A Transformative Odyssey

Thrilled by the masterpiece "Indriver (from Siberia to Silicon Valley)," one feels immersed in Yakutia, absorbing the constant vibes of an extraordinary personality, Arsen. Born to challenge longstanding ideologies and improve the world, Arsen becomes a source of inspiration for those driven by passion and courage to confront challenges. This book will be a source of great admiration for those who never fail to work with passion and have the guts to face problems in any condition. It will also be a big slap for those who are living with an ongoing culture of making excuses, for those who think their problems are big and believe their ideas don’t have worth because they belong to a small country. Every Nepali youth and youth throughout the world should read and follow this.

It is not just a journey that Arsen Tusky made from the world's coldest region in Siberia as a small IT entrepreneur to the world's biggest IT hub in Silicon Valley, making Indriver the world's second-largest ride-hailing company, but it’s a journey that every aspirant should go through if they have real zest to make a difference. Before this book, I used to think that Arsen was just the founder of Indriver, but after reading this book, I can say that I was wrong. Arsen is not just an IT professional but also a dynamic personality who has expertise in mathematics, economics, politics, and philosophy. He is a true nature lover and, at his best, a true patriot. Arsen has never missed putting his words of wisdom flawlessly so that anyone reading his book will be able to grasp them easily. There are numerous factors that the writer is trying to show through his life experience.

His relationship with his father was not good, but he never fails to praise his father's genetics and name, which blessed him with natural abilities in mathematics and algorithms, opening the gateway to school. He used to stammer from his childhood, but he never let it be his weakness; instead, he marked it as a god's special gift. In the 1990s, there was a great crisis and situation in the USSR, which could lead to an uncertain future, starvation, and even death. Despite this, Arsen was there, fighting for his family. Philosophy and practicality are different when it comes to responsibilities. He was invited by different foreign companies due to his outstanding IT abilities, for which he could have had a comfortable living for himself and his family, but he denied it and stood in his hometown with a hope for change and a strong desire to contribute something to his society. This sense holds a deep meaning of the unconditional love of a person towards his native land, making it the best meaning of patriotism. Leaving your country for your comfort will never help; words never change the face of your country, but your deeds do.

The ups and downs, failures, and success of ykt.ru have made the story more interesting. This company has let Arsen live many different conditions: selling his cars to pay employees, struggling with traffic, experimenting with algorithms, catching the world's eyes with a boy participating in a beauty contest, which incidentally gave birth to a viral mantra, dealing with betrayals, becoming the biggest regional portal, and facing controversies that started with Kiev clips, which became the reason for termination of his designations at the government bodies.

The transformation of Arsen is mesmerising: from an admirer to a goon to a calm and honest entrepreneur. A transformation from a boy who got D's and got admitted to a school due to his father’s name, where he saw a computer for the first time, to an IT professional who leads the world's second biggest ride-hailing company (Indriver). His thoughts towards spirituality and critical thinking, which say that we are not just the only beings on earth, but there is someone else who runs this system, and the Eastern philosophy explaining happiness, are stunning.

His story of overcoming depression independently and his inner venture in seeking to find real happiness and his findings, the mantra for happiness, i.e., caring nature, is truly an inspiring story that will help change many lives and transform a pitiful life into a happy one. Therefore, this is the biggest reason why this book is a must-read for everyone. Failure comes with a lesson and has a second part, which is success. Constant focus, transparency in your work, and faith in yourself eventually pay off. The story of how Arsen got betrayed by Yakutsk University, his failure of the regional portal module development, was an admiration for Arsen's idea to make ykt.ru the biggest and most successful regional portal in Russia, and how his continuous struggle to keep the truth finally released the ban on Indriver in Kazakhstan.

Coming to Arsen's life lessons as an entrepreneur, Arsen has provided his life learnings and experiences through which he was able to build, upgrade, and expand Indriver. From his ventures like the kiosk business and Pelican (an e-commerce business), we can understand why we should never start a business in which we have no expertise and can't give proper time and focus. The best part for me is where he says that the leader should be transparent and never biassed towards his employees; through this practice, we can deal with any problems, and the team itself will work as a strong entity. A good leader should always motivate the employees, not just with words but with real practice. Through this practice, we can get the best out of our team. Strategies like selecting the best employees for tasks based on their abilities and cutting off employees who are not fit for the team will help optimise the workforce and reduce the chances of the worst consequences.

The book ends with a moral that states that everyone of us is an individual driver and that life is a road with both pleasant and bumpy roads as well as traps. We have the independence and liberty to select our path. If we remain true and hardworking, we will reach our goal, and if we choose the path of laziness and fakery, we will surely collapse.

(The author is an entrepreneur and is the director of New Muktinath Traders and Suppliers.)