Serial IT entrepreneur, investor
Mark
Stramousov
Founder of «Profilance Group» ecosystem
Founder of leading web-based services and platforms
Founder of «Profilance Group» ecosystem
Founder of leading web-based services and platforms
Expert interviews for media and public speeches on IT business in Russia
The start of the coop partnership IT project
Stramousov
Mark
To create a high-tech world of happy individuals, where people and businesses use their time and resources efficiently.
To turn ideas into projects useful to society and businesses.
Mission
Profilance Group is an ecosystem of the future
an online infrastructure connecting
ideas and partners
investors
teams of professionals
Strong, trusty, and genuine partnership
Proprietary research and testing system for business ideas
ecosystem
Profilance Group
70+
professionals in 23 cities
3 327 000+
IT services users reached
10+
years of successful project implementation
1 000 000+
dollars invested in project launching
Professional and self-organized remote team
Teal policies and implements in business management
Stringent job requirements based on personal qualities and life accomplishments
Intrapreneurship
School and university
Specialty practical training
First job
#softwareengineer
In school, Mark took interest in STEM subjects. He got a grade of 88% in his final math exam which was the second-best result in his school. After school, he got enrolled into the Faculty of Computer Sciences of Vyatka State University, specializing in software engineering.
Mark worked on a software system for signal demodulation and decoding, upgrading and improving it. He travelled for work to military bases in the Russian Far East: the Kamchatka Peninsula, Sakhalin Island, and Vladivostok.
Software engineering was the outset of his career. 1.5 years later he quit his job, as he started building his own IT business.
During his 4th year of university studies, Mark started putting his knowledge to use, and he was offered an internship at ZAO NPP «ZNAK», the largest defense research and production enterprise manufacturing hardware and software systems for Russian intelligence services. Upon graduation, he was offered a position of a programmer.
The journey of starting a business
Mark learned how to put together business plans in an economics-focused school. Even at that time he realized that he wanted to become a businessman.
When he worked as a programmer in a high-level defense company after university, Mark was determined to come up with a business idea. Alongside his daytime job he began brainstorming and evaluating ideas for his future enterprise.
#studentdays
Mark saw an opportunity in the realm of online businesses. Unlike their offline counterparts, online businesses are easy and comparatively inexpensive to set up. He had been looking for such a business idea for about a year when he found it on a walk.
Mark would often help his classmates with math in school, and later other university students would pay for his assistance in their studies. He would do all the work himself while advertising his services on free online platforms. Referrals brought new clients. When all these facts came together, the idea of an online student assistance service was born.
#firstbusinessidea
At the beginning, Mark thought he would launch another project in a year, based on his business success story, but it was no sooner than 5 years later that his next two services came into being.
In tandem with his team Mark developed a unique startup testing and launching technique and refined their business promotion strategies. He gained invaluable experience of building professional project teams.
The initial number of customers fell short of expectations. Mark started mastering all sorts of business skills: from promotion channels to budgeting, playing all the roles in his project. Before the third month after its launch was over, the service was already in the black.
At first Mark feared that someone would steal the idea, so he wouldn’t let anyone but family members be a part of his business. Over time he tamed his fears and started building a team of professionals to grow and scale his project. Mark hired people for remote work from the start, as he wished for freedom of movement and flexible working hours.
#firstchallenges
Today the web service «Vse sdal!» dominates the market, helping over 280 thousand students with more than 700 thousand assignments every year.
Mark has founded a digital ecosystem «Profilance Group», which brings together ideas, teams, and investments. They bring projects up from idea to profit.
His portfolio already includes four IT projects, two of which are market leaders. He constantly explores new ideas and launches new projects. His aim is to enter the international market and to build a unicorn startup in the next few years.
Mark had his first web service coded and designed by a professional. The first stage took about nine months. At launch it had many bugs, and Mark personally checked the code and debugged it together with the developer.
In April 2012, the web site of «Vse sdal!» was launched.
This is how the project «Vse sdal!» came to life.
#firststartup
#projectsuccess
#newinvestments
as a teenager, he made some money on the side as a watchman, a groundskeeper, a general helper, and a street promoter.
he has been into freediving since a young age, with his personal best time holding a breath of 4 minutes and 5 seconds;
Mark is a Candidate Master of Sports in Greco-Roman wrestling;
in school, he studied in a creativity- and music-focused class;
he graduated from a music school, specializing in the balalaika (a Russian folk instrument), he performed in an orchestra and went on music tours to several regions of Russia;
from the age of 11, he has been good in managing and saving money;
#interestingfacts
Balance is the foundation of life and success
Time management and systematic planning brings productivity and balance to all spheres of life
During his fifth year of university, Mark met his future wife. They got married a week after his graduation. Lyudmila is a doctor, currently retraining in preventive medicine.
Mark and Lyudmila are raising a daughter. Wife, daughter, and parents are of top priority in Mark’s busy life. Since 2020 he has been researching his ancestry and working on his family tree.
#family
Travel is an indispensable part of Mark’s life. Freedom and flexibility of movement is the very reason he chose to build a remotely working team. Travel is not just about rest and relaxation, but it is a source of new experiences, discovery, and insight. Going overseas broadens one’s horizons and allows being a step ahead in business.
Every two months Mark visits new places and countries. His travel log already lists such countries as South Africa, Namibia, Saint Lucia, Peru, Mauritius, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Iceland, and the USA among others.
#travel
In 2022, he visited Saudi Arabia and Dubai. The trip was meant to push his inner limits and remove boundaries between him and foreign markets;
In 2021, he went on an extensive business trip to Silicon Valley, delving into the working environment of such world-renowned companies as Google, Netflix, and others;
In 2023, he participated in an expedition to India, where he learned about modern trends in the IT industry and unicorn companies’ business strategies.
Constant growth is a fundamental part of Mark’s professional life. He regularly undergoes training courses from leading industry experts in top business schools in Russia. Then he puts his new knowledge into practice with his team.
#personalgrowth
Mark values his social environment and makes time for friendly get-togethers and meetings of minds. The latter helps him keep abreast with new trends and developments on the market.
#businesscommunity
Mark has been a member of «Club 500», a prestige Russian business club, from its very founding. He is also a member of «Etalon» business club. There he found friends and an interesting resource environment which allows him to set and accomplish big goals.
In the last few years Mark has been exploring biohacking and keeping a special balanced diet. Regular workouts, stretching and yoga sessions also contribute to his healthy lifestyle. Such habits fill his life with energy, well-being, and help convert his ideas into reality.
#health
Education
Vyatka State University, Faculty of Computer Sciences, software engineering
Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO, SKOLKOVO Practicum
ANTIMBA
Educational programme for top managers and owners of mid-cap and large businesses
Educational programme for top managers and owners of mid-cap and large businesses
Performia, staff recruitment and management
Negotiations training by Igor Ryzov, negotiations consultant
The school of strategic leadership
The course of lessons to learn highly effective and deep management without total control and punishments. From Bureaucracy to Clientocracy.
Time management
Dubai and Saudi Arabia, Skolkovo’s Global-Shift
The USA, Silicon Valley
India, Skolkovo’s Global-Shift
Business expeditions
#parentsbusiness
#relocation
#familystory
#talents
Biography
Mark was born on 4 October 1986 to an average Russian family in Kirov. His father was a bus driver, however he was very well-read. He taught Mark to play intellectual games and cultivated his love for learning. His mother was a rate fixer working at a factory until it shut down in 1990, when she became a bus conductor in Mark’s father’s bus.
Mark grew up with a little brother, 1.5 years younger than him. From his childhood, he was always self-sufficient. On his first day at school, he told his mother that she did not need to accompany him, that he would be on his own from that moment. He never asked for help with his homework, did well in school and graduated with excellence.
Mark has always had a head for exact sciences. However, his music-oriented class has cultivated creativity and versatile personality in him. Besides, systematic sport practice has laid the foundation for his resolute qualities and leadership development.
A few years later Mark’s parents decided to go into trade. They brought goods from Moscow and sold them in small towns. At first their business went well and they opened a small shop, but later it failed to meet their expectations and yielded serious losses. Eventually Mark took their financial problems upon himself and solved them.
Mark lived in Kirov until he turned 30, then he moved to Saint Petersburg with his spouse and daughter, where he has been living up to the present day.
Film, Marvel Cinematic Universe, «Smallville»
City, Saint Petersburg
Celebrity, Elon Musk
Fruit, banana
Social media, VK
Dish, chocolate-covered raisins
Season, summer
Colour, leopard
Book, Boris Akunin's Erast Fandorin series
Quiz
#favourites