Alex MN (00:00.205)
audio.
Kate Saba (00:05.188)
Hello and welcome to another episode of The Soviet Life, where we explore how growing up in the Soviet Union continues to shape lives long after its collapse. I'm your host, Kate Sabah, and today I am thrilled to be joined by Alex Matusevich, who was born and raised in Belarus and immigrated to the United States in 1998. Alex arrived here with almost nothing, yet
Alex MN (00:23.021)
So, thank you. Okay.
Kate Saba (00:34.02)
Through his grit, determination, strong work ethic, he built a very successful tech company and is now actively involved in mentoring and supporting multiple startups. His story reflects not only the challenges of starting over in a new country, but also the resilience and the drive that so many immigrants, not only from the Soviet Union, but all over the world carry with them.
In our conversation, we'll explore how Alex's Soviet upbringing influenced his outlook on work, on life.
lessons he carried with him across continents and how those values continue to shape his journey as an entrepreneur here in the United States. So without further ado, let's dive in and hear Alex's remarkable story of perseverance, adaptation, and vision. So Alex, welcome to the Soviet Life Podcast. I am so honored and thrilled to have you. How are you today?
Alex MN (01:35.12)
I am well, I'm not even sure how to respond to that. I never thought of myself in such big words, but I guess, appreciate it.
Kate Saba (01:38.915)
you
You're so humble. This is such a so, so, so how you are so humble. Can you just tell us?
Alex MN (01:48.044)
But maybe it is the Soviet style. Growing up in that system, the system kind of is beating certain things out of you. If you try to stick out of the crowd a little too much, you put back into place very quickly. So it's interesting. Yeah. Well, thank you for the intro. Again, was born in Minsk in Belarus. It's been a while. I was born in 1977. Wow, pushing it. Wow.
Kate Saba (01:51.574)
It is.
Kate Saba (02:04.964)
Absolutely.
Kate Saba (02:15.172)
So tell us a little bit about growing up in Belarus and what was life like for you, especially given the final years of the Soviet Union.
Alex MN (02:17.472)
big pro base coming up.
Alex MN (02:28.268)
So again, you have to remember I have spent most of my life here in the States. I've been here for like 28 years. I left when I was, I believe it was 18, so quite a teenager. So I was born into a family of two medical professionals. My dad was a trauma surgeon, mom an anachronologist. So they were pretty strict. Going to school was, actually doing well in school was never up.
debate. was a given. And honestly, was true for pretty much every student in my class. That's the biggest difference in the system, educational system here and over there. Failing is just not an option. Everybody has to get good grades. It was just not up for debate. It's just not something you even question. So this is why, this morning I came across a post on
Kate Saba (03:14.37)
Yes, I remember that too.
Alex MN (03:25.388)
Twitter on X and it was ranking different countries in terms of their IQ. The first four were Asian nations, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Japan. Number four was Belarus. That was interesting. was like, wow, okay. Russia was like number 20 something, but Belarus for some reason made the cut. It's in top five. So we're doing something right, I guess.
Kate Saba (03:48.26)
I'm so proud to hear that.
Alex MN (03:53.099)
Honestly, most of my classmates from school and university from Minsk, they are all over the place. Nobody's Belarus at this point. People are London, people are in the States, people in France, Australia, Japan, all over the place, which is kind of disturbing because you see all of these reports, all of the Soviet republics, they're aging. There's not enough talent and talent is...
Well, look at yourself and myself. The talent has fled. So it's interesting. We tried to combat that a little bit, we, imperial we. Me, I tried to combat that a little bit. So by opening an office in Minsk, so we tried hiring developers and, okay, I'm happy to say I tried to do my thing. It was a little difficult. We can go into detail, but well, let's go back. Okay. Born into a family of two doctors.
Kate Saba (04:25.87)
Thank you.
Alex MN (04:51.371)
Growing up, parents were strict and in retrospect, I'd say they were not strict, probably not strict enough. Especially now, especially here, kids need a little bit more discipline. That's for sure. So my brother, have one brother.
Kate Saba (05:06.19)
I agree. I agree.
Alex MN (05:13.737)
Now I understand why Wayne Tafat, he got a degree in quantum physics, so nuclear physicist. I'm actually the dumb one in the family. So both parents, doctors, brothers, nuclear physicist, rocket scientist, and I am here to go. I'm doing podcasts, but me doing some kind of IT stuff.
Kate Saba (05:19.246)
Wow.
Kate Saba (05:27.78)
Well yeah, but let's not forget about the business. We're gonna talk about the business you open and all the startups you're doing.
Alex MN (05:35.753)
Well, Fast Track, so when I came here as an exchange student, there used to be a program where students from all over the place would get a six-month visa to come to the US and study and work actually. It allowed legally to work in the US for think was six months. So I came here with a bunch of people, a bunch of friends, a guy and a girl. The three of us came here, East Coast, West Coast, we came to Minnesota, met a bunch of cool people.
And we met, at some point we met a girl at the admissions office and at a party on campus. She's like, you know what, you can transfer all of these credits from your previous degree, blah, blah, blah, blah. And like a year can graduate. So, well, we're 18, 19. So at that age you're not, you don't have any roots anywhere. So you can start from scratch absolutely anywhere. No children, you're not tied to any place on the planet.
We're like, okay, well, let's do it. So we enrolled, we transferred over three years of credits. And guess what? A year later, we graduated, got job offers, then green cards, then citizenship. And there we go. Last try. So it's interesting, my birth of American dream. So went to school here, graduated, met a bunch of people.
Kate Saba (06:41.699)
Excellent.
Kate Saba (06:47.172)
And here you are. So tell me a little... Go ahead.
Alex MN (06:59.72)
We founded an IT company. So the company used to make enterprise software for large corporations to manage content, documents, photos, videos, emails. And it made that content searchable, giant portals for different user groups. Thank Google for the enterprise. And then we grew that popsicle stand for about 20 years and then sold it. So that overnight success took only about 20 years.
And then obviously tried retiring, too young for that. At some point you want to... It's just boring. It's overrated. So we went back into it. So no biological kids yet, but my parenting outlet is actually mentoring 20-somethings. So after we sold the company, we started a private equity company. we, at this point, we, me and another partner, we invest in mostly technology startups.
managed by 20 year olds. So that's that that is me being a parent to those kids somebody else's kids. Yeah so I can relate you have your own so I can relate. I sympathize sometimes you want to off them but it's illegal apparently so
Kate Saba (08:05.134)
There you go, exactly.
Yes.
Kate Saba (08:17.742)
So tell me, how did you get involved with the technology and building a company? Did you just met the right people? Did you have a certain degree? Was it serendipity?
Alex MN (08:26.055)
Mm-hmm.
Alex MN (08:30.841)
It's no, especially now degrees won't matter. You can get your degree in anything you want very quickly by watching videos on YouTube, by chatting with your BFF, chat DPC or Grok or whatever. And honestly, on the private equity side, when we invest in different companies, we do not look at degrees, I went to this school, I went to that school or that experience. We always look at people's ability to work as a team.
Kate Saba (08:43.692)
Yes.
Alex MN (08:59.561)
And then generally we joke, don't care what kind of cupcakes you're making, if you're selling a billion, billion of those cupcakes, guess what? We're investing in the cupcake business. But the, but all of these successful companies that have one thing in common, they have charismatic leaders, have those leaders are driven, there's an innate desire, urge to prove something. And it's interesting, if you look at, let's say top 50 largest companies in the US,
I'm going to be, can't remember the number, but I think it's like 40 something is going to be immigrants from other nations. A lot of Indians, a lot of Russians, a lot of people from not the U S it's exactly that drive. People come here, they're trying to, they're trying the innate and naturally they're overachieving because they don't know anything. But that's interesting. So that's what we're looking for in all of these startups. This drive.
Kate Saba (09:48.857)
Yes.
Kate Saba (09:54.885)
Yeah, you see, you're kind of answering my next question when I was going to ask you how the Soviet Union helped you succeed in the business. So you kind of nailed it already right on the head. know, growing up, for me at least, growing up in the Soviet Union where we did not even have an understanding of money, and now the studies are showing if you are not taught how to manage money by the age seven,
you really not going to know how to do it. I obviously was not taught until being 10 years old and go to the store and you know, knowing what costs what. So there was no financial education at all. There was no concept of business. In fact, it would be called speculation. And I've talked about it episodes where in the USSR, if you were to buy a book for $10 and then go around and sell to somebody for $10 and one cent, and you made a one point profit, you put in your pocket, you would go to jail because that would be considered speculation.
Alex MN (10:24.449)
and
Alex MN (10:32.465)
Mm-hmm.
Kate Saba (10:45.93)
And here we are, I people like you that are building businesses. Was there something that was maybe like a hindrance or holding you back and how did you overcome it?
Alex MN (10:47.729)
Mmm.
Alex MN (10:57.928)
I was never interested in making money for the sake of making money. honestly, in my mentoring conversations with 20 year olds, always say, okay, money, it's a resource. There's a lot of money on the planet. If you have an amazing idea, if you have a skill set that is needed in the society, if you are fixing a problem, a real validated problem, if you are helping people.
Money will come, it's not the point. So in venture capital, in private equity, there's so much money. We're printing trillions of dollars globally, not trillions, but hundreds of billions of dollars every year. All of that money is chasing talent. All of that money is chasing people who can fix problems for other people, whether it's medicine or art or science. It's all about talent. Money is just a side effect of being successful.
Kate Saba (11:55.684)
You know what?
Alex MN (11:55.922)
So lot of people like Elon Musk, I it was never about money. He's so dead set on, it's gonna be the best rocket company, the best car company, the best payments company. And he is achieving, again, he's an immigrant, same drive. He is trying to overachieve and money is just a side effect of him just doing something better than everybody else.
Kate Saba (12:03.722)
idea, permission.
Kate Saba (12:18.168)
Yeah, this is such an amazing outlook on life in general.
Alex MN (12:19.537)
So if you are obsessed with money, most likely you won't be successful. You just have to focus on fixing a problem for people. You have to be useful. And then all of a sudden, if you are useful, okay, if it's a hobby, if you're enjoying that hobby, it's not job. And also to quote Elon Musk again, his favorite saying is, nobody changed the world working eight hours a day.
Kate Saba (12:29.72)
Makes sense.
Kate Saba (12:39.854)
Yes.
Alex MN (12:48.625)
So if it's a job you won't do and it's not enough time. But if it's a hobby, if you wake up with this, if you go to bed with this, all of a sudden, yeah, working, quote, working two shifts without even knowing it, and you're enjoying it.
Kate Saba (13:03.313)
Those are the wisdom. That's the real wisdom right there.
Alex MN (13:08.146)
So money, again, my parents, well, yes, they were medical professionals, but in that system, in the Soviet system, they were not poor, were not rich people. they making comfortably, they were doing comfortably okay, making enough money. Nobody was starving. But obviously, there was no excess. couldn't, I mean, we could travel, we could do a buy thing, anything we wanted, but no expensive, like flashy toys.
like you would see in Moscow these days.
Kate Saba (13:38.644)
Yes, exactly, Wow. I hear lot of just amazing, just so much wisdom in the words that you're saying. Now, I know you also went on to get a master's degree in business administration in a prestigious college, Mary Washington University,
Yes. do you, but you still went on to open it to open it. So what I'm trying to see, and if you can, my listeners can also understand, was it your, did you become successful? That was the drive. So from what I can understand and see is you were taking opportunities whenever there was an opportunity, you had the energy, you had the stamina, you had the work and not turning down opportunities that were exciting to you.
Alex MN (14:15.046)
I he's just taking up too much time. I'm making money, but not from becoming a music artist. Interesting. I never thought of myself as a successful person. think for a lot of... I mean, we can define success differently. Your definition would be different from mine. For a lot of people, success would probably mean money.
And I had this conversation about success with one of our CEOs, one of the companies where we own eBay's small stake in. And he asked, do you think you're successful? like, I don't know. Okay, let's put it this way. Can you afford three months of rent? I'm like, well, round the house, don't rent. So likely, yes, we can probably afford three months of rent. And then what kind of card you have? Look, this.
I have two, one arm is a Tesla. was like, oh, just the Tesla and then the other one's a little more expensive. Like, oh, okay, so you said you're successful. I'm like, well, I don't know, it's interesting because if you go to New York, go to London, if you go to Paris or any big city on the planet, an average apartment or house would cost you millions of dollars. So all of these people can afford the same cars, same expensive watches and go out to dinner. Does it mean that they are successful and everybody else not?
Kate Saba (15:39.48)
Absolutely.
Alex MN (15:39.717)
Again, in New York City, obviously, everybody can afford a Ferrari, everybody can afford the highest-end watch from Switzerland. it's just a completely different way of thinking. So success is interesting. To me, success is being able to do something you like.
Kate Saba (15:59.311)
Yes. That's a perfect question,
Alex MN (16:01.67)
And mentoring these spoiled brats, mean, startups is again, my parenting outlet. It's fun. Sometimes you want to, you like you could relate as a parent pull your hair out, but it's, it's, most of the time it's fun. I think it's for the better. So.
Kate Saba (16:16.504)
Yes.
Kate Saba (16:21.294)
Nice. Yeah, perfect. So to go back to when you as an immigrant, when you first arrived to the United States, did you experience any challenges as an immigrant and what were those challenges?
Alex MN (16:33.731)
It's interesting. The former Soviet Republic and the US are actually more alike than not. I think this is the reason why a lot of people from the Soviet Union integrate so well and become very good citizens here. We're essentially the same. Same values, same attitude to people's rights, human rights. We respect women, we respect children, we respect other religions.
Oddly, the people in the Soviet Union are not violent. As much as you would think, oh, it's funny, before I forget, I should mention that three days ago when New York City walking in Chelsea, West Chelsea, was the 23rd and 10th, 23rd Street in type Avenue. And there was an old building and on the side of the building, it says fallout shelter, nuclear fallout shelter. It blew my mind because, okay, yeah, everybody knows governments use fear as a form of
know, brainwashing people and controlling people, blah, blah. But the thing is, if you live in that neighborhood, it's a wealthy neighborhood, if you walk by this sign every single day, it's in the back of your mind, the back of your mind always that the Russians made the bet. But going up there was obviously there was some propaganda going on, but the Russians are not violent. You can always, it's the same value system they have. They, we, us.
Kate Saba (17:46.776)
Yes, of course.
Alex MN (18:01.809)
The US and the former Soviet republics have the same value system, so you can negotiate. There are other parts of the world right now where you will not be able to come to an agreement because of ideological or problems or incompatibilities. But with the Russians and that part of the world, the United States can negotiate quite well. So we can come to an agreement. I'm looking forward to it.
the current administration or any administration to settle the mess that's going on in the eastern part of Europe for the second. Again, to quote Elon Musk, it's not about taking sides. The thing is, it has to stop because a lot of innocent children are dying on both sides. It's not about who is right, who is wrong. We can debate this for hours. It's about stopping innocent deaths.
Kate Saba (18:35.426)
we are right now yes right now
Kate Saba (18:53.956)
Exactly.
You know, you bring up a great point here that I just thought of growing up in the Soviet Union. I noticed a lot of it was canvassing on finding who a guilty person is.
Alex MN (19:07.832)
Mm.
Kate Saba (19:08.516)
you can blame and point the finger to. That's what they did during Stalin, a lot of the... Whenever we had any problems and issue, they would find somebody who they can punish. And here in the United States, the major concept is not to find and point finger to, but how do we find a solution and how do we fix that? And I think those different mindsets are just what really drives a lot in the United States and wasn't as helpful in the Soviet Union when we were trying to find the guilty one. So just...
Alex MN (19:18.103)
Mm.
Alex MN (19:23.64)
Mm-hmm.
Alex MN (19:38.115)
But.
Kate Saba (19:38.71)
Just aside not what you said. When did you first become aware of the United States when you were growing in the Soviet Union and what was your perception of the United States?
Alex MN (19:48.868)
Well, I guess the United States was always in the news, but it was never portrayed as a supervillain or a terrorist state, like a mortal enemy that is trying to destroy the Soviet system. The system maybe, but not the people, not the country itself.
Kate Saba (20:08.547)
Mm-hmm.
Alex MN (20:18.881)
The Soviet system was all about Soviet superior reordering. They were pushing all of these ideals of unity and equality, equal treatment of men, women and citizens in general. And they were portraying the US... It was a competitive poking, I would say. They were portraying the US as an imperialist state that was trying to...
They had too much poverty, racial discrimination, safety issues, and honestly, well, who's laughing now? They were kind of right. As a matter of fact, so I'm in Minneapolis right now. This morning, trans kid showed up, 17 kids, it killed two kids in a Catholic school.
Kate Saba (20:51.064)
Yes.
Kate Saba (21:06.02)
Yes, also heard the news.
Alex MN (21:11.294)
So that is just completely insane. I think that person was an SSRIs, it's an antidepressant. One of the known side effects is violence. So yes, is an issue. I guess the propaganda was kind of right. But it was never...
It was competitive. I would say it was but it was competitive. I did not perceive the Americans back in the day as enemies because of that.
Kate Saba (21:41.86)
Would it?
Kate Saba (21:47.877)
That's same here. I never perceived them either. Was there a lot of surprises when you first came to America? Did you actually find Americans better or what did you find surprised in when you came to the United States about the American culture compared to the South?
Alex MN (22:02.065)
It was shocked because not all of them were fat, stupid and uneducated. That was a shock.
Kate Saba (22:05.476)
There you go, that is a way of portraying necessarily,
Alex MN (22:11.106)
Having said that, holy... okay, poop. We have gained a lot of weight in one year, the first year we were here. I don't think we're eating more than usual, and this is why I have done a lot of research over the last 20 years of why the metabolic syndrome is happening in the US at this scale, why 30 % of the population is pre-diabetic, why if nothing changes, but 20 % of the US population will be diabetic over the next 10 years.
Kate Saba (22:29.368)
Yes.
Kate Saba (22:33.572)
Mmm.
Alex MN (22:38.806)
That should be the headline on every single news outlet. This is the true pandemic. This is killing us. So I can tell this. Well, I know what it is. I know why it's happening. The thing is, all of these industry... Right, let's put a blanket term on all of this. All of these companies are lobbying the government a little too much, regardless of the color. They're just lobbying both sides. So nothing will change from the government. So we have tried investing in companies that were...
Kate Saba (22:41.078)
Absolutely. 100 %
Kate Saba (22:50.884)
across the street.
Kate Saba (22:55.492)
I'm
Alex MN (23:09.154)
focusing on educating people on what the metabolic syndrome is, why it affects nine out of 10 people today and why nothing is going to change unless it's not going to come from the government, it's going to come from companies that are trying to educate people about the disease. So the weight gain in the first year was a shock, the biggest shock. And again, it was not the amount of food, was the type of food. And that's why up until this day,
That is my mission in life. Probably one of the biggest missions in life. We have our second biggest investment. We have invested a lot of money, seriously a lot of unreasonable amounts of money into this startup to educate people about diabetes, pre-diabetes, the metabolic disease.
Kate Saba (23:40.516)
Yeah.
Kate Saba (23:56.005)
How is that coming along? that really, yeah, you've seen the results or is it too early to tell?
Alex MN (24:02.049)
It's too early to tell. We are working, we're trying to address the people problem. Amazing idea, love the, we just, it's a slight issue with talent, but.
Kate Saba (24:04.292)
Okay.
Kate Saba (24:14.596)
You know, I gotta tell you just just I know it's kind of divergent from our overall Soviet Union discussion, but
you with my kids here, and I can see it with the kids, I tell them all the time, let's not eat this processed food, let's not eat this Cheerios, and I'm not trying to call the names of the foods, but a lot of the processed food, they taste so good. We go to the store, we go to grocery store, and they look around and say, well, but mom, they're selling all this, why are the adults selling this? It's right there, and there's such a variety. You go and it's pretty much aisle after aisle of this processed food. And here's me against...
Alex MN (24:29.196)
Well, we make food
Kate Saba (24:48.406)
all the other dolls that are allowing to sell it and what do I tell my child? Listen to me!
Alex MN (24:58.353)
We have very good scientists that work, that formulate those products to make it palatable, to increase consumption and well, stimulate overconsumption subconsciously. It should be illegal, but it's happening everywhere. Europe as well is not different. Asia, Japan, Australia, it's happening everywhere.
Luckily, we have very good drugs to help us with the disease, but ideally you want to be in a healthy state where all the systems are working well and you're not medicated. But to do that, we have to go to the basic principles of why humans eat. We eat. Your body can probably last, our bodies can last up to 200 years if we just get nine essential amino acids into the system. This is the only reason why we eat. We only eat amino acids. Our bones, muscles,
Kate Saba (25:36.193)
Exactly.
Alex MN (25:55.636)
connective tissue, blood, everything is made out of those amino acids. are mostly in animal protein. All of them are in animal protein. Most of them are in vegetable proteins as well. None of them are in carbohydrates and in those products.
Kate Saba (26:11.63)
I know, yeah, we could just take the sugar carbohydrates,
Alex MN (26:16.061)
Well, like them and well, carbohydrates are evil. We should tax them. should. Well, let's not go there. But I think you got the point.
Kate Saba (26:24.196)
There's a lot of research that shows how unfortunately our bodies are craving and it's very difficult. It's a real challenge.
Alex MN (26:36.223)
Well, our body is smart, but it's very dumb. Our human body is programmed for survival. It thinks famine is coming. We're going to be starving for the next six months. So we're trying to fatten up. So for human body, it's a possibility to gain an ounce, a milligram of fat without elevated insulin, with insulin away from the baseline. Insulin is not triggered by fat. It's kind of triggered a tiny bit by protein, and it's really triggered by sugar.
So when we consume sugar, insulin is up, it's a storage hormone, we gain weight. It's that simple. And you know what's interesting about sugar? Any doctor will tell you on the planet, it's taught in every single medical school. A human body does not need a single gram of carbohydrate to function, ever. We make glucose from fat and protein. We do not need carbohydrates, they're not essential.
Kate Saba (27:07.268)
year.
Yes.
Alex MN (27:31.369)
Just like animals, like lions in the wild, and also we eat too often. Like a lion in the wild would kill a zebra, feast once a week. And look at those animals, no diseases, full of muscle, not on antidepressants.
Kate Saba (27:41.006)
you
Kate Saba (27:46.893)
Exactly. Exactly. You know, I just listened to.
Jordan Harbinger episode, he is a very popular gentleman who has his own podcast. As you can tell, I love podcasts. I'm all about podcasts and I'm so happy to be having this opportunity to even have my own podcast. I know it's just starting up and thanks again for coming on. I just listened yesterday episode, Benjamin Bickman on insulin resistance is killing half of a minute. That's the of the episode. If somebody, my listeners, you have a moment to check out Jordan Harbinger podcast, episode 1201.
Alex MN (27:54.655)
Mm-hmm.
Alex MN (28:12.766)
Yeah.
Kate Saba (28:22.562)
Benjamin Bickman. It's just wealth of information exactly on the topic that you're talking about, Alex.
Alex MN (28:29.564)
And you know what the other name for insulin resistance is? The metabolic syndrome, yes.
Kate Saba (28:34.116)
metabolic syndrome exactly yes but he i will send you that link i will actually put it in the link notes i hope jordan harms you won't mind that i'm sending the podcast i am going to link it up with so much information
Alex MN (28:39.23)
Yeah.
Alex MN (28:43.902)
No, but this is probably one of the most important things our society is facing here in Europe, everyone. As an employer or well, every government should be ringing bells because of this. How can you expect a society to function if 30 % today, 32 % in the US are pre-diabetic?
Kate Saba (29:12.718)
Yes.
Alex MN (29:13.279)
If you cannot perform, you cannot function at your capacity already. 30 % of the population is already not able to function because they have this metabolic disease, the insulin resistance already in the system. they are not able to produce. cannot, they're not, well, the lifespan is going to be affected. Health span as well will be affected. So we have to fix this.
Kate Saba (29:38.137)
Yes, 100%. Absolutely. Wow. So I want to kind of go back to the US, US, of the Soviet Union. So let me take you back to August, 1991. Can you tell us what were you doing? What was it like? How did you find out about the fall? How did you feel about it? And did you expect it?
Alex MN (29:54.361)
god.
Alex MN (30:02.878)
I was 19, I was 12 years old. Yeah, at that age, no memories. Do you have any?
Kate Saba (30:13.024)
I remember bare shells and standing in line to get the basic necessities. I remember that part. And then I remember the TV shows and on the radio how there was no more Soviet Union. But even in 1989, I remember listening when the German wall fell and where that's when I started. That's when my mind started to think, something is going on. That's when I started to wonder.
Alex MN (30:18.172)
Okay, wait, okay, okay, okay, I get it. Okay.
Alex MN (30:30.568)
Mm-hmm.
Alex MN (30:36.135)
So it was a shock, right. It was shocking to the system, obviously. We were not exposed to it directly because again, my family is in medicine, so I mean, hospitals did their thing. So something immense happened at that time is when a lot of assets, all of these giant companies that were privatized.
So there was a lot of corruption in the government, so a lot of these incredibly valuable resources ended up in very few hands. So yes, this happened. So obviously, as the system was adjusting to the new way of life, a new way of thinking, there were shortages of basic necessities like bad...
Kate Saba (31:23.172)
Do remember the times where it was pretty bare or shells?
Alex MN (31:27.918)
I kind of remember empty shelves, yes. But again, in our case, we had relatives elsewhere who were producing at scale, they were producing all kinds of agricultural products. So we had access to that, but I remember empty shelves.
Kate Saba (31:35.972)
I've teaching this for a while.
Kate Saba (31:47.875)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. Just about everybody knew they had Dacha. They had some kind of land somewhere so that you can grow just to survive. And then it was so critical given the economy that was so shaky.
Alex MN (31:55.268)
no, no.
Hmm.
Alex MN (32:02.813)
All right, Also remember the coupons. They used to issue coupons, right, for food.
Kate Saba (32:09.63)
Yes, for sure. don't think my family had coupons. But I'm not familiar, but I've heard about it. I've heard about you had to be rationed. You had to have special coupons to get like soap or sugar. And you had to show, I remember my mom was saying you had to show that you have an infant in order to get soap.
Alex MN (32:13.628)
of interesting.
Bye.
Alex MN (32:28.471)
Bring one? Borrow one?
Kate Saba (32:30.5)
Yeah, then sugar too. I remember we didn't have sugar for a while.
Alex MN (32:35.805)
I took a lady to check out the and they're like, wait, I'm seeing this little baby. Like, my wife was extenderated with random people.
Kate Saba (32:40.964)
Right.
Alex MN (32:43.389)
Yeah, well, it's a lot different. So as a matter of fact, one of my friends right now, she's in Moscow right now, posting things on Instagram. Wow, that's like New York and steroids.
Kate Saba (32:56.708)
Yes, I do have friends too that just went to Moscow. In fact, I'm gonna have another episode when they come back to give me the kind of their view of Moscow right now and the pictures they put on Facebook was just amazing. I was in awe. I was like, wow, we kind of falling behind here of how clean, how nice, extravagant things are in Moscow. And again, I haven't been in Moscow in a long time.
Alex MN (33:08.219)
Mm-hmm.
No.
Alex MN (33:18.844)
But my question, she was posting them like, wait, the French champagne, French foie gras, all of the obviously it's all imported. I'm like, how do these sanctions, who is sanctioning who? So life is completely normal. Actually, I came across, actually somebody sent me a link to this. The foreign trade, what is it? Kazakhstan or one of the stans of other former Soviet republics.
Kate Saba (33:28.685)
Absolutely.
Kate Saba (33:34.646)
Exactly, exactly.
Kate Saba (33:46.116)
Mm-hmm.
Alex MN (33:48.7)
the foreign trade went up 300 % over the last four years. So basically, importing and re-exporting things to Russia.
Kate Saba (33:53.784)
Yes.
Kate Saba (34:00.952)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Alex MN (34:02.337)
That's the Russian way of doing business.
Kate Saba (34:08.324)
So I know we talked about education system earlier and you mentioned how you do believe that the education played a big role for you. Do you think the Soviet education and the cultural background is really what you build most of your decisions on now? Like how did that shape you?
Alex MN (34:18.543)
Mm-hmm.
Alex MN (34:32.699)
You know, it's not the degree itself and that's what I people, the office and on the phone all the people we talk to, especially now because of all this AI stuff happening. Most degrees are obsolete before they even graduate and a lot of them quite dumb to begin with, not monetizable in any way, shape or form. So it's impossible to become
Kate Saba (34:52.174)
Yeah.
Alex MN (35:02.32)
classically successful as in make enough money to be successful by the most common definition of it, pursuing those degrees. But what a university would do, especially to kids in this system here, it teaches maybe not obedience, it teaches discipline. It teaches children to, well, teenagers to suck it up and listen to the people who have done it.
Kate Saba (35:23.32)
Yes.
Kate Saba (35:31.169)
Yes.
Alex MN (35:31.461)
who probably know a little more than you, or wiser than you. you just because of that maybe should respect them a little bit. You don't have to worship them, but you should respect them a little bit just because they're little wiser. And they actually wishing you the best. So discipline is probably the best lesson you can get in school. And obviously social skills, you don't have to socialize with people and do all the naughty things. You get them out of the way so you're prepared for adult life.
Kate Saba (35:34.51)
Exactly.
Kate Saba (35:45.976)
Absolutely.
Kate Saba (35:51.564)
Yes.
Alex MN (36:01.883)
It is important, but the skills, I... So we got to... What do you got? Well, get... We, me and two friends of mine, we graduated with BS, Bachelor of Science in Applied Economics, so a lot of heavy on math, statistics, all that stuff. Obviously, you cannot use it. But studying basic sciences, I really encourage people, especially now, because nobody knows what jobs are going to be saved because of... I think everything is disrupted. All jobs are... I mean, everything...
Kate Saba (36:30.124)
Everything is up and running.
Alex MN (36:31.362)
Unemployment is going to be insanely high. Everything is affected. But studying basic sciences, math, chemistry, physics, statistics, biology, and really the basics will create certain brain elasticity, will help kids think in a very different way than if they did not do that. So this will prepare them for whatever the next phase of human development is.
Kate Saba (37:00.75)
Absolutely. Yeah.
Alex MN (37:00.94)
AI heavy. So even though you will never use physics or math or chemistry, you will think like an adult.
Kate Saba (37:09.444)
You'll be able to analyze better. Absolutely. Exactly. You know, I've done a number of interviews with people who were brought up in the USSR in the 60s, like the older generation. I haven't published them yet. I have to figure out how to translate it. And that's a little bit of a challenge for me because I'm a one-man show. I don't have a team, unfortunately. Not yet, right?
Alex MN (37:12.25)
Right. So brain elasticity, yes. That's the main takeaway.
Alex MN (37:32.538)
or how to get them to install this app.
Kate Saba (37:35.396)
I know exactly, exactly. Well no, they're talking Russian. They're talking Russian so I have to figure out how to translate it. I gotta translate it. But... Okay, good.
Alex MN (37:41.37)
my God, there's some amazing tools coming. A little pin you can have on your lapel. It translates in real time. it's just amazing.
Kate Saba (37:49.125)
Well, actually I can translate it. just want, know, there's, there's some hoops and loops to jump through. But what I noticed, which I was surprised is in all the interviews I've done, there have so much positive to say about Soviet Union.
I listened to them and I was, mean, of course there was some positives. Any society, any culture will have some positives and some negatives, but they were so focused on the positive. And I could tell that part of them was in a way longing for that, longing for the structure, for the camaraderie and culture. They focused on education, literature, the...
Alex MN (38:04.812)
It's-
Alex MN (38:15.414)
Mm-hmm.
Alex MN (38:19.815)
Mm-hmm
Kate Saba (38:25.278)
music, the classical music, that cohesiveness, it just really was obvious. So I wanted to ask you as a younger generation, quite my peer, do you think there are some, what are the positives from the Soviet Union that if you were to cherry pick, I know you were still young, but if you were to cherry pick and just to bring it here, what would you do it? would you pick from the Soviet culture or those times?
Alex MN (38:33.209)
Hmph.
Alex MN (38:51.257)
Good question. I only have positive emotions. All my memories are positive, obvious. But again, it could be the age because I was pretty young. But what I remember, people around us, family, adults, people around us, they were engaged, they were involved. They're happy. They were genuinely happy. Nobody was in the pursuit of
Kate Saba (38:57.944)
That's good.
Alex MN (39:21.015)
becoming rich or successful or chasing Instagram followers. People were just living their lives. People were engaged in their communities. It's interesting. If you look at all of the blue zones, people with the highest longevity, people who make into the three digit club, 100 years plus, all of these blue zones have different diets, but what they do have in common, it's the social interaction component. So people are involved in their communities.
And again, it's this sense of being needed. So when you're actually focused on somebody else, maybe if it's an animal, or especially other people, if you're just distracted from your own issues, I your cortisol goes down, bad, bad hormone, stress will kill us. And honestly, back, if you look at, I, well, to my, if I remember things correctly, nobody seems stressed.
Kate Saba (39:53.636)
Absolutely.
Kate Saba (40:06.04)
Yes.
Alex MN (40:16.833)
I mean, people would be stressed, obviously people couldn't afford certain things, but that's not gonna kill you.
Kate Saba (40:25.698)
Yeah, exactly. There were more focused on a day-to-day life and, you know, in some cases, how to put food on the table. But beyond that, it's just the cohesiveness was strong. You had community, you had people to rely on. And that's what you're saying was the most, the main positive part that you would take from the Soviet Union. Is there any part that you miss? What would you miss from those that time? What do you miss, if anything?
Alex MN (40:41.731)
Mm-hmm.
Alex MN (40:48.569)
Alex MN (40:56.505)
laid-back lifestyle maybe on some level. I remember our parents would have somebody over several times a week. We would go somewhere to some friends, the houses at least weekly. So people are involved. But the thing is it's very difficult to do in the US, even in Europe. We do have a lot of investments in Europe, quite global. So I can speak for Europe as well.
People are just so busy and so insular. They're just too busy to actually sit down and talk to even their neighbors. So that's the only thing I'm missing. It's just, you know, just sitting down and smelling roses, smelling roses.
Kate Saba (41:41.637)
We have control. But you know, there's a balance. We have control of our time. Yet I feel like if I take time to do that and you know, I have work and kids and this and there's like a long list and I feel like if any of it fell through, it's like a house of cards. I'm afraid it's all just crash.
Alex MN (41:56.598)
Mm-hmm.
Alex MN (42:01.314)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, but.
Kate Saba (42:05.058)
This is just like the society is kind of holding you here. This is how to hear holding you sometimes on the edge where you have to be running around and spinning your Wilson, making sure everything is in order so that you, know.
Alex MN (42:18.29)
Having said that, back then and now the political system is very...
It works, I guess, especially today. I'm kind of given the because of the shooting incident. It's just this kind of subject doesn't happen over there. Still didn't happen then. It doesn't happen now. So I'm not saying I'm not defending the regime and Belarus or Russia right this second, but it does work in a way. So the streets are safe. People seem to be happy. I haven't been there as well in over 15 years.
Kate Saba (42:39.811)
Yeah.
Alex MN (42:56.791)
got me between years. It's been a while. But we have invested in quite a few companies in Russia maybe. Actually they have left Russia since the war began. So now they're in Poland, one in Hungary. Maybe that's telling us something. So the talent left because of the war. So I guess I may not have all of the information to give you.
Kate Saba (43:16.004)
Yeah, there you go.
Alex MN (43:24.469)
the right answer, but I guess that's my answer.
Kate Saba (43:25.06)
Yeah. You know, I'm thinking back of, I, I miss that camaraderie the most. And this is something I came to America and I'm just not, wasn't used to being on my own, being by myself and figured out.
Alex MN (43:34.209)
Hmm.
Kate Saba (43:43.141)
by myself every single step. And it was hard because I was 16 and you just kind of, you kind of expect the guidance because in the USSR, you had the government that will tell you what to do. And I was very comfortable with that and I was used to it. so again, maybe it depends on personality too. I, um, I don't consider myself to be of a herd mentality necessarily, but on the other hand, it's just so easy to just, just follow into the track that's already there for you. So I did struggle with it at first.
Alex MN (43:57.356)
Mm-hmm.
Kate Saba (44:13.094)
I went to this degree, got so many different venues I went into until I found myself. And so many times I would be just trying to get information from people, kind of almost asking them, what should I do? Tell me. And so many times I took all this Meier-Briggs tests and all this personality tests and all I wanted, I paid a counselor member for an hour just to pretty much look over all those tests so that she could tell me what I should major in and what should I do? What is my first...
Alex MN (44:19.5)
Mm.
Alex MN (44:28.021)
Okay.
Alex MN (44:32.149)
Mm-hmm.
Kate Saba (44:43.014)
And after all this time and all this lecture, not the lectures, but the time with her, she just said, you can do whatever you want and you can do whatever you want based on all this tests on all this course. And I was just like, put my head and like, no, this is not what I want to do. I just wanted to tell me what to do. So I struggled with that for a while. Yes. I wanted simple answer. Like in the Soviet Union, Hey, this is what you do. Or your mom and dad tell you this is what you do. Here's your three choices.
Alex MN (45:04.144)
You want the simple answer. Give me a one-liner.
Kate Saba (45:12.934)
and you can pick from these three choices like you go to the grocery store there's only one kind of bread well two kinds the white and the dark the right and the white one that's it there's only one kind of milk there's only one kind of cheese corn cheese when I first came here and they're showing me all these choices I just was like I just need tea or I just need tea cheese what do mean there all these times which kind so so I
Alex MN (45:13.622)
You
Alex MN (45:35.248)
Mm-hmm, and you don't have the one that you want
Kate Saba (45:38.085)
Exactly, exactly. So there's just so many stories that I remember.
But going back to money and the perception on money, I'm just analyzing it now as an adult. have first on the one hand, kind of a disadvantage where we didn't have a formal education or understanding of the stock market and what investment is and what being an entrepreneur is. So on the other hand, what I find myself to finding is I can take risk because I'm not attached to every penny. not, I work hard to make my money.
Alex MN (46:00.346)
yeah.
Alex MN (46:04.544)
Mm-hmm.
Kate Saba (46:14.07)
but I am not going to worry about losing something because I made an investment on something. It's lost, it's okay. Of course, I make sure I have enough for mortgage and and necessities. So there is that balance to that mindset where you can also take risks. Did you ever find that with you where you weren't worried about money because it just was not the concept you were brought up with?
Alex MN (46:21.13)
and
Alex MN (46:38.228)
It's interesting. Attachment, that's the key word.
If you look at the best, let's say in finance, the best performing people in finance, let's say if you look at Forbes, 1000 richest people on the planet, if you look at all the finance people, all of them, so the people that have made the killing, people that have built serious crop of wealth, they are detached from money. So we work with a bunch of hedge funds.
Kate Saba (47:08.974)
Yes.
Alex MN (47:14.261)
And there's an interesting data point. With 82 % of retail investors will exit the position once they double the money. In a lot of cases, and then they owe taxes on top of that, so they're actually not doubling, maybe the public 60 % of money. So all of these institutional traders, know this data, all of the bots that are doing trading, they need to accumulate positions and take the money from retail.
Kate Saba (47:27.192)
Mm-hmm.
Alex MN (47:43.27)
they know that because that's that data is available. So people that actually make a lot, they are detached from money. So you have to when you pick investments, you have to invest in companies that you think will do well for whatever reasons. And you just let them do their thing. Forget about it. Pretty much forget about it.
So the richest country in Europe, Switzerland per capita, wealth per capita, has the lowest home ownership percentage and the highest per capita investment percentage. So people rent and they invest instead. Very different conversation. You can listen to all these American dream stories. you have to buy a house, several cars, you have to get dead, blah, blah. But if you do the math, you're much better off.
Kate Saba (48:21.217)
Interesting.
Alex MN (48:33.396)
Even safe index, S &P 500, it returned at ignite percent over the last 130 years. If you put your cash, even the down payment on the house, if you leave it in that index, safe.
Kate Saba (48:34.852)
this.
Kate Saba (48:51.598)
Hold on, I can't hear you.
Kate Saba (48:58.788)
Hold on, hold on, I can't hear you, I can't hear you, hold on.
Alex MN (49:02.188)
I had a phone call, so it was interrupted.
Kate Saba (49:03.988)
Okay, that's okay. That's okay. You stopped at the and I'll erase this part if you look at the Index funds and then it stopped talking Can you repeat that part?
Alex MN (49:18.728)
so if you invest in an index, SAP 500, for the last 130 years, it returned, I think, 9 % on average per year. instead of buying a house, if you just put the money into an index fund, you will do much better off than collecting home equity. You can ask these questions in any of your GROK and CHRGPT. We'll give you the same answer.
Kate Saba (49:23.459)
Mm-hmm.
Kate Saba (49:38.424)
Bye.
Kate Saba (49:45.689)
Wow.
Alex MN (49:45.932)
But it's very counterintuitive because here all the American dreamers have to buy a house and keep making payments for 30 years. But the thing is the way their interest game is stacked, it's stacked against us. Banks win.
Kate Saba (49:54.564)
you
Kate Saba (49:59.447)
Yeah, yeah. So true, so true. It's a completely different mindset now. Wow. It's so true.
Alex MN (50:07.18)
But again, look at the Swiss. Nobody owns anything. They brand and they invest.
Kate Saba (50:11.714)
Wow, wow, I'm gonna have to write that down. Check it out. Yeah, get a little studio apartment. Wow. I know you kind of talked a little bit about the post-Soviet world today. Is there anything else you wanted to add, especially about Belarus, about the post-Soviet world? What are your thoughts?
Alex MN (50:16.043)
I'll see you next time.
Alex MN (50:22.08)
Money.
Alex MN (50:26.922)
Mm-hmm.
Alex MN (50:38.963)
We tried, we had an office once and it was very difficult. A, time zone issue was in the way. It was difficult to get and retain talent in that system because kids were just kind of all over the place. So we moved the ones we could move to the States and then had to shut down the office. was very difficult to do business there. So we tried, so I tried.
So maybe we'll try again in the future. From what I am seeing, there's quite a bit of exodus of talent still, especially now after the war. Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine as well. Again, in the age and world where countries should be fighting for young talent, that's not a good sign. They better figure out a way to bring those people back, or even people like you and me back, to help give us tax breaks. I don't know.
Kate Saba (51:18.168)
Yeah.
Kate Saba (51:30.018)
Exactly.
Alex MN (51:39.659)
provides a credit security guarantee that if we bring capital or talent to Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, I mean, give us something. Because otherwise I'm not sure how they, I mean, I'm not sure how they will do in 20 years from now, given all the AI stuff especially.
Kate Saba (51:43.961)
Yeah.
Kate Saba (51:49.995)
Yeah, no.
Kate Saba (51:56.175)
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I know right now the reason I'm not going back is there's no security. There's no guarantee that.
Alex MN (52:03.819)
Mm.
Kate Saba (52:04.964)
you know, not only safety, but there's just no guarantees that today we have this stability and then tomorrow it's all going to crash as we can see right now is the war. There is just no stability. There's no, you don't know what's going to happen. But also for me, I'm just also thinking, reflected on the same question of what I noticed my thoughts on post-Soviet world today is there's so much more, there are a lot more drugs now. There's a lot more crime that when I was growing up, didn't, I never even heard.
Alex MN (52:29.173)
There. There.
Kate Saba (52:29.636)
drugs. I never heard about drugs. Maybe I'm naive. Well, there is more drugs for sure. For sure. I they're introduced to it, but not, you know, was back there in 2019, right before pandemic and before the war started, of course, and the streets were very clean. I really felt very safe, actually safer than I would have been walking around in any big city here in the United States. So, you know, you bring everything up a good way.
Alex MN (52:35.317)
Mm-hmm.
Alex MN (52:51.004)
100%.
Alex MN (52:55.249)
even worse in Europe. Well, I was mugged in Barcelona recently.
Kate Saba (52:59.264)
Really, really well. But yeah, MISC was really nice. In fact, my husband even thought, I wouldn't mind buying an investment property here and just maybe coming here to live for a few months just to fill it out. Unfortunately, with the war, can't do it right now. But I'm still optimistic that after the war, things go back to normal and then we might consider that.
Alex MN (53:11.867)
and
Alex MN (53:19.369)
for that.
Mm-hmm.
Kate Saba (53:22.968)
But yeah, the drugs unfortunately have been introduced. It wasn't visible or something that you see, but that's just something I can hear that's unfortunately.
Alex MN (53:29.96)
I think there were drugs. mean, you could find trouble. I've heard of it. But again, what's happening here in the States, it's just completely insane. Here, it's everywhere. They're cheap, abundant. You can find any kind of medication laced with some crazy pains that will kill you in a heartbeat.
Kate Saba (53:39.906)
Yeah, I know. It is.
Kate Saba (53:52.343)
Wow. So hypothetically speaking, if let's say there was peace now, no war, no issues, would you see yourself going back to, say Minsk to live maybe part-time?
Alex MN (54:05.226)
Again, I left at the age where all of my life was built elsewhere. The thing is, I don't know anyone. Anyone though.
Kate Saba (54:06.229)
That would be a question.
Kate Saba (54:11.072)
Yes. So your community is here. Your community is here. Yeah.
Alex MN (54:16.371)
Yeah, it's... I'd like to probably go see some places from my childhood, but again for purely sentimental reasons. But again, my accent is worse in Russian than it is in English.
Kate Saba (54:31.14)
And another.
Alex MN (54:34.226)
At this point, there's not a single language I can speak without an accent. It was just kind of a trainwreck.
Kate Saba (54:38.5)
I'm probably in the same boat.
Alex MN (54:40.411)
I guess we'll call it a feature. It's not a problem, it's a feature.
Kate Saba (54:43.86)
That's exactly exactly. can embrace it and be proud of it, right?
Alex MN (54:47.633)
Mm-hmm. well, nothing else to do, yeah.
Kate Saba (54:49.61)
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So what do think people outside of the Soviet Union, Europeans, Americans, get wrong about the Soviet life?
It's kind of a backwards question.
Alex MN (55:04.739)
Maybe...
Alex MN (55:09.703)
I guess probably over.
What do you think about... A lot of things here, I think.
The Soviet Union was trying to actually physically hurt the American population, the populace, the civilians. It was never the case. Growing up, that is shocking to me. That brings back the plaque on the side of a building in West Chelsea, New York City, days ago, pointing to a pullout shelter. It's just shocking to me. Because growing up, I knew we had nuclear weapons. We knew...
Kate Saba (55:30.648)
Mm-hmm. Well.
Kate Saba (55:46.563)
Yeah.
Alex MN (55:53.449)
the United States had nuclear weapons and we knew there were security guarantees. We were in a way invincible. Nuclear war, knew, well, I knew at least, it just, it cannot happen, it was impossible. There's a reason why the United States and the Soviet Union back then, the two axes of power kind of kept the world at bay and guaranteed security because of that. So we knew the war was impossible because nobody could win that.
Kate Saba (56:14.958)
Mm-hmm.
Kate Saba (56:23.684)
Exactly.
Alex MN (56:24.306)
So nobody was afraid because it just was not an option.
Kate Saba (56:28.75)
Wow.
Alex MN (56:29.736)
So a lot of people don't realize that the Soviets, the Americans and the people from the Soviet bloc, they're seriously alike. That's why we integrate so well.
Kate Saba (56:40.046)
Wow. You know, I have a memory not so long ago, I was driving and there were talking on the radio on NPR actually how they took down the statue of Lenin in Moscow after the, I don't remember when it was, but just to picture the scenario, I'm driving in the car, maybe a year or two ago, and they're talking how they took out the statue of Lenin.
Nobody was there. It was just quietly taken down and willed away. Nobody, there was like not a person out there. It made me just so sad because that really emphasized that it's done, it's gone and there's no even a closure or farewell to the statue. Although, you know, it's kind of silly, but that's just how I felt. I was just so overwhelmed with emotion. I almost cried. I was like, what do mean there was nobody there? There was nobody to like, you know.
Alex MN (57:12.091)
Mm-hmm.
Alex MN (57:21.809)
Yeah.
Kate Saba (57:35.556)
I'm still trying to figure out why did I feel that way? I've been here in America for over 25 years and then I'm still, I still feel that connection and that sadness for those times. Again, not the regime itself, but just that era that really has something to do with bringing me up.
Alex MN (57:35.579)
pet him.
Wow, all of his boos, all of his- well it's his-
Alex MN (57:58.92)
But you know, was not a good person, Lenin. I remember the way everybody was brainwashed in that system, the way people were brainwashed, he was an incredible person, blah blah blah blah blah. Lenin was actually quite evil.
Kate Saba (58:01.7)
Yeah, and it's too civilized in the Soviet Union, the Soviet life.
Alex MN (58:16.135)
So let's not dive into it too much, no, that was sad for this texture though.
Kate Saba (58:20.804)
I think for me it was just... I just couldn't believe that that era was closed without real closure. It just happened so fast. But then so many things still the same. Like when I went back, a lot of things are still the same. People are... didn't change much.
Alex MN (58:36.998)
Mm.
Kate Saba (58:42.5)
didn't change much. the people remain the same. And I guess that that just tells you that that continues on. I know we're of coming to an end here and it's just been so much information. It's just such a fantastic, interesting conversation. So many points that are just key, at least for me to remember. Do you have anything else that you want to add at the end or something, your memory you want to share that you didn't have a chance to tell?
Alex MN (58:43.163)
Mm-hmm.
Alex MN (58:49.275)
Mm-hmm.
Alex MN (59:11.462)
I'll just still get them in.
Kate Saba (59:13.4)
Yeah, Soviet memory or how Soviet Union shaped you or whatever, whatever you feel like you want to share with the listeners.
Alex MN (59:23.815)
I think, I really think the Russians, the Belarusians, the Ukrainians are super welcoming. Once all of this dust settles, people should take a vacation. I mean, not a vacation, but everybody should visit that part of the world at least once and talk to real people because our governments are doing their thing and it's in their best interest to polarize us. But people are much closer to each other than you expect.
Kate Saba (59:50.039)
I'm so glad you're saying that because this is the key and that's what I want to show with the podcast is the soul, the soul of people, not that it's politics or politics, but the people are people. And I find with interviews that there's, have so much more in common and just talking to people in other nations, I do find that we have so much more in common, like I said, that we don't.
Alex MN (59:55.877)
No.
Alex MN (01:00:07.793)
Hmm
Kate Saba (01:00:14.09)
Alex, thank you so much. definitely learned how important it is to first of all, put into perspective. You wanted to help somebody to make a difference. That's the key that I'm taking away there.
And leaving your life. Well, you mentioned earlier that leaving your life, it just not worry about things, not having this baggage, so to speak. And I think a lot of people that I'm reflecting on do have that mentality, which actually makes it difficult to interview them. Because when I'd be asking for an interview, they're just like, what's in it for me, right? I'm living my life. So again, thank you so much for taking the time to come on the show with me and share so many valuable insights, just treasures, actually.
Alex MN (01:00:38.971)
Mm-hmm.
Alex MN (01:00:47.791)
Mm-hmm.
Alex MN (01:00:53.659)
Pleasure.
Kate Saba (01:01:00.454)
and opening up to.
Alex MN (01:01:01.56)
Well, I do have ADHD. The way I think, I'm kind of jumping all over the place. My mom, she did diagnose me with ADHD when I was little. So I'm proudly representing.
Kate Saba (01:01:06.5)
No, no, no, this is perfect.
Kate Saba (01:01:11.236)
I could never tell I could never tell no no no you're
Alex MN (01:01:17.765)
Oh, are you being sarcastic? No, it's difficult for me. Go to school. God, math, physics, all of the sciences were easy. It's just God forbid you had me read anything more than five pages. I just can't.
Kate Saba (01:01:30.212)
Probably because you weren't interested. don't think it was a problem. Probably because was something in your interest. There was something that interested you. I bet your money you would just devour it and be done with it. 100 pages on no time.
Alex MN (01:01:37.26)
That's part of ADHD.
Alex MN (01:01:44.003)
That is true. That is true. Well, it's a pleasure.
Kate Saba (01:01:48.185)
Thank you. So that's all for this episode of The Soviet Life. A huge thank you to Alex for sharing his story from his childhood in Belarus to starting over in the United States, to building and mentoring the world technology. His journey reminds us how much the values we carry from our past, perseverance, resilience, community continue to shape who we become. No matter where life takes us, we still have that core.
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share or leave review. It really helps more listeners discover the stories and really see the soul of our people and not just our people, but see the soul of people in general and see how much we have in common. If you'd like to hear more voices shaped by the Soviet experience, make sure to follow me for future episodes. And if you have any questions, concerns, comments, or would like to be interviewed, please, please reach out to me. I would absolutely love to hear from you.
Alex MN (01:02:38.789)
Okay.
Kate Saba (01:02:48.302)
me at Kate at the soviet life.com this is the Soviet life this is the Soviet life I'm your host Kate Sabba thanks again for listening until next time