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

✦  ⚜  ✦

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

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

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 break down the name Olha Lysenkova (Dronova) into 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 who calmly make jam in the suburbs, take their children to school, or give 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 patronizing 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 investing».
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 a full structure, calculations, and formulas.

Ele folheou-o longamente, riu de forma desconcertada e criticou os cálculos:
— «Por que as fórmulas são tão básicas?»
— «Básicas — porque podem ser encontradas nos manuais. Mas as fórmulas-chave do sucesso estão na minha cabeça, e não pretendo revelá-las antes da assinatura do contrato».

E então esse cavalheiro fez o que vocês, senhores investidores, fazem sempre que se deparam com uma dimensão que não conseguem controlar. Ele teve medo. Desviou o olhar com embaraço e murmurou:
— «Pensei que estivesses a brincar... Sabes, ainda não estás pronta para grandes quantias. Vai trabalhar com um amigo meu, aprende a vida, e depois, talvez, voltemos à conversa».

Fechei a pasta e disse-lhe o que guardei para toda a vida:
«Não pretendo gastar a minha vida com amigos alheios. Mas memoriza este dia: recusaste-me o investimento, e por isso construirei a minha empresa sozinha — sem aceitar um único cêntimo de ninguém».

Passaram-se anos.

MANIFESTO DA CASA

«Eles disseram “não”. Eu construí um império.
Simplesmente porque posso».

Nem um único investimento. Nem um único fundo de capital de risco. Nem um único compromisso.

Um aviso silencioso

VIA AD ME não é uma startup. Não jogamos os vossos ciclos de investimento, não aceitamos os vossos empréstimos e não nos interessam os vossos conselhos de administração.

✦  Aqui não há algoritmos que sugam a atenção humana.

✦  Aqui não há publicidade, infoprodutos nem bilhetes baratos para o mercado de massas.

✦  E o mais importante: aqui a entrada não se vende por dinheiro.

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 will spare you this fatal mistake: do not even try.

To go 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 put her own house in perfect order.

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