Architecture of Silence: Why It Is Useless to Search 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 scent 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 quietly 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 a discount on synthetic socks pops up, and you have called this «progress» in all seriousness.

You have forgotten how to distinguish scale from bustle.

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 tome of 68 pages — with a complete structure, calculations and formulas.

He leafed through it for a long time, chuckled in bewilderment, 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 do not intend to reveal them until the contract is signed."

And then this gentleman did what you, gentlemen investors, always do when confronted with a scale you are unable to control. He got scared. He awkwardly averted his eyes and muttered:
— "I thought you were joking... You know, you are not yet ready for big money. Go work for my friend, learn about life, and then, perhaps, we will return to this conversation."

I closed the folder and told him what I would remember for the rest of my life:
"I am not going to spend my life on other people's friends. But remember this day: you refused me investment, and so I will build my company myself — without taking a single cent from anyone.".

Years passed.

MANIFESTO OF THE HOUSE

"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, and no cheap tickets to the mass market.

✦  And most importantly: here, entry is not sold for money.

Ngiyazi ukuthi impendulo yokuqala yemali endala ihlala iyisifiso sokuthenga noma sokuphula lokho okungangeni ohlelweni lwayo lwezixhumanisi.

Ngizonikhulula kuleli phutha elibulalayo: ningaze nizame.

Ukuhamba ngokungafanele ngokumelene nohlelo olwakhiwe ngamandla omuntu siqu ahluphekile, izibalo ezingenasici kanye nolwazi oluphelele lwemvelo yomuntu — lokhu kuyibhizinisi elinesibalo esingalungile esiqinisekisiwe. Nizosebenzisa izigidi zenu kubameli, kucwaningo, emizamweni yokucindezela, futhi ekugcineni nizosala nime emasangweni avaliwe niphethe ifolda yemibiko engasizi. Njengoba nje leso sikhulu sotshalomali sahlala nemali yaso engaqinisekile.

Angisona isilwane. Izilwane ziyaxokozela futhi zikhafule amazinyo ngoba zesaba ukusala zilambile. Ngibuka umsindo wenu ngokumomotheka okulula, kokubekezelela kukamama wekhaya ovele wenza ukuhleleka okuphelele endlini yakhe.

Uma umkhiqizo wenu, indawo yenu yokukhiqiza noma ihhovisi lenu lomndeni ngelinye ilanga likhatheka ukushona emgodini womhlaba wedijithali — niyazi ukuthi iknobho yesicelo sokuvunywa ikuphi. Sizosicubungula ngesizotha isicelo senu. Mhlawumbe sizophendula.

Kodwa okwamanje — gcina izinzwa zabahlaziyi benu. Sibanakekele futhi sahunyushela le manifesti ezilimini eziyi-180, ukuze ngamunye wenu afunde lokhu kumomotheka ngolimi lwakhe lwendabuko.

Ngenhlonipho engaguquki ngesikhathi senu esichithiwe,

Olha Lysenkova (Dronova)

Founder & Creative Director of VIA AD ME