Ruskie: Beers, Bears and Babushkas
Matthew Francis
AuthorHouse, 2009, ISBN 978-1-4389-7670-9
Review by Rebecca Harding
If, like David Cameron, you like to unwind with an entertaining and diverting read, then this may be the book for you. It is the story of a young and, by his own admission, naïve, young Englishman who is persuaded that he should take on the market challenge of setting up a Western style consulting business in the new Russia. It charts his progress from the chance encounter with a Ukranian girl who tells him that he can’t afford to miss out on the opportunities that the emerging markets in eastern Europe offer through a heady period of growth to his terrible realisation that he had been conned and formed shady business relationships that potentially threatened his life.
His rapid and ignominious flight from Russia back to the UK having been threatened by a Ukranian “heavy” in a long leather jacket underscored the core message of this book. Matthew Francis entered into the Russian market on a wing and a prayer. He was entrepreneurial in every sense of the word – taking risks and chances were his life and ulitmately his nemesis. He acknowledges that he did not succeed and, rather bravely, wants to tell the world the reasons why. A bit more planning, a bit of forethought and some basic knowledge of Russian language and culture would have helped!
This is not a business book. It is more accurately a stream of consciousness from when he first made his decision to go to Russia to the final chapter where the irrepressible Matthew reflects on what he got out of the experience – friendship and a powerful story of how not to do it!
The style will not suit everyone: the “unreconstructed” descriptions of women, “Top Titty Titiana” for example, grate somewhat in the politically correct 21st Century. On more than one occasion I was frustrated with rather lewd references to the constant beer, vodka and womanizing that was clearly a part of the culture, but then, I have never been to Moscow and certainly have never tried setting up a business there. All the way through, I wanted to know more about the business that was driving his life, rather than the life that seemed to be driving his business.
Yet if you bear with the narrative, this is a book that demonstrates the cultural differences that could not be surmounted and the absolutely vital role that decent planning and strategy should play in setting up a business. These are generalisable messages. We read too much about success – if you want to hear a real story about failure and to learn about a very different Russia to the one that is normally depicted, then this is the book for you.