Architecture of Silence: Why It Is Useless for You to Look for Us

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«True power never knocks on closed doors. It simply changes the locks throughout the entire building while the inhabitants argue over the share price».

I know the expression on your face as you read these lines.

In your office on Place Vendôme, in Zurich or on Sand Hill Road, there is surely a faint smell of cold espresso right now. Your trusted analysts, legal departments and private agencies, for indecent cheques, have already spent a sleepless night trying to reduce the name Olha Lysenkova (Dronova) to the usual formulas: Whose trust is this? Which fund stands behind the scenes? Who is this mysterious Dronov, and in which offshore havens should one look for traces of the syndicate?

Put down the phone, gentlemen. Drink some water. You will find nothing.

Searching for a woman with a double surname through the closed databases of the old world is an entertaining pursuit, but an extremely ruinous one for your budget. You will find hundreds of women quietly making jam in the suburbs, taking children to school or giving themselves an impeccable manicure. But the one who overturned your chessboard, you will not find on any Forbes list. Because lists of rich people are a vanity fair for those who need to prove their worth to other people's banks.

A lesson for old conglomerates and «generous investors»

For too long you have lived in the illusion that the world belongs to those with more glass floors, longer compliance chains and louder marketing departments. You have herded people into your digital reservations, where between a condolence photograph and a painting from the Louvre pops up a discount on synthetic socks, and you have called this «progress» in all seriousness.

You have forgotten how to distinguish scale from fuss.

Once, a wealthy man with a patronising smile asked me what gift I would like to receive. Men of your circle usually expect predictable feminine whims: another handbag, a piece of jewellery or a new phone to replace a broken one.
I looked at him and calmly replied: «I want to found my own company».

He smirked condescendingly: «Write a business plan, and I will consider the investment».
I wrote it for two weeks. At night, without any help, after exhausting days of work. I placed before him a 68-page tome — with the full structure, calculations and formulas.

He leafed through it for a long while, gave a bewildered chuckle, and quibbled over the calculations:
— «And why are the formulas so basic?»
— «Basic — because they can be found in textbooks. But the key formulas of success lie in my head, and I have no intention of revealing them before the contract is signed».

And then this gentleman did what you, gentlemen investors, always do when confronted with a scale you cannot control. He took fright. He awkwardly averted his eyes and muttered:
— «I thought you were joking... You know, you're not ready for big money yet. Go work for a friend of mine, learn a thing or two about life, and then, perhaps, we'll return to this conversation».

I closed the folder and told him what I would remember for the rest of my life:
«I have no intention of spending my life on other people's friends. But mark this day: you refused to invest in me, and so I shall build my company myself — without taking a single cent from anyone».

Years passed.

MANIFESTO

«They said “no”. I built an empire.
Simply because I can».

Not a single investment. Not a single venture fund. Not a single compromise.

A Quiet Warning

VIA AD ME is not a startup. We do not play your investment rounds, we do not take your loans, and your boards of directors do not interest us.

✦  There are no algorithms here draining human attention.

✦  There is no advertising here, no info-business, no cheap tickets to the mass market.

✦  And above all: here, entry is not sold for money.

I know that the first reaction of old capital is always the desire either to buy or to break what does not fit into its coordinate system.

I shall spare you this fatal mistake: do not even try.

To charge headlong against a system built on hard-won personal strength, impeccable mathematics and absolute knowledge of human nature is an enterprise with a guaranteed negative balance. You will spend your millions on lawyers, on audits, on attempts at pressure, and in the end you will remain standing at closed gates with a folder of useless reports. Just as that investor remained sitting with his indecisive money.

I am not a predator. Predators fuss and bare their teeth because they fear remaining hungry. I look upon your noise with the light, condescending smile of a hostess who has simply brought perfect order to her own house.

If your brand, your manufactory or your family office should one day tire of drowning in the global digital dump — you know where the button for requesting accreditation is. We shall politely consider your request. Perhaps we shall even reply.

And for now — spare the nerves of your analysts. We have taken care of them and translated this manifesto into 180 languages, so that each of you may read this smile in your native tongue.

With unchanging respect for your wasted time,

Olha Lysenkova (Dronova)

Founder & Creative Director of VIA AD ME