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 occupants argue over the share price».

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 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 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 up pops 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 an 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 a full structure, calculations and formulas.

Ɔde hwɛɛ no bere tenten, ɔsɔɔ n'ani hwɛɛ na ɔkyerɛɛ sɛ nkontaabu no nyɛ nokware:
— «Adɛn nti na formulas no yɛ nea ɛwɔ ntoasoɔ mu?»
— «Ɛyɛ nea ɛwɔ ntoasoɔ mu — efisɛ wobɛtumi ahunu wɔ nwoma mu. Nanso nkɔsoɔ formulas titire no wɔ me tirim, na menni adwene sɛ mɛda no adi ansa na yɛadi apam no so».

Na saa bere no, saa ɔbarima yi yɛɛ nea mo, adetɔfoɔ mpanimfoɔ, yɛ daa nyinaa bere a mohyia asɛdeɛ a mode ntumi nkɔ soɔ. Ɔsuroe. Ɔde aniwuoɔ kyerɛɛ n'ani fɔm na ɔkaa sɛ:
— «Me susuu sɛ woredi fɛw... Wonim, wonnyaa sika kɛseɛ ho. Kɔ yɛ adwuma wɔ me adamfo no nkyɛn, sua asetena, na ekyiri, ebia yɛbɛsan akɔ so».

Mekyeree folda no na mekaa nea mekaeɛ wɔ me nkwa nyinaa:
«Mɛnyɛ me nkwa nyinaa sɛ mɛyɛ adwuma wɔ afoforɔ adamfo nkyɛn. Nanso kae da yi: w'amma me sika, enti mɛkyekye me company no ara — mennya sika biara firi obiara nkyɛn».

Mfeɛ bebree twaa mu.

MANIFESTO A ƐWƆ FI NO MU

«Wɔkaa sɛ “aane”. Mekyekyee ahemman.
Ɛfiri sɛ metumi nko ara».

Sika biara. Venture fund biara. Ntam biara.

Kɔkɔbɔ a ɛyɛ komm

VIA AD ME nyɛ startup. Yɛnni mo sika rounds mu, yɛnnya mo loans, na yɛnni mo board of directors ho anigyeɛ.

✦  Ha nni algorithms a ɛtwe nnipa adwene.

✦  Ha nni advertisement, infobusiness ne tickets a ɛyɛ foɔ wɔ mass-market mu.

✦  Na nea ɛho hia: ha, wɔntɔn kwan a wɔfa so wura mu sika.

Mekae no sɛ yɛnim sɛ adekorɔ dadaa nyinaa ahyɛse nneyɛe yɛ pɛ a wɔpɛ sɛ wɔtɔ anaasɛ wɔbubu nea ɛnkɔ ne nhyehyɛe mu.

Mɛyi mo afi mfomso a ɛyɛ owu yi mu: munnsɔ mmɔ ho kwan mpo.

Sɛ wubɛko atia nhyehyɛe a wɔde ankonam ahoɔden a wɔahwɛ mu, akontaabu a emu da hɔ, ne nnipa su ho nimdeɛ a ɛdɔɔso na esi — ɛyɛ adwuma a ne nyinaa bɛba awu. Wobɛsɛe wo ɔpepem no wɔ mmara ho adwumayɛfo, akontaabu hwɛ, ne sɛ wɔbɛhyɛ so, na awiei no wubɛgyina abɔntene a wɔato mu a woakura nsɛm a ɛnyɛ mfaso. Sɛnea saa adetɔfo no te hɔ ne ne sika a ɛnyɛ nnam no.

Menyɛ aboa a ɔwe nam. Aboa a wɔwe nam yɛ ntɛmntɛm na wɔde wɔn se di dwuma, efisɛ wosuro sɛ ɛkɔm bɛkum wɔn. Mehwɛ mo nnyegyeeɛ no na mɛserew kakra, sɛ ɔbea a ɔwɔ fie a wate ne fie ho nhyehyɛeɛ no.

Sɛ wo brand, wo adwumayɛbea, anaa wo abusua ɔfis da bi ɛyɛ wo ya sɛ wɔbɛkɔ mu wɔ wiase digital nwura mu — wonim baabi a akwamma a wɔde bɛtoa akwanya no wɔ. Yɛbɛhwɛ mo abisade no yie. Ebia yɛbɛbua mpo.

Na seesei — hwɛ mo analysts ntini so yie. Yɛahwɛ wɔn so na yɛakyerɛ saa manifesto yi ase kɔ 180 kasa mu, sɛnea mo mu biara bɛkenkan saa serew yi wɔ ne kasa mu.

Ne nidi a ɛnsakra wɔ mo berɛ a moahwere no ho,

Olha Lysenkova (Dronova)

Founder & Creative Director of VIA AD ME