innovation Project.

This is how we started to produce plant-based meat, milk and dietary fiber.

That’s WHY we Set up a Biotech business. Do sweet protein, fats from Yeast, Cellar Nutrition.

That’s how we implemented IMPACT in our business strategy.

...

I am THE Impact Officer of YPO Russia. A year ago, we did a study at YPO in our chapter. The result was - NO ONE KNEW WHAT IMPACT means.

What is the difference between ESG, SDG, CSR, Sustainability, et cetera.

Impact is something very unclear for most of our members. And unfortunately, not only in our chapter. I will try to share my version of the answer to the question WHY. I think…. it is about losing the sense, purpose and meaning.

Quick overview:

In the late 1980s, sustainable development began to be represented by three rings.

Economic growth creates environmental problems. And they cannot be solved easily outside the social sphere. By “the social sphere”, scientists meant the search for NEW MODELS AND IDEAS. 

Everything seems clear here.

In 2004, this concept was transformed into the three letters ESG.

And this is where it gets complicated.

As we all know: 

• E stands for environment
• S stands for social
• G for corporate governance

But WHY is G (corporate governance) responsible for economic growth? Seriously? G? Don't you think there has been a shift here, and we've lost the connection between cause and effect.

G is important, it's SUPER-important! Let’s put it in the CENTER.

BUT wouldn't it be more correct to put the letter O here, instead of G?

O that stands for OWNERS. Because the owners are the beneficiaries of economic growth. Because we and we alone are the main beneficiaries of a world system that has brought the planet to the brink of survival.

O is a very unpopular and uncomfortable letter. Because it raises unpleasant questions:

• Who is the shareholder of the future? 
• How much should a shareholder of a sustainable future earn?
• What return in business is fair to have?
• How much should owners spend on our own life?
• Which projects should WE and OUR businesses invest in? A payback in 1, 2, 3 years. Or in 10, 20, 30 years?
• How much to invest in science and innovations?
• For what should WE be responsible? For ourselves and our family? Or for our business and employees? Or maybe for the country? Or even FOR the planet?

 Here is what «O» means in my company:

•  None of us has control. Max allowed ownership is 28%.
• Everybody is working. Hardworking. From 8am in the office and Saturday is working day.
• Our shares are not transferred to our children. Because we love them.
• If you leave the company you lose your ownership.
• Every employee can be the shareholder.
• 3% of shares is min. And everybody has VETO right

That’s how we see sustainable ownership model. That’s how we realize impact for our employees. We say: "guys! You don’t have limits! Grow up! We are waiting for you on shareholder’s level". 

But the most important idea of our Ownership is definition of the Business. Founders agreed about it almost 30 years ago. 

Business for us is a social benefit that finds a place in people's lives in an economically effective way.

Business is sustainable - only when socially useful. And money is what allows this benefit and OUR business to exist for a long time.

Our company makes 2 million tons of food. Has 18,000 employees. 200 million people have our food in their kitchens. We grow very fast. 25% last year, 60% 2021. That is important. But more important is that during the last four years we have invested ALL THAT WE EARN in projects which are simultaneously:

• making people’s lives better,
• are planet friendly.
• affordable for everybody. Not premium

To be honest I was the same person as most of our chapter. Didn’t care about Impact many years. 10 years ago, I had an aerospace business and we developed remote sensing services. And that was the first time I saw these pictures. 

It’s Aral Lake 47 years ago. Now it's desert. It was terrible. 

But I had so many problems in my life. I was deeply in debts. I didn’t want to think about it. I didn’t believe that my person could do something. And nobody reminded me about the power I have.  

I’d like to share with you about this POWER.

Quarter of the members in Global YPO are not owners (top executives). But ’Id like to remind you that all of us are OWNERS.

• We are owners of our lives and destiny,
• We are co-owners of our families,
• And we are shareholders of this planet.

And all of us have the power. The Power of letter "O"

The power to save the planet. The power to change the world. To create impact. 

But we need to start with ourselves, because OWNERSHIP is not only about financial freedom and ability to do whatever you want. This word comes from the verb TO OWE. The "pOWEr" has the same word inside.

And I think it’s time to remember it’s original meaning. To be the Owner, and to have a POWER of Letter "O" means: 

• To OWE our family,
• To OWE the society, 
• To OWE the Planet.

 ...

An Important part of my life is FAITH. I’m A Russian Orthodox Christian. I’ve been regularly going to church for 20 years. For 12 years I’ve been signing in the church chore. This is very famous words from Gospel: 

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you.  

And I’d love to repeat my triсke with changing the words. Because it looks like a formula of business success here. And message from the past to our days. Look at it:

Seek first DOING GOOD FOR OTHERS (making the world a better place) and all these things (market share, revenue, profit and sustainable business) will be provided to YOU.

YPO numbers:

33 thousand members / 22 million employees / 9 trillion dollar of revenue.

I personally believe that the easiest impact we can create as a community is to START:

• doing good for our employees;
• doing good for our customers.

I sincerely wish you ALL THE BEST in DOING GOOD FOR OTHERS (making this planet a better place). And don’t forget about the power you have. The power of letter O.