It is believed that everyone can earn a living. That's just the point not only in the desire to do this, but also in the amount that can be obtained from the results of the work done. And most importantly, to be at the right time and in the right place. This is exactly what one of the very first Russian entrepreneurs, Artem Tarasov, did. What kind of person is this? And how did he go to the intended goal?
Subtleties of the biography of a billionaire: childhood
The future billionaire Artem Mikhailovich was born, whose surname has Armenian roots, in early July 1950 in the capital of Russia. His father was a photojournalist, and his mother was a doctor of sciences. Due to the tight work schedule of one of the parents, the family of little Tarasov was often forced to move. For example, a young man spent his childhood and youth in the beautiful city of Sukhumi. There he often fished with his father, walked in the fresh air and read a lot.
Naive childhood dream of Artyom Mikhailovich
It is incredible, but, unlike other Soviet children who traditionally dream of becoming astronauts and doctors, Artem Mikhailovich Tarasov wanted to be an ichthyologist since childhood. According to him, he spent hours sitting on the banks of the pond, catching tadpoles, fry and frogs with friends.
In addition, the boy’s father made a certain contribution to the development of such an unusual dream, instilling in him a love of fishing from the age of five. Moreover, this hobby was so great that when the boy was 13 years old, his father allowed him to go sailing on one of the fishing vessels.
Being a young man on several more courts, Artyom Mikhailovich Tarasov thought rather seriously about a slightly different profession - a biologist. According to him, his plans included the end of the biology faculty of Moscow State University with subsequent practice in Kamchatka, where he could work with spawning fish. However, the dream remained unfulfilled.
A sharp change in course for professional activities
Unexpectedly for everyone, a young man’s hobby for biology was replaced by an addiction to physics. Then he became interested in economics and mathematics. At the same time, he read a lot and was engaged in self-education. However, his parents, seeing such diverse hobbies of the young man, decided that it was time for him to decide. To this end, they persuaded him to submit documents first to the Moscow Mining Institute.
Immediately after the successful completion of the Moscow State University, Tarasov Artyom entered the Moscow Higher Technical School named after Bauman, where for some time he learned all the charms of Soviet aviation, including the creation of radio electronics, rocket technology and nuclear power. Upon graduation, Tarasov entered the Moscow Institute of Electronics and Mathematics, where he improved his knowledge in the field of exact sciences.
Much later, Artyom Mikhailovich graduated from the Higher Courses of the State Planning Commission under the USSR, and then completed postgraduate studies at one of the leading American economic universities with world renown.
Toward the beginning of 1987, Tarasov already had the appropriate education, and in those areas in which he himself wanted. At the same time, he managed to defend his dissertation and become a candidate of technical sciences. But even then no one could have thought that Tarasov Artem Mikhailovich would become one of the first entrepreneurs in the Soviet Union. We will tell you more about how it all began.
A brief history of the cooperation of Tarasov
According to the hero himself, the idea to open a private enterprise, which was then called a cooperative, came to him quite by accident. The impetus was the visit of a familiar farmer and speculator, who, in fact, proposed the idea of starting his own business.And although at that time our future cooperative worker already had a prestigious job in one of the capital's research institutes, where he received about 240 rubles a month, the idea of his acquaintance came to his liking.
After some thought, Artyom Mikhailovich Tarasov (his photo is posted below) agreed, and together with his friend opened a cooperative called Progress. It is noteworthy that entrepreneurial activity in the USSR was just beginning to emerge, therefore there was no hype.
What was the business idea of the cooperative connected with?
The idea was to provide special services to people in need, allowing them to find each other and overcome a number of complexes and barriers. To this end, Tarasov and Kabout organized a kind of dating service, where for a fee they helped the two opposites to find common ground.
According to Artem Tarasov, everything happened according to the following scenario: using a computer, the profiles of customers who wanted to meet their fate were studied and processed; then, among them, 20 candidates of the opposite sex were selected, who would have any common interests, match each other by age, education or worldview; after that, all participants united in one place (usually it was a closed room) and within 48 hours they talked, ate, slept, walked and had fun.
After such a pastime, which Tarasov and his friend called a marathon, in almost 90% of cases, the participants found a partner. By the way, entrepreneurs got a real prototype of the project “House 2”. However, they still failed to realize the idea on television.
According to Artem Tarasov, the idea was good, but, referring to censorship, it was not allowed on the air. In addition, the authorities themselves became interested in entrepreneurs and, having accused them of “pandering with the subsequent receipt of their Moscow residence permit by their customers,” they covered up the organization. So the businessmen were happy for very short time - only six days. Moreover, for the services that were not rendered, the customers had to return the money.
"Technique" - a new topic for the opening of a cooperative
After a not entirely successful business experience, both partners decided to create a new cooperative, but using a theme familiar to both of them. This time it was Technique. And they began with the traditional repair and maintenance of foreign electrical appliances.
Later, Artyom Mikhailovich Tarasov (his marital status at that time left much to be desired, since he was not married) and his acquaintance were slightly retrained and went into computers, preparing appropriate software for them. And this topic came in handy so much that in a very short time, businessmen managed to accumulate over $ 100 million in their accounts.
What was an exclusive new business idea?
According to Taras Mikhailovich, the idea with technology was exclusive, as businessmen were one of the first to bring personal computers to Russia. On average, one such PC cost its owners 50,000 rubles.
In addition, for an additional fee, entrepreneurs installed the entire hardware and software complex. Moreover, as customers at that time were not only private individuals, but also large government agencies and departments. True, in order to keep up with everything, businessmen had to hire their first employees, which were ordinary programmers from the Academy of Sciences. And so Tarasov Artem Mikhailovich earned his fortune.
Modern realities of the life of Artyom Mikhailovich
At the moment, Tarasov is a major investor who invests in various projects, the most promising, in his opinion. At the same time, he has his own website, which all inventors can access. In addition, Artem Mikhailovich is actively involved in charity work, carries out political activities as part of one of the Russian parties, and also often appears on television with various kinds of ideas for business.
In addition, Artyom Mikhailovich wrote an autobiographical book called Vagrius, as well as two other novels from the series “Secrets of Frau Maria”. He plans to buy a small house in Adler, where he will sit on the beach, fish and write memoirs.
Tarasov Artem Mikhailovich: interesting facts
Over the course of his career as a businessman, Artem Tarasov has seen a lot. He lost friends, made useful acquaintances, invented new ways of earning income, and even defended his good name in court, going against the local authorities. For example, when he was unjustly accused of embezzlement of citizens and planned to be sentenced to death, he was not at a loss and appeared on television in the program “Vzglyad”. During the broadcast, he told in detail how he made his fortune, and about who and what pursues him. As a result, thanks to this performance, Tarasov woke up famous. Later, after protracted trials, all charges against him were dropped.
Like any person, Artem Mikhailovich Tarasov (his personal life at that time was already getting better: he got married and planned to have children) sometimes he became a victim of intruders. For example, in London, he was deceived by a well-known Libyan con man who sold a businessman a non-existent bank for $ 5 million. Moreover, our hero found him, filed a lawsuit against him, and spent another 2.5 million dollars at the next judicial red tape.
What hides the investor's personal life?
Despite the enormous employment, our hero was married three times. From the first marriage he had no children, from the second son grows. The third wife of the entrepreneur Elena Kashtanova loves to create beautiful art photos, and currently lives in London.
