Alisa Chumachenko biography. Who is who: Alisa Chumachenko. What was the most difficult moment

Paradise Island has become a real treasure island for Alisa Chumachenko. Over the past year, a Russian startup has managed to push the American giants of the gaming industry on their own territory.

Text: Nikolai Grishin

"I get stuck all the time," says Alisa Chumachenko, owner of Game Insight. Even while taking photos, she can't stop looking at her favorite iPad toy. In her "cosmetic bag" is always five or six mobile devices.

Alice recently tested a game by one of the 15 studios controlled by Game Insight, and got stuck so much that she spent more than $3,000 in a month, although the average bill for a "mobile" player is $3-5 per month. You could just call the developers, and they would "pump" the character of Alice for free, but during the day there is not enough time for games. Chumachenko plays at night when the developers are sleeping. “So I have to pay, I can’t stop,” she makes a plaintive face.

Passion and love for games allowed Chumachenko to organize a company whose turnover over the past year increased by an order of magnitude - from $5 million to $50 million. And create, for example, the game Mystery Manor (Russian version - "Mystery House"), which in January 2012 the most downloaded iPad game in the world.

Of the 27 games released by Game Insight over two years, nine have been in the top 10 most popular apps on the App Store and six on the Android Market. Game Insight manages to compete with the products of such giants as Zynga and Nexon Co. Alisa Chumachenko had to conquer the world after her former employer, Mail.ru Group, closed her access to Russian social networks.

Clan of the discontented

The totalitarianism of the Scavenger has bothered many. Scavenger - in the world Alexey Shchedrin is the founder of the popular multiplayer online game "Fight Club" in the mid-2000s. In 2004, a conflict arose between its participants. A fan of the "Fight Club" soloist of the group "Hands up" Sergei Zhukov invited the players of his clan to meet offline and discuss the difficult situation. At that meeting, Zhukov met Alisa Chumachenko, a graduate of the directing department of GITIS.

The Hands Up group was then at the peak of popularity, Sergey had money and a desire to create his own online game. This is how the IT Territory company appeared, which soon launched the Territory game. Igor Matsanyuk, a Murmansk car dealer, became Sergei's partner, and they invited Nikita Sherman, who had left a similar position at Begun, to take the place of development director. Chumachenko was offered to become a secretary. "Alice was very enterprising, she always found time for everything," recalls Nikita Sherman.

Always in touchAlisa Chumachenko does not have her own office in the Game Insight office - she works together with marketers and game producers

For some time, Chumachenko answered calls, coordinated Sergei's tour plans and brought coffee to programmers, but this did not last long. A year later, she was already in charge of marketing and advertising in a company with 20 employees. "She's great at finding the right people and winning them over," says Sergei Zhukov.

A couple of years later, more than 1 million users played Territory, although the publishers of games on CD treated IT Territory with condescension. One of the company's employees, the founder of the Road 404 studio, which is part of Game Insight, Maxim Donskikh recalls that among the programmers themselves there was a confrontation between those who wanted to create a big and beautiful dream game, and those who considered games as a business: "Alice was on the side of the dough."

In December 2007, a milestone event took place on the Russian online gaming market. Four players - Astrum Nival, IT Territory, Time Zero and Nikita Online - have merged into the Astrum Online Entertainment holding. The structure, which employed 600 people, controlled about 60% of the Russian online games market. Its revenue in 2008, according to expert estimates, exceeded $50 million. People from IT Territory in the new holding were in the first roles: Igor Matsanyuk became president, Alisa Chumachenko - vice president for marketing and advertising, Maxim Donskikh headed the direction of social games. Singer Sergei Zhukov decided to focus on show business, which he sometimes regrets now: "The gambling business for me has always been primarily entertainment, and a good investment." However, Sergei did not finally give up on Internet projects. In 2010, he launched the bulletin board "Here they will find." Sergey sometimes sings karaoke with Alisa Chumachenko and Igor Matsanyuk.

Mail in the back

The alliance of independent game developers did not last long - at the end of 2009, Astrum became part of Mail.ru. The company was valued at more than $450 million. The deal looked logical: Mail.ru had a huge audience, Astrum had entertainment. But the game development team began to disintegrate before our eyes. "Somehow it immediately became clear that Mail.ru needed to be run away," says Maxim Donskikh. Alisa Chumachenko did not even wait for the completion of the transaction and left first: "I did not see myself in a large corporation. I wanted something of my own."

It took Chumachenko "several million dollars" to create "something of his own." The money was lent to her by "familiar investors", and she is still repaying the debt. Sources SF they say that Igor Matsanyuk became the main investor of Game Insight. By the way, in November 2010, during an IPO on the London Stock Exchange, he sold his 0.6% stake in Mail.ru Group for $85 million, and is now developing the Farminers "startup academy".

Game Insight appeared in early 2010 and was conceived as a business incubator for game developers who do not have the money and experience to promote their product. Game Insight relieves developers of all "non-core" worries, provides programmers with salaries - $15-30 thousand per month for the team and promotion costs. In return, Chumachenko receives controlling stakes in the studios and most of the income. "You could just hire developers, but this approach does not motivate much creativity. There is still something of art in games," says Chumachenko.

Many people in Russia are engaged in this "art" - 15 large game producers and about 2 thousand small teams. The most famous studios are Mail.ru Games, Social Quantum, Progrestar, Play Flock and Drimmi. The latter was created in early 2010 by Alice's former colleague Nikita Sherman. To date, his company has released seven games, earning about $3 million in 2011.

By the summer of 2010, Game Insight developers had released ten games, four of which were in the top 10 most popular social networks owned by Mail.ru - Odnoklassniki and Moi Mir. People are already tired of the numerous clones of the "Happy Farmer". Game Insight released games in the city builder genre (instead of farms, users are encouraged to build cities), as well as in the new hidden object genre for social networks (hidden object). At the same time, unlike many small publishers, Game Insight supported the games after the launch - paid for the work of community managers who communicate with the players, and developed new content for avid gamers.

Within six months, Game Insight reached a monthly turnover of $1 million. But in July 2010, Mail.ru dealt a serious blow. He stopped accepting payments made by users of Game Insight applications and refused to let new projects of the company into his networks. The official reason is that Game Insight allegedly used program code copied from Mail.ru products in its applications. As proof, the holding's managers even posted lines of code on the Internet. “I can swear that there is not a single game that we would have copied,” Alice is still indignant.

One of the market participants draws an analogy with journalists who write an article on the same topic: "They use the same facts and talk to the same people, but each tells his own story. Is it possible to say that one borrows" lines "from another? I don't think so." However, Game Insight's revenue dropped to almost zero, and many key employees left Alice. But the development studios supported it. Game Insight began to cooperate with "Vkontakte" and release toys in English - for Facebook. But most importantly, thanks to problems with social networks, Game Insight has become a pioneer in a completely new market.

14 versions Paradise Island games in various languages ​​have been released by Game Insight. The company adapts games for different operating systems and for different countries

Brave new world

The casual games market is as dynamic as a good game play. In the mid-2000s, browser-based multiplayer games took off and Astrum took off. Then fast money appeared in social media games. For example, in 2009 the Yekaterinburg company i-Jet made a record collection ($20 million) at the Happy Farmer game. In 2011, there was a boom in free mobile applications.

"Free" does not mean "unprofitable". Previously, developers sold applications to users, such as the Finnish company Rovio, which raised more than $50 million in three years on the famous Angry Birds. Last year, first the App Store and then the Android Market allowed microtransactions in their apps. A market for freemium games (from the words free - "free" and premium - "premium") for mobile applications has appeared. The game can be downloaded for free, but you will have to pay for additional options.

“The entire casual games industry, including our company, was focused on distributing games on a paid model. And Alice quickly transferred her experience in creating freemium games to the niche of mobile applications and skimmed the cream,” says the CEO of the largest in Russian publisher and distributor of casual games Alawar Entertainment Alexander Lyskovsky.

The key word is "fast". On April 18, 2011, Google announced the possibility of microtransactions, and on April 20, Paradise Island by Game Insight appeared on the Android Market. It was the world's first freemium Android game. Actually, it takes several months, not three days, to adapt a game from social networks for a mobile application, but Alice understood that Google would introduce microtransactions, and prepared in advance. As a result, the game was downloaded by 2 million people in a month, for several months it topped the list of the most popular applications for Android.

A third of Game Insight's revenue in 2011 came from games for the Android Market, a third from the App Store, and the rest from social networks, which Alice initially counted on. 90% of Game Insight's revenue comes from users from the US and only about 3% from Russia. By the way, the consulting company Newzoo estimated the volume of the domestic mobile games market last year at $135 million. This is only about 2% of the global market.

The profitability of the gaming business is unpredictable. For example, out of 27 Game Insight games, two became hits. With a total cost of $788,000, Paradise Island earned $13.3 million. 12 games bring in more modest profits, the rest barely paid off. The owners of the four studios that make up Game Insight have become dollar millionaires. The same number of partners had to be abandoned: they either missed deadlines or made a poor-quality product. Somewhere marketing failed. Chumachenko pinned her hopes, for example, on the game Crime Story, whose goal is to build a mafia clan. It turned out that the target audience of the project - men - peck at the word free, but are not ready to pay for premium. The game was downloaded several million times, but it did not bring profit.

stars and holes

Now Alisa Chumachenko is trying to turn a successful startup into a professional international team. “We broke into a new segment with a sledgehammer and a hammer,” Chumachenko describes the situation. “But in this business, the most important thing is to feel the trends, the pulse of the market, communicate with colleagues in Silicon Valley. And in Russia, you sit and read Techcrunch.com.”

In January 2012, Chumachenko opened an office in San Francisco, whose employees, mostly Americans, will be engaged in marketing - negotiations with mobile app stores and subsequent promotion of games. Alice herself plans to spend half of her working time there.

It is all the more important to feel the pulse, since mobile applications on the freemium model are now being released by all the world's giants, people from the social gaming industry. The scale of their business far exceeds Game Insight. For example, the revenue of the world's leader in the online games market, Zynga, in 2010 amounted to $839 million. At the IPO in December 2011, the company was valued at $7 billion.

True, Chumachenko also has an advantage - low costs for programmers. Western corporations rarely outsource game development: it is believed that such work requires high qualifications and creativity. Russians are on average one and a half times cheaper than similar American specialists. "I can afford more content, more animation, so that people fall in love with the game and give money away with pleasure," says Chumachenko. In 2012, she expects to triple her company's revenue to $150 million. The trick is still the same: to beat the giants in new niches. For example, now Game Insight is preparing to release the world's first multi-platform game. It will be possible to start playing it, for example, on Facebook, and continue on the iPhone, on the way home from work.

Looks like Alisa Chumachenko won the first round. But holding positions is much more difficult. For example, i-Jet, which managed to open offices in the US, China and Luxembourg, last year laid off two-thirds of its employees, sold controlling stakes in two of its studios and stopped paying bills to partners. The main reasons are uncontrollable costs and increased competition. In a dynamic toy market, a bright star can easily turn into a black hole where investors' funds disappear.

Alisa Chumachenko became famous after she managed to found and become the president of Game Insight. It is well known to experts in the gaming industry. She is considered the leading expert in the Russian Federation in the field of online games and games popular in social networks.

The beginning of the labor path

At the age of fourteen, Alisa Chumachenko began to join the field of art, as she was from a family of circus theatergoers. For 10 years she performed in the circus on ice.
Alice is a graduate of the directing department of GITIS.

Being an active player in the "Fight Club", she made a lot of contacts in this get-together. According to her, she was so passionate about the game that, even when she was nursing a child, she did not stop playing with her other hand on the computer.

In 2004, Alisa Chumachenko, whose biography became closely connected with, got a job at a small company IT-Territory.

This team was headed by the soloist of the group "Hands up" Sergei Zhukov, who decided to create one of the computer games - "Territory".

Starting as a secretary, Alice quickly moved to the PR department.

On the marketing team

In 2007, she already worked as Vice President for Marketing and Advertising of Astrum Online Entertainment, the largest gaming holding in Eastern Europe, which gradually turned into a small company.

Alice managed to form a highly professional team of marketers, which was able to make a real contribution, as a result of which the holding's financial indicators began to grow steadily upwards. She launched several dozen free-to-play MMOG projects.

Since 2009, this holding has become an integral part of the Mail.Ru Group, Alice did not find a place in it and she was "overboard".

As she explains in an interview, she had three options for her further existence. Be hired by a company, do charity work, or start your own business.

Having settled on the latter option, Alisa Chumachenko six months later created the Game Insight company, which specialized in the development of games used in mobile devices and social networks.

Newly established company

Game Insight almost immediately took the lead in the social gaming market, and soon in the line of mobile applications. From the very beginning, the project was conceived as an incubator for gaming startups.

The team decided to develop the business outside the Russian Federation using the Facebook platform.

The year 2011 was marked for the Chumachenko team with the release of a game using a mobile platform, micropayments from which brought developers the opportunity to earn an amount equal to a million dollars.

Today, GI is recognized as a leading developer and publisher of games using mobile and social platforms.

The team consists of 800 employees, of which 600 are involved in project development, and 200 in management.

During the last year, more than twenty million people have become users of Game Insight games.

About Game Insight

In 2011, Forbes magazine wrote that Alisa Chumachenko is a rather famous figure in the online business.

Currently, the board of directors of the company is headed by Igor Matsanyuk, previously he was the president of Astrum. After Alisa Chumachenko left the post of president of the company, this position was taken by Maxim Donskikh.

In 2012, the company opened an office in San Francisco with eight to fifteen employees. A little later, representative offices of the company appeared in such large cities as Novosibirsk and St. Petersburg.

In the summer of 2013, Alisa Chumachenko and Igor Matsanyuk were on the cover of Forbes magazine together.

In 2014, the American office was closed, and the headquarters was moved from Moscow to the capital of Lithuania, "to strengthen its presence on the European continent, as the most key market."

In the same year, Game Insight, according to Forbes, entered the top 10 largest Russian companies operating in the Internet.

In beams of glory

By the age of 35, Alisa Chumachenko, whose photo adorns some Russian and Western publications, with a fortune of $ 90 million, is, according to Forbes magazine, twenty-first on the list of the richest Russian women.

The portfolio of the company she leads includes over forty projects of various genres. In the world, more than 230 million people have ever accessed the games released by this company.

Chumachenko is the winner of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award. 2012 brought her a victory in one of the nominations ("Fast-growing business").

In the same year, Forbes recognized her as their manager of the year.

At one time, she was included in the list of ten female leaders who were recognized as the sexiest in the world.

Launch of makerspace in Vilnius

In 2015, there was information in the news reports that Green Garage was launched in Vilnius by the founder of Game Insight. Alisa Chumachenko had already invested 200 thousand euros in this project by that time and planned to invest about 100 thousand more.

The Green Garage includes three parts. The first part includes the makerspace, which has modern equipment. The other part consists of an electronic laboratory. The third is from the training center.

As Chumachenko explains, Green Garage is "a hall where classes should be held." It can be visited by makers one-time, or by purchased subscription. The cost of a monthly visit to the makerspace is approximately 80 euros.

From the moment the makerspace was opened, the launch of various paid events and educational courses was immediately planned.

Upon successful implementation of the project, a similar structure is planned to be created in Kaunas.

Alisa Chumachenko, personal life

Alice has been married for over 10 years and has a son. His hobbies are horse riding, sailing and shopping.

Her favorite accessory is designer bags. More than others, she likes the brand "Chanel", from cosmetics - Valmont.

According to her, she gets the most pleasure when visiting Paris, Vilnius and Moscow.

Alisa Chumachenko, whose husband constantly provides her with all possible support, alone could hardly have achieved such impressive financial success.

Alice says that she constantly observed how her husband Igor Matsanyuk communicates with partners, how he conducts business conversations on the phone and the like.

She considers the method of thinking of the same type with her husband to be the main thing in their relationship. In his success, she also sees her certain merit.

They carefully listen to each other, "tuning in to the appropriate wave."

Alice loves to do household chores. She cooks well, often indulges homemade fried cutlets.

Alice has two dogs and three cats at home.

From the statements of A. Chumachenko

Alice does not avoid media correspondents, but it is almost impossible to find information regarding her personal life in her interviews. At the same time, she is happy to share her thoughts on ways to achieve success in business.

She spoke about the venture capital market in Russia as follows: "It differs in that the founders on it often become" dreamy astronauts "".

They have an erroneous opinion, according to which it is supposedly a pleasure for an investor to spend his finances, watching how a company (namely, a founder, that is, a specific person) spends money "on investments in market promotion" and "building a space story", at the same time, "Twitter" or "Elon Musk" are taken as a comparison, but in reality the project is "driving into a dead end". Getting out of there is becoming less and less.

It seems to such "cosmonauts", Chumachenko ironically, that the happiness of an investor is in getting his share, but often it must be calculated from zero.

Until now, Alice spends a lot of time in the virtual world of games. While testing one of the applications, she managed to spend three thousand dollars, while the average player has a bill of three to five dollars during the month.

"Biography"

Education

Activity

Alisa Chumachenko changed fields of activity more than once.

At the age of 14, she began working in a circus (she is from a theatrical family), after 10 years she decided that enough was enough.

"News"

How to make money on fans to invent

Computer game developer Alisa Chumachenko launched a new business in a garage, not in IT

Three IT-entrepreneurs entered the rating of the richest women in Russia

Alisa Chumachenko: “This is the Young Technician circle, only modern”

Alisa Chumachenko, the founder of Game Insight, moved her company from Moscow to Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital, last year, and stepped down as CEO a few months later.

Alisa Chumachenko resigned as CEO of Game Insight

The founder of Game Insight, a mobile games developer, Alisa Chumachenko has stepped down as CEO, the company's press service reports on Thursday, August 7. Anatoly Ropotov will take her position.

Analysts estimated the Russian market of mobile applications at $120-160 million

J'son & Partners is overestimated, says Alisa Chumachenko, CEO of Game Insight, a game developer for mobile devices. According to Game Insight analysts, revenues from the sale of mobile applications (taking into account the revenue of online stores) in Russia last year amounted to $120-130 million. In the world, about 80% of revenues from mobile applications come from games, in Russia their share may even be more, says Chumachenko. According to her forecast, Russians will spend about $300 million on mobile applications this year.

iPad version of Game Insight's cross-platform MMORPG Dragons goes gold

Even at the stage of launching the web version in 2011, the developers planned to port Dragons to mobile platforms. Today, the number of players in the browser version has already reached three million people. With the release of mobile versions, the number of fans of the cross-platform fantasy MMORPG will increase significantly.

Alisa Chumachenko, founder and CEO of Game Insight, comments on the release of mobile versions: “Cross-platform is one of the most important trends in the gaming industry. Our experience in developing games for various platforms and bringing them to the international market allows us to offer users great games for the devices they prefer. "Dragons" managed to win the love of players around the world. I am sure that with the release of mobile versions, the game will become even more popular.”

Vimpelcom subscribers can pay for smartphone applications with money from their mobile account

For Vimpelcom, cooperation with Microsoft and Nokia is of an image nature, says Alisa Chumachenko, CEO of Game Insight, a mobile games developer. According to her, the share of Windows Phone devices both in the world and in Russia is still insignificant. In 2012, Nokia lost its leadership in the Russian mobile phone market, according to the results of the year, according to Euroset, it occupies the 2nd place after Samsung (in terms of the number of phones sold) - 32.4%.

Game publisher came to Novosibirsk for fresh air

According to the company, the Novosibirsk branch will function as an independent art development studio producing art and models for Game Insight's internal studios. Alisa Chumachenko, founder and CEO of Game Insight, believes that “successful games don’t come from stuffy workshops, they are born in independent studios that work their own way, even breathe their own way.”

On February 21, a master class by Alisa Chumachenko, CEO of Game Insight

February 21, already this Thursday, at 19.00 at the Faculty of Economics of Moscow State University, a master class by Alisa Chumachenko CEO and the founder of Game Insight will take place.

"What it will cost you to get to the top" - Alisa Chumachenko, Game Insight

Alice in the country of players

Paradise Island has become a real treasure island for Alisa Chumachenko. Over the past year, a Russian startup has managed to push the American giants of the gaming industry on their own territory.

I get stuck all the time,” says Alisa Chumachenko, owner of Game Insight. Even while taking photos, she can't stop looking at her favorite iPad toy. In her "cosmetic bag" is always five or six mobile devices.

reinvested in Game Insight - now $25 million

Recall that Alisa Chumachenko, CEO of Game Insight, recently entered the top five promising women managers in startups according to the western portal The Huffington Post.

Igor Matsanyuk has invested $25 million in the Russian game developer Game Insight.

Alisa Chumachenko, CEO and founder of Game Insight, said the new investment will help strengthen the company's position in key regions and aggressively expand into emerging mobile markets.

Game Insight invests $3 million to market early publishing projects

According to company president Alisa Chumachenko: “Game Insight is committed to expanding its already impressive portfolio with new interesting and promising projects across all platforms. And if you, like us, passionately love good mobile games, want the whole world to know about them, we are waiting for you!”.

Alisa Chumachenko, the founder of Game Insight, held a master class at the Student Business Club of Moscow State University

Alice spoke about her company, the trends observed in the gaming industry, and also explained why the future belongs to multiplayer and cross-platform games. In addition, Alice revealed the secret of her company's success and answered numerous questions from the guests.

Game developer Game Insight valued at $550 million

The developer of mobile and social games Game Insight raised $25 million from Igor Matsanyuk's venture fund. As a result of the transaction, the company was valued at $550 million. The founder of the company, Alisa Chumachenko, said that the funds raised will be used to expand the gaming portfolio, and the company plans to consolidate its position in key markets and continue expanding into emerging markets. In 2012, the company doubled its revenue to $80 million. The company was founded in 2009.

On March 30, Alisa Chumachenko will give a lecture at the Higher School of Economics

March 20 at 18.30 aud. 902 (NRU HSE, Kirpichnaya, 33) will host an open lecture by Alisa Chumachenko, CEO and founder of Game Insight on the topic: "How the mobile future came and why the world will no longer be different."

Alisa Chumachenko is one of the most successful Internet entrepreneurs in Russia. She is also a happy wife and mother, who at one time entered the top ten sexiest female executives in the world. Everything she touches turns to gold. Marie Claire figured out how she does it.

How do people become rich and successful?

There are a million factors! I'm just thinking about writing a book about it. These are the chances seen in time, and like-minded people, and self-confidence, and the opportunities that have opened up in the market, and nights without sleep, multiplied by chance and luck. Of course, the measure of a successful businessman is the amount of money earned. But everything is relative. You may have a small cafe that makes a tiny profit. But the business model of this cafe may turn out to be so successful that the creators will eventually build a global business and, perhaps, change the world. When I founded my company (Game Insight. - approx. MC), then, of course, I wanted to make money. But it wasn't a priority. First of all, I wanted to create something of my own. I'm not interested in chasing only millions.

Where was your first job?

Circus artist on ice.

Are you seriously?

Yes, I am from a circus theatrical family, at the age of 14 I went to work in a circus and stayed there for 10 years. Then I decided that enough was enough and that I needed to change my life. And by chance I got into a team of people who were doing what I was terribly fond of then - computer games.

Why are you so drawn to games?

I have always loved online games, especially Fight Club. I liked big virtual worlds. Such games are usually played by people with a well-developed imagination - this is an opportunity to live a different life. At that moment, I was sitting at home with a baby and could afford to go online and play. I also know about what addiction to computer games is.

Do you still have it?

Not anymore. When you understand what is happening to you, it is easier to control yourself. Yes, and no time.

And how did you end up making a career?

At the age of 24, I got a job as a secretary at the IT-Territory startup (we invented and promoted online games). Then I did not really understand what my goals were and what I wanted. There was a child in her arms, money was urgently needed. At first I just carried coffee, helped. When the PR woman quit, I began to beg to be taken in her place.

Did you know anything about PR then?

Of course I didn't know! But in our country the whole country knows nothing about PR - and that's fine. I was the same PR girl, of which there are thousands. But then this business was just in its infancy - there was no market, no industry, no professionals. The whole team was just like me, enthusiastic, enthusiastic players.

Lack of experience stops someone...

And sometimes, on the contrary, it stops the presence of experience. For me, it worked to my advantage. Perhaps if I were now aware of the consequences, I would not have dared to change my life so drastically.

What was the most difficult moment?

Yes all! If you look back at the last ten years, everything was very, very hard. Every day, every decision, every meeting... But I try not to be dramatic. I also have an excellent student syndrome: already in the morning my conscience undermines that I didn’t finish it, I don’t have time, I miss it. It helps to mobilize.

What did you spend the first big money on?

I bought my parents a good apartment. When the first joys of life appeared, such as a good car, I began to transfer a lot to charity.

Do you prefer saving or spending?

I'm not Scrooge, I can't procrastinate. This is how I am in business - I prefer to reinvest everything. Money is energy, it must be put into circulation. Then they will bring new money.

Do you know what it is to be penniless?

My parents and I lived very modestly, if not worse. In Khrushchev on the outskirts. In the courtyard of the hungry 90s. You have a salary of $200, and you need $400 to get your child into kindergarten.

Aren't you afraid to be in that life again?

No need to renounce, but I think that my experience and skills are enough to make decent money. Now my priority is to give a good education to my son.

Can you afford an airplane? House on the ocean?

I can't fly a plane, but a house in California can. My category of understanding money is not numbers, but rather life stages. The first is when you stop knowing how much milk costs in the store. The second - you stop looking at the check in the supermarket - this is 1500 rubles or 10 thousand. Then you start thinking: will there be enough money for education and plus for one more house? And then - what can I do with this money useful? And this is already a big responsibility.

What feminine qualities help in business?

We are different from men, but not as much as people think. When I became vice president and the company was already huge (Astrum Online Entertainment is one of the largest resources for the production of online games in Eastern Europe, where Chumachenko left five years ago and opened her own business. - approx. MC), I went into the room for meetings with coffee and I was mistaken for a secretary. But I don't have a problem with that. I feel comfortable with hard-working, active people who always come up with something. What gender they are is secondary.

Are there many emotions in your decisions?

More than we would like. Although ten years ago there were much more. But I never had pink glasses. I, on the other hand, am paranoid. Any business is associated with huge risks. Everything can be lost at any moment. Your task is to mitigate these risks. Paranoid does not mean a coward and does not mean lazy. In general, though, I'm an optimist. I know that tomorrow will be a new day. And I constantly ask myself: what can I do today to make my life better in ten years?

How much should you trust your intuition in business?

There are studies confirming that intuition is the same accumulated experience. The brain simply processes this information in a different way. In this regard, I am one hundred percent intuitive. Although without statistics and pragmatic analysis it is difficult for me.

“IF MY PARTNERS AND EMPLOYEES ARE QUESTIONED ON THE LIE DETECTOR, THEY WILL PROBABLY SAY THAT I AM A BITCH”

Are you a bitch?

Good question. If my partners and employees are interviewed on a lie detector, they will probably say yes. That Alice knows how to inspire, but she can also catch up with fear. Perhaps I will be able to be softer, calmer in the next round of life.

You recently left the very successful Game Insight company you created yourself. Why?

Own company - it is like a child, over time it grows and its interests may no longer coincide with the interests of shareholders and founders. She can interfere with your development, and you - to her.

How long have you been married?

Ten years. But I don't like discussing my personal life.

Has your success in business affected your family?

I succeeded, among other things, because my husband always supported me. Yes, in Russia, many men are still domostroev, but we had no problems, because he is much more successful than me. He is always a few giant steps ahead. And 99% of the advice on how to build a business, I received from him. He never gave me any advice, though. I just watched him make decisions, talk on the phone. But, of course, I strain it from time to time. And, probably, it could be softer, more flexible.

Is it your merit that he is successful?

May be. We have come a long way together. Somewhere he supported me, somewhere I supported him. The most important thing in a relationship is the same way of thinking. Very rare, but you can master it. If you carefully listen to a person, hear him, tune in to his wave, you can learn to understand his way of thinking. Then you will effectively help each other.

Do you consider yourself a strong woman?

It happens that such women scare away men ...

It is hard to say. What does strong mean anyway? domineering? For example, I'm generally a baby doll. I cook well, I love to fry meatballs, do housework. I have two dogs and three cats. In theory, I should not scare. Strength is elsewhere. In flexibility, for example. The ability to control yourself. The ability to get out of bed in any condition, come to work and smile.

Does the need to make decisions and work hard deprives femininity?

I believe that working hard is good for everyone. Something all the time to create, produce. But it is important to be able to switch, relax, then you will be much more productive. I don't believe in super busy people. It's all a matter of priorities. For me, if I manage to devote at least an hour a day to cooking and then have dinner with my family, this is tantamount to a full-fledged day off.

“MONEY IS ENERGY. THEY SHOULD BE SPENDED, PUSHED INTO THE CYCLE. THEN THEY WILL BRING NEW MONEY.”

There is an opinion that every five years it is necessary to change jobs. Do you agree?

Everything is individual. Each has its own life cycles. If we talk about managers, yes, most of them start to burn out after five years on one project. In this case, it is not necessary to change jobs, sometimes it is enough to change the direction of activity. Although life is now speeding up so much that the cycles are getting shorter - two or three years.

Do you allow your son to play on the computer?

He doesn't have a computer. More precisely, there is, but it is locked in a closet. And how does he have time to sit at the computer? Lessons, extra classes, sports. By the way, he doesn't watch TV either. I'm trying to teach him to read books - conventional, not electronic. In my house in Vilnius, I have walls with shelves of books, most of which are old. I love going to bookstores.

Why do you live in Vilnius?

The environment for business and for life in general is very good there. Plus, my father is Lithuanian. At one time, we moved the head office of the company to Vilnius, especially since no more than 10% of the revenue came from Russia at that moment. We moved there six months ago. I like everything there - people, nature, location. Our house is in a pine forest, ten minutes drive from the city. Twenty meters from the windows of my bedroom there is a lake, hefty hare-hares run around my site, I constantly meet foxes, roe deer. The air, of course, cannot be compared with Moscow.

Do you feel isolated?

I am a Muscovite, and I don't have the feeling of a province, perhaps only in New York. This is snobbery, but I think any Muscovite will understand me. But at 24, it doesn’t matter to you what you breathe and what your children breathe, which you may not have yet. It is important for you to build your personal life and career. And now you are already thinking about the future, about the strategy of your future life. I am a very domestic person. And in the so-called province I catch a buzz. I no longer understand how you can live in a city and in an apartment. In general, I am not strongly attached to places, much more to people. And I'm never bored anywhere.

Would you still like children?

If it works, of course. A career is a career, it's very, very important, but children are the most magical thing that can happen to a woman. And most importantly - in this regard, she has a choice that men do not have. And I dream that when I am 70, I will be surrounded by many children and, perhaps, even grandchildren.

And this is all about her:

Alisa Chumachenko, 35, founder of Game Insight (online game production, one of the ten largest Internet companies in Russia).

• She started working at the age of 14.
• Net Worth - $90 million (number 21 in the list of 30 richest women in Russia according to Forbes).
• Children - son, 11 years old.
• Favorite brand is Chanel.
• Cosmetics - Valmont.
• Favorite cities: Paris, Vilnius, Moscow.
• Favorite accessory - designer bags.
• Hobbies: horseback riding, sailing, shopping.

Yesterday I went skiing on the slopes of the Russian Ski School in Novoperedelkino. The weather was great, frost, clear air, bright winter sun, crumbly snow. And it was very cool to go downhill after downhill, honing the ride in short arcs, but I remembered in time that a master class was scheduled for the evening Alisa Chumachenko, founder of Game Insight . Therefore, quickly getting ready and changing clothes, I went home, took a shower and arrived at the Faculty of Economics of Moscow State University just in time for the start of the performance.

The impression that Alice made on me

On the other hand, directors in interesting companies should be like that. Not old grunts surrounded by silent people in dark glasses, but normal cheerful people who are ready to communicate on an equal footing with people who, for the most part, are still students (the master class was held at Moscow State University).

History of Game Insight

Then there was a search for new platforms, an attempt to work with all known social networks, a lot of analytical work and, as a result, entering the global market for mobile applications for iOS and Android. Of all the variety of social networks, we settled on the largest player on the world stage - Facebook. Alena believes, and in my opinion quite rightly, that it makes little sense to spend resources on porting applications for dying social networks. No traffic - come on, goodbye! The exception is only a few countries, including Russia, where local social networks show a positive trend in user growth despite the entry of Facebook into the market.

After formally founding Game Insight in 2010, Alisa has already achieved impressive results in two years. Now 5 games are consistently generating micropayment monetizations of more than a million dollars each, and another game hit millionaire is on the way. It would seem that what else is needed - if you cash out everything and sell the company, then you can live comfortably on the islands in the Caribbean. But it is obvious that a boring life is not an option for Alice. Therefore, the development of the company continues according to the marketing plans and personal preferences of Game Insight directors.

Where did the company get the initial investment from? Managed to borrow money from "friends and family"; they were enough for the start, the first shot and the first failure. Then there is a small gap in the story, mentions of cash gaps and a certain Russian investment fund that provides investments for the development of new projects. And, of course, the first profit was certainly put into circulation and development.

The company has grown into a serious holding in a few years. In addition to the head offices in Moscow and San Francisco (Game Insight is "registered not in Russia, but where - it's a secret") there are 15 almost independent studios that develop the game content itself. Another 6 studios did not cope with their tasks and were "sent to the labor market". Of course, the independence of the studios is limited from above by the parent company, but as Alice said, she chooses not the current team, but the leads. Those. if the head of the studio inspires confidence and respect, they will work with him. And then he is free to independently manage the personnel, work and technological process, while keeping in mind the corporate development quality standards and checklists for the requirements for his product.

Game Insight plans for 2013 are worthy of respect. If last year closed at $90 million, this year the ambition is already at $180 million. Entering the global market, launching new products, continuous support for released content, market knowledge and strategic planning will allow them to get 30% in the worst case profit growth. And if there is a hit, there will be much more.

Conclusions from Alisa Chumachenko's speech

I made the following conclusions for myself.

If you are a student and new to the mobile games and applications business, then you can certainly find your own niche by gathering with friends in a rented apartment and making your first release in a couple of months.

If your ambitions are to oust Game Insight, which is going to increase its market share from 15% to 30% in 2013, then you will need really serious investments, which can amount to tens of millions of dollars. Because it costs $5 million to develop and maintain Paradise Island from launch to date. And the same amount was directed to marketing and promotion of the game.

If you've outgrown your rented apartment and have a game that should make a splash, Alice will be happy to help you get it published. 140,000,000 people of the audience - that's what is offered for 60% of the profit share. Of course, if your game shows the required monetization figures during the test run.

And if the game didn’t go well, but everyone in the company is eager to try again, then you can become one of the Game Insight studios. Of course, losers are not expected there, but if people show their capabilities and determination, at least a productive dialogue is possible. Alice is ready to run after especially tough guys herself, which is confirmed by her three-month "run" for a team from Novgorod.

In any case, judging by the words of Alisa Chumachenko, the release of games for mobile platforms is not a creative process, it is a serious work. Therefore, the first thing you need is to have the determination to move forward and think globally.

PS: And behind the door of the auditorium, we talked with the PR director of Game Insight