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 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 fees, 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 jewelry 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 daytime work. I placed before him a 68-page tome — with a full structure, calculations and formulas.

Il le feuilleta longuement, eut un ricanement perplexe et chipota sur les calculs :
— « Pourquoi des formules aussi basiques ? »
— « Basiques parce qu'on les trouve dans les manuels. Mais les formules clés du succès reposent dans ma tête, et je n'ai pas l'intention de les révéler avant la signature du contrat. »

Et alors ce gentleman fit ce que vous faites toujours, gentlemen investisseurs, lorsque vous vous heurtez à une envergure que vous ne pouvez contrôler. Il eut peur. Il détourna gauchement les yeux et lâcha :
— « Je croyais que tu plaisantais... Tu sais, tu n'es pas encore prête pour les grosses sommes. Va travailler chez mon ami, apprends la vie, et ensuite, peut-être, nous reprendrons la conversation. »

Je refermai le dossier et lui dis ce que j'ai retenu toute ma vie :
« Je n'ai pas l'intention de consacrer ma vie aux amis des autres. Mais souviens-toi de ce jour : tu m'as refusé l'investissement, et donc je bâtirai ma maison moi-même — sans avoir pris à quiconque un seul centime. ».

Les années passèrent.

MANIFESTE DE LA MAISON

« Ils ont dit “non”. J'ai bâti un empire.
Simplement parce que je le peux. »

Aucun investissement. Aucun fonds de capital-risque. Aucun compromis.

Un avertissement discret

VIA AD ME n'est pas une start-up. Nous ne jouons pas à vos tours de table, nous ne prenons pas vos prêts et vos conseils d'administration ne nous intéressent pas.

✦  Ici, point d'algorithmes qui pompent l'attention humaine.

✦  Ici, point de publicité, d'infobusiness ni de billets à bas prix vers le marché de masse.

✦  Et surtout : ici, l'entrée ne s'achète pas avec de l'argent.

I know that the first reaction of old capital is always the desire either to buy or to break whatever 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 irresolute 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 lady of the house who has simply put her own home into perfect order.

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 found. 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)

Fondador & Diretor Creativo de VIA AD ME