I am starting a company

I spent three and a half years working at Retro. Today, Dobby is free. Today, we are starting a company. It’s not the point though.

Three days ago I was at the wedding of my friends in London. My husband’s and my moms could join us there too. It was a challenge to get visas for them, but we somehow managed it. We were dancing at the wedding to the mix of old Russian and Ukrainian pop songs, and captivated the local British bartenders by our loud, stereotypical folk dancing with lots of jumping, squatting and stomping. Our floor and the ceiling underneath were trembling so hard that my ankles cramped the day after.

I don’t think any of that would have happened, had I not started organizing a queer community in my university twelve years ago. I remember it was terrifying. Why would one even want to risk and do something like that in Russia? “Gay propaganda” had already been banned by then. Eventually, that’s how I met my husband. That’s how I met more than half of the people attending the wedding. Now, we are scattered across Europe and the rest of the globe. A realization struck me in the middle of that evening: we were all here, free and happy, having successfully escaped the risks of getting sentenced to 10+ years in Russia for “lgbt extremism” or another 10+ years for some other form of anti-war dissidence and political disobedience, or — the cherry on top — getting drafted to the war in Ukraine — because love outweighed fear twelve years ago. It did feel surreal to be there at that Russian gay “extremist” wedding in London. It was one of the happiest moments of my life in recent years. I was surrounded by people I love — my family and friends.

I’ve been asked multiple times to share the anti-aging pill that I’ve been working on as soon as it’s ready. In fact, I secured my first “angel investor” commitment from one of these people long before I was ready to ask for it. The same “angel” supported me twelve years ago when I was scared, alone, and had started to build something I felt was necessary. Maybe, it’s not a coincidence.

I want to work alongside people who care. I want to seek investments from people who care. When people care, there are no dumb excuses, no borders. Bureaucracy, visa and travel restrictions, crazy laws and the risks of unfair persecution don’t matter. They care about me and the work I’m doing. They care, they love — and it is reciprocal.

The most critical resources are care and love: they should be the motivation behind our work, not money or shareholder value.

I have a co-founder. I know that he cares, and he knows I do. We have known each other for over six years, and we worked together before and have a success story from back then. We cannot work half-heartedly, when we care. We understand that the company we are building — and all the potential therapies it will produce — will directly help our parents and close ones to not die in pain, and live happier and longer.

It’s time to take risks. We’ll do it right, and it’ll turn out right.

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