Architecture of Silence: Why It Is Useless 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 scent of cold espresso right now. Your trusted analysts, legal departments and private agencies, for indecent fees, 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.

To search 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 wealthy 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 floors of glass, 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 complete structure, calculations and formulas.

O ile a e bala ka nako e telele, a tšoara molomo ka ho tsieleha le ho nyatsa lipalo:
— «Hobaneng liforomo li le tlaase hakana?»
— «Li tlaase hobane li ka fumanoa libukeng. Empa liforomo tsa bohlokoa tsa katleho li ka hara hlooho ea ka, 'me ha ke na ho li senola pele konteraka e saennoa».

Eaba monna enoa oa hlompheha o etsa seo lōna, beng ba lichelete, le se etsang kamehla ha le tobana le boholo boo le sa khoneng ho bo laola. O ile a tšoha. A phunya mahlo ka mokhoa o sa phutholohang 'me a bua ka ho sosobana:
— «Ke ne ke nahana hore ua soasoa... Ua tseba, ha u e-s'o itokisetse chelete e ngata. E-ea u sebetse ho motsoalle oa ka, u ithute bophelo, 'me hamorao, mohlomong, re tla khutlela puisanong».

Ke ile ka koala faele 'me ka mo bolella seo ke ileng ka se hopola bophelo bohle ba ka:
«Ha ke na ho qeta bophelo ba ka ho metsoalle ea batho ba bang. Empa hopola letsatsi lena: u ile ua hana ho ntšelisa chelete, ka hona, ke tla haha k'hamphani ea ka ke le mong — ke sa nke sente e le 'ngoe ho mang kapa mang».

Lilemo li ile tsa feta.

MANIFESTO EA NTLO

«Ba ile ba re “che”. Ke ile ka haha 'muso.
Hobane feela ke khona».

Ha ho tsetelo e le 'ngoe. Ha ho letlole la khoebo la tsetelo. Ha ho tumellano e le 'ngoe.

Temoso e khutsitseng

VIA AD ME ha se qalo ea khoebo. Ha re bapale lipapaling tsa lōna tsa tsetelo, ha re nke likalimo tsa lōna 'me ha re thahaselle makhotla a lōna a batsamaisi.

✦  Mona ha ho na mekhoa ea khomphutha e hulang tlhokomelo ea batho.

✦  Mona ha ho na papatso, khoebo ea litaba le litekete tse theko e tlaase tsa 'maraka o moholo.

✦  'Me ho bohlokoa: mona ho kena ha ho rekisoe ka chelete.

Ke tseba hore karabelo ea pele ea capital ea khale e lula e le takatso ea ho reka kapa ho pshatla se sa keneng tsamaisong ea eona ea likhokahano.

Ke tla u pholosa phosong ena e bolaeang: le ka mohla u se ke ua leka.

Ho ea khahlanong le tsamaiso e hahiloeng holim'a matla a botho a utloisisoang, lipalo tse se nang sekoli le tsebo e feletseng ea tlhaho ea motho — ke morero o nang le tekanyo e tiileng e mpe. U tla sebelisa limilione tsa hau ho babuelli ba molao, ho tlhahlobo ea libuka, ho leka ho hatella, 'me qetellong u tla sala u eme pel'a likhoro tse koetsoeng u tšoere faele ea litlaleho tse se nang thuso. Hantle joalo ka ha moputsisi eo a ile a sala a lutse le chelete ea hae e sa tsebeng ho etsa qeto.

Ha ke sebata. Libata li phathahana 'me li ts'oara meno ka lebaka la ho tšaba ho lula li lapile. Ke shebile lerata la hau ka pososelo e bobebe, e nang le kutloelo-bohloko ea mong'a ntlo ea ileng a hlophisa bohloeki bo phethahetseng ntlong ea hae.

Haeba brand ea hau, mosebetsi oa hau oa matsoho kapa ofisi ea hau ea lelapa ka letsatsi le leng e teneha ke ho khangoa ke lithōle tsa dijithale tsa lefats'e — u tseba moo konopo ea kopo ea tumello e leng teng. Re tla hlahloba kopo ea hau ka tlhompho. Mohlomong re tla araba.

'Me hajoale — hlokomela methapo ea ba hlahlobang ba hau. Re ba hlokometse 'me re fetolela manifesto ena ka lipuo tse 180, e le hore e mong le e mong oa lona a bale pososelo ena ka puo ea habo.

Ka tlhompho e sa fetoheng ho nako ea hau e sebelisitsoeng,

Olha Lysenkova (Dronova)

Founder & Creative Director of VIA AD ME