Kendrick White is an American entrepreneur living and working in Nizhny Novgorod, Russian Federation. Kendrick's firm, Marchmont Capital Partners, is one of the very few companies publishing business content in English from Russia's regions (that is, the rest of Russia outside Moscow and St. Petersburg). Russia Blog first covered the Marchmont Investment Guide to Russia's regional businesses back in March 2007, when then FINAM investment banker Vladimir F. Kuznetsov posted an article about Kendrick White.
We are proud to announce that blog posts and articles by Kendrick White and other Marchmont Capital authors discussing Russian business issues will now be a regular feature on Russia Blog.
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What should I tell my children about my experiences in Russia? That this is a "boom and bust" country of extreme experiences...and emotions?
It's hard to say. So many of my friends--Russians, Americans, Scandinavians, Asians--are having the same experiences in their countries.
"Here we are again, another crisis to deal with!" Most of these friends are pure entrepreneurs, men and women who took the leap of faith in 1991 and 1992...when things were even bleaker than today.
There we were, an entire new generation of risk takers born from the images of Boris Yeltsin, sitting proudly, nervously on the tank, listening to the soothing words of Yegor Gaidar.
Some of these friends back then had no other calling but the idea that Russia was the place to make a quick buck. Sad, but true. To many this country represented one of the last Klondike expeditions, a golden opportunity to make a fortune! Some did, and we know some still trying, but the effort and ideal is always the same, to gain some golden access to some quick riches.
Most of these people eventually moved on to other adventuresome destinations. Russia is not for the impatient or fool hearty; Russia is for those who believe in a "cause".
For some it's personal, for some it's philosophic, or for a greater good, for others like me, it's because we believe in a better future for Russia and its next generations who will have to live in this world long after we have gone.
In any case, chalk this up to "idealistic pragmatism".
Coming back to my children - they are too young to read now--so I'd like to use this blog as an opportunity to eventually explain to them what exactly this roller coaster life in Russia has been like to an American father and Russian wife.
Beyond my children, this is platform I hope will ultimately help many of our friends and families to understand exactly what we have all gone through as ex-pats living in Russia. This is not a country where it is easy to adapt. Russia evolves, and either you evolve with her or like a lost child, you won't find your way.
I think one of the reasons Russia is so hard for so many people to cope with it its uncanny ability to absorb external qualities which other countries would never even consider. It's like watching a patient accept an organ which his body rejects. What a most remarkable experience!
One question I keep asking myself is how is it possible for a country to be simultaneously as selfish as anything Ayn Rand could have dreamed up and at the same time a most collective experience for an outsider to wonder at? Am I alone in these feelings?
Kendrick White is the Founder & Managing Principal of Marchmont Capital Partners, LLC, a financial services advisory boutique and bilingual business news company based in Nizhny Novgorod Russia, where he has resided full time since 1993.
I've developed the impression that Russia's culture is one of a deeply tough people. I can only study her culture from afar, at this time, but I think it stands to reason that she must be a tough nation, to have survived the many political changes throughout her history, intact as a nation and as a home of her related peoples.
I think it is encouraging to see represented, a perspective about Russia that -- so I consider -- would be developed from a fundamentally pragmatic economic viewpoint.
I don't imagine I've been developing an exacting perspective of her economic situation, while reading the stories of Sergei Lukyanenko -- they are stories, after all, stories of literary style like a contemporary myth.
I think it is encouraging, however, if she would propose some economic interest to the dedicated business person. Her history has been so dynamic, and her sensitivities must be nonetheless present, beside all her toughness -- I think it must be really an intriguing culture to be a part of, economically and in the first part, personally.
That is to the nature of my distinct impression, speculative though the grounds to it may appear to be.
As an American living in St.Petersburg I can relate to your story. It can be difficult to adapt at times here but the interesting thing is that there will always be surprises here. It makes life here both intriguing and difficult.
The culture here is much deeper than in America and has sown the roots for generations to come. However the dynamics change quickly and it sometimes becomes quickly apparent but other times (more often than not) changes come slow drifting into everyday life.