How to build an international holding company, stay curious, and embrace chaos
Andrey Rumyantsev
International entrepreneur, founder of ABC Group
In his talk at the Think Wide Worldwide conference, the founder of ABC Group shares his experience building a diversified company with projects in over 25 countries
He speaks about scaling strategies, managing through chaos, testing hypotheses before launching a product, and the core principles that enable sustainable business growth regardless of external conditions
He speaks about scaling strategies, managing through chaos, testing hypotheses before launching a product, and the core principles that enable sustainable business growth regardless of external conditions
I was born in Minsk, lived in different countries, and from a young age, I was searching for a universal formula: how to live long and happily, work as little as possible, and earn as much as possible. My journey as an entrepreneur has been continuous. I don’t divide it into “before” and “after” — it’s been a single movement, filled with failures, insights, breakthroughs, and the long process of building a resilient system.
The most dramatic breakthrough happened in 2007. I was 25 when I launched a company called Russian Billing. We made money on microtransactions — paid SMS services in Russia. It was a highly scalable business, and at one point, I was making $30,000–35,000 a week. It was an incredible experience — a life lesson and a money lesson. I was able to build capital — but then the downturns began.
To build ABC Group, I had to put together all the missing pieces of myself — personally, professionally, and strategically. Together with my partner Stas Polonsky, we found ourselves at one point in €1.2 million of personal debt — owed to friends, acquaintances, and colleagues. We had no idea how long it would take, but we were ready to go all the way. That experience taught me the most important lesson: if you can’t live in chaos, you’re not an entrepreneur
The most dramatic breakthrough happened in 2007. I was 25 when I launched a company called Russian Billing. We made money on microtransactions — paid SMS services in Russia. It was a highly scalable business, and at one point, I was making $30,000–35,000 a week. It was an incredible experience — a life lesson and a money lesson. I was able to build capital — but then the downturns began.
To build ABC Group, I had to put together all the missing pieces of myself — personally, professionally, and strategically. Together with my partner Stas Polonsky, we found ourselves at one point in €1.2 million of personal debt — owed to friends, acquaintances, and colleagues. We had no idea how long it would take, but we were ready to go all the way. That experience taught me the most important lesson: if you can’t live in chaos, you’re not an entrepreneur
My business education, including all the mistakes, cost around $3 million.
The key lesson: don’t spend money until the hypothesis is validated
The key lesson: don’t spend money until the hypothesis is validated
Fake Door Test and hypothesis-driven culture
What is a fake door test? You don’t have a product yet — but you build a landing page as if you do, and drive traffic to it. People click, sign up, even pay — and you get to see whether there’s real interest. You can always refund money for a service you didn’t provide, but the data stays with you. It’s a low-cost entry into reality.
On average, we test 10–20 landing pages per week and launch 1–2 new hypotheses. I’m not involved in day-to-day operations — that’s handled by the board of directors. My role is to come up with directions and launch ideas. That’s startup thinking. We don’t like lazy, overfunded projects. We love creating profit from scratch
Why expand into international business?
The obvious answer is money. The global market offers more opportunities than any single country. But if you look deeper, the real meaning lies in growth, complexity, diversification, and purpose.
International business forces you to solve problems that have never existed in your life before — from hiring to jurisdictions to managing cash flow. But it’s precisely these challenges that shape strategic thinking, neuroplasticity, and entrepreneurial scale.
You start thinking not locally, but globally. Not about a city or a country — but about people, values, supply chains, and cross-market practices. Experience gained in the CIS between 2015 and 2020 can be successfully applied in Africa in 2025. It’s a kind of cross-market copy-paste that unlocks limitless possibilities.
The key advantage is diversification. If one country faces problems, businesses in others keep running. That’s both resilience and freedom
How to work with the local context?
I have deep respect for context. Before launching a project in another country, I study everything — from the local mindset to the rules of politeness. Fundamental principles of respect work everywhere. But to truly understand a culture, you need to be among the locals.
I try to find people who deeply understand the country, spend time with them, and absorb their behavior patterns. That’s the best way to learn. After a couple of months, you’re already adapted.
It’s also crucial to pay attention to details. For example, when I meet someone from Morocco, I say, “I haven’t been to your country, but I’ve heard so much about it. Casablanca — it’s pure romance, isn’t it?” People appreciate attention to their culture. And they open up.
Or the opposite example: some of my colleagues once brought jamón and wine as a gift to a Muslim partner in Kazakhstan. The contract was immediately canceled
Life as a hypothesis
I’m an idealist. I want a perfect life. A perfect company. A perfect day.
To achieve that, you have to constantly split-test — ideas, hypotheses, approaches. Adjust, rebuild, discard, improve — until it’s exactly the way you want it. Because a good life is when you wake up excited for the day and go to bed satisfied with how you lived it.
Keep an open mind, childlike curiosity, and a sense of romance. These are the key qualities that lead an entrepreneur to their point B. And may every split-test you run be a step in that direction
What is a fake door test? You don’t have a product yet — but you build a landing page as if you do, and drive traffic to it. People click, sign up, even pay — and you get to see whether there’s real interest. You can always refund money for a service you didn’t provide, but the data stays with you. It’s a low-cost entry into reality.
On average, we test 10–20 landing pages per week and launch 1–2 new hypotheses. I’m not involved in day-to-day operations — that’s handled by the board of directors. My role is to come up with directions and launch ideas. That’s startup thinking. We don’t like lazy, overfunded projects. We love creating profit from scratch
Why expand into international business?
The obvious answer is money. The global market offers more opportunities than any single country. But if you look deeper, the real meaning lies in growth, complexity, diversification, and purpose.
International business forces you to solve problems that have never existed in your life before — from hiring to jurisdictions to managing cash flow. But it’s precisely these challenges that shape strategic thinking, neuroplasticity, and entrepreneurial scale.
You start thinking not locally, but globally. Not about a city or a country — but about people, values, supply chains, and cross-market practices. Experience gained in the CIS between 2015 and 2020 can be successfully applied in Africa in 2025. It’s a kind of cross-market copy-paste that unlocks limitless possibilities.
The key advantage is diversification. If one country faces problems, businesses in others keep running. That’s both resilience and freedom
How to work with the local context?
I have deep respect for context. Before launching a project in another country, I study everything — from the local mindset to the rules of politeness. Fundamental principles of respect work everywhere. But to truly understand a culture, you need to be among the locals.
I try to find people who deeply understand the country, spend time with them, and absorb their behavior patterns. That’s the best way to learn. After a couple of months, you’re already adapted.
It’s also crucial to pay attention to details. For example, when I meet someone from Morocco, I say, “I haven’t been to your country, but I’ve heard so much about it. Casablanca — it’s pure romance, isn’t it?” People appreciate attention to their culture. And they open up.
Or the opposite example: some of my colleagues once brought jamón and wine as a gift to a Muslim partner in Kazakhstan. The contract was immediately canceled
Life as a hypothesis
I’m an idealist. I want a perfect life. A perfect company. A perfect day.
To achieve that, you have to constantly split-test — ideas, hypotheses, approaches. Adjust, rebuild, discard, improve — until it’s exactly the way you want it. Because a good life is when you wake up excited for the day and go to bed satisfied with how you lived it.
Keep an open mind, childlike curiosity, and a sense of romance. These are the key qualities that lead an entrepreneur to their point B. And may every split-test you run be a step in that direction
How is ABC Group structured?
Currently, our team has about 80 people. We have seven divisions: five operating businesses and two startups. ABC is a living organism built on the principle of full autonomy. We’re not dependent on external platforms; everything is done in-house — from technology to marketing.
Our structure is a holding company. At the strategic level, it’s just Stas and me. Below us is the board of directors, which turns ideas into strategy. Further down are the operational heads and team leads. We also have cross-functional groups assembled for specific tasks. This setup allows us to stay flexible and agile.
I’m not looking for subordinates. I’m a humanist. I identify more with a cat than a dog. You can’t keep a cat on a leash — but if you create the right environment, it will come to you on its own. The same goes for talent: people thrive in freedom, not under pressure.
We don’t have total control, but we focus on results and money. About 70% of the team are result-driven. Newcomers with a different mindset simply don’t fit in — the system itself rejects them
Key projects:
Our structure is a holding company. At the strategic level, it’s just Stas and me. Below us is the board of directors, which turns ideas into strategy. Further down are the operational heads and team leads. We also have cross-functional groups assembled for specific tasks. This setup allows us to stay flexible and agile.
I’m not looking for subordinates. I’m a humanist. I identify more with a cat than a dog. You can’t keep a cat on a leash — but if you create the right environment, it will come to you on its own. The same goes for talent: people thrive in freedom, not under pressure.
We don’t have total control, but we focus on results and money. About 70% of the team are result-driven. Newcomers with a different mindset simply don’t fit in — the system itself rejects them
Key projects:
- ABC Mobile — monetization of mobile content (audio horoscopes, calls to premium numbers) in 25+ countries.
- Mobstra — an internal partner SaaS platform managing traffic and monetization.
- IDPro — a new professional social network for finding trusted contacts (launch pricing: $1/month or $10/year).
- AndreyR — an educational project. I’ve broken life down into 5 levels and 15,000 parameters, creating roadmaps from “where you are” to “where you want to be.”
- Smart HR Agency — an international recruitment agency operating in Russian, English, and Spanish.
- Health Tracker — a wearable bracelet for monitoring body condition. I collect trackers, rings, watches — and aim to build the best one.
- ABCaller — a startup creating digital employees powered by neural networks