Sramana: How did you grow? I am assuming that you were selling multitenant infrastructure to these hosting companies? Serguei Beloussov: What we initially started building was very ambitious. We wanted to build the storage, operating system, system management, automation, and services. This would enable us to build applications in the ASP mode. That is a
Sramana: What did you do once you realized that your product design and re-licensing business would not scale? Serguei Beloussov: We then looking at venture engineering. We would evaluate ideas and supply the engineering talent to develop the software. We got involved with the e-economy, and [the venture] was built by 10 guys from Austin,
Sramana: When you established an ERP software company [for] Asia, what size of clients did you target? Serguei Beloussov: We sold to companies of all sizes. We also established a partner network. We got involved into customization for localized requirements. At the same time I established a side project where we developed, from scratch, a
Sramana: It sounds like you started a series of smaller companies across the IT space, a lot of them at the same time or very close to each other. It also sounds like a lot of these companies were established as a matter of circumstance rather than detailed planning. Is that a fair assessment? Serguei
Sramana: What did you do after spending a summer in the remote regions of Russia selling various goods? Serguei Beloussov: When I returned to Moscow, I occupied a small room in an office space that my friends gave me. I had done some computer networking and telephone network installations for them, and in exchange they
Sramana: When you finished your education, what were your next steps? Did you stay in Russia? Serguei Beloussov: I actually did not finish that program in a normal way. I completed four years and was on my summer break when, in June and July of 1992, I went through some serious events that resulted in
Serguei is a founder Parallels, where he serves as the chief architect and the executive chairman of the board. Prior to his current positions he also served as the CEO of Parallels. Under Beloussov’s leadership, Parallels grew to profitability and became a market leader in desktop virtualization, OS containers, and control panel offerings. Beloussov holds
Sramana: I like your financing structure and the fact that you are using venture debt. The venture requirements and exits are not so outlandish. If you raise $50 million or $60 million dollars, then the exit requirements are commensurately higher. A $12 million investment is a much more manageable situation. Greg Tseng: I have always