Our guest for this episode is Valentyn Zadorin. He is a private equity investor at Siguler Guff and is responsible for deal evaluation and execution for Siguler Guff’s Global Emerging Markets platform. Prior to joining Siguler Guff in 2022, he was an Investment Banker at Barclays Investment Bank covering the technology ecosystem. Previously, he was a Co-founder and Partner at a full-service 3PL provider in Ukraine and an investor in emerging markets.
We get to know more about Val as he talks about his background, growing up in Ukraine, and his reasons for coming to Haas to pursue an MBA.
Val was also recently featured in Poets&Quants about his views and experience on the Russian aggression in Ukraine. In this episode, he shares a little bit about what started the war, what’s currently going on, and the actions people can take to help Ukraine win.
Episode Quotes:
Why Haas?
“I didn’t have an emotional connection to Berkeley, to be entirely honest. But I knew two things. The first one is that I felt big potential in technology, so I wanted to start in the right field, in the right market. And what’s the best place to do that other than the Bay area? And the second thing, I actually could relate to the four defining principles. It’s funny because, usually, you think it’s just a marketing tool of some sort. But in reality, some of those are indeed what I have been trying to be as a person. My favorite one is confidence without attitude. And to me, it fits my personality really well. I believe, after my experience of working with different graduates from different schools, Berkeley and Haas is really distinguished by incredibly smart and hardworking people who are modest and have the confidence without attitude at the same time.
When I got to the school, it turned out that it was actually an amazing fit. I realized only after being at Haas how lucky I got, essentially. It was challenging, but the environment is just incredibly supportive, and starting from my classmates to the faculty, I got a lot of support in the school. And I’m glad I ended up in Berkeley and I made the right choice in the end.”
On what could be the end result of the war for Ukraine
“So, by starting this war, Russia not only just blew up their economy. They not only united all the Ukrainians together. I believe, really, after the war ends, Ukraine is going to be more united than ever. And it’s going to be an incredibly prosperous country because this aggression just changed our moral compass inside the country. And at the same time, it brought the attention of international organizations to the issues. I think, with international support, after the war ends, the best way to actually change something within Russia is to show that Ukraine is going to be prosperous and successful. And hopefully, after Russian people see that, they will realize that they have to do something on their own within their country.”
Action items for people to help support Ukraine
“I think it’s really important to talk about it. And we probably are at the point where people are just getting tired of negative news and the war. They’re trying to move on. But in reality, it’s important for all of us, as I mentioned. It’s really a war against freedom and the war against Western values.
There are a few action items. So, first of all, it’s probably most important. Please, use your rights as citizens and appeal to elected representatives. Just move this top on their agenda, essentially. Let them know that it’s important for you and let them know that, if they want to be elected for the next term, they should be helping Ukraine. I think that’s a really important thing.
Secondly, Ukraine needs weapons. We have been winning. The problem is there are five Russian soldiers and one Ukrainian, and there are three tanks on one Ukrainian missile launcher. So, to really fight back, Ukraine needs weapons.
The third thing, and it’s really important. I recommend donating. I’ve received so many donations for the Ukrainian cause. And it’s like tens of thousands of dollars that were channeled through me to NGOs who are helping victims of war, who are helping soldiers now. I really appreciate that.”
How can businesspeople and entrepreneurs help the cause?
“As businessmen, as graduates of Haas, we are making purchasing decisions, all of us. At some point, we either will be or we are. Don’t buy Russian products, because by buying Russian products, you are paying companies who are going to pay taxes in Russia that, in turn, going to be used to finance the war. And it’s a vote that we are making with our wallets. So, be mindful of that. And please, check your channels.”
Show Links:
Transcript:
(Transcripts may contain a few typographical errors due to audio quality during the podcast recording.)
[00:00] Chris: Welcome to the OneHaas Podcast. I’m Chris Kim. Today, we have Valentyn Zadorin, private equity investor at Siguler Guff. Val is a Haas MBA alum and an experienced entrepreneur and investor. Val’s background includes studying electrical engineering in Odessa. And Val was recently featured in Poets&Quants about his views and experience on the Russian aggression in Ukraine. Val, welcome. And great to have you on the show.
[00:26] Valentyn: Hi, Chris. Hey, everyone. Thank you for having me.
[00:30] Chris: Yeah, Val, it’s been great just even in our pre-call talking and connecting. Could you talk a little bit about your background? On paper, you studied engineering in Ukraine and then came to Haas for your MBA. Could you talk a bit about what was it like growing up? And how does that experience really formed who you are today?
[00:49] Valentyn: Yeah, sure, Chris. I’m originally from Odessa. It’s Miami of Ukraine. It’s a city on the south of the country on the cost of Black Sea. It’s an incredible place to grow up, really. It’s fun. It’s especially fun in the summer. Right now, probably, I wouldn’t recommend going to the beach because it’s full of landmines because we are trying to prevent invasion right now across the country. But really, I’ve had an incredible childhood in the city. I started engineering, as you mentioned, in Odessa, as well. I can’t really pretend that it was a well-thought-of choice, because when I was making that choice, I was—what is it, 15 or 16 years old? And at that point in time, I was pretty sure that I’m going to be a rapper. And I didn’t really care what educational background, I guess. But it turned out that it’s great basics to be in the industry that covers technology.
[02:00] Chris: Your experience was both not just as a student or an engineer studying, but you also were an entrepreneur before the MBA program. Can you explain just what Ukraine was like, both as you were coming out of school and also working in business, for folks who aren’t familiar? Ukraine definitely was, in many ways, ever-changing and thriving and developing economy in terms of even things like entrepreneurship, which are awesome. Could you explain, maybe, what that experience was like and what it was like until, maybe, recently with some of the recent events that have happened?
[02:36] Valentyn: So, I actually think that all the events, despite the consequences for the economy, I think it actually helps us to do the opposite of what the invaders were hoping for. I think we are really united right now. And the business in general is focused on helping victims of the war and helping to win the war, to see the unity on all levels in the country. It’s incredible. And I myself, I’m trying to help as much as possible from US right now. But back in the time, as I mentioned, I was a student in engineering, but my actual interests in entrepreneurship and business started to crystallize probably closer to my senior years. Actually, I got master’s as well. I’m doing my master’s. I was working full-time in a company. It’s an industrial holding. And we were trying to invest and build out an industrial park in Odessa.
And the funny thing, actually, is when I was graduating in Odessa, we had an HR agency coming over to the university. And they gave us this questionnaire, essentially asking us, what do you want to do after you graduate, to find potential candidates for their own benefit for their sourcing. And I’d never heard about private equity or investing in Odessa. It’s not that common. But what I wrote is pretty similar to what I do now.
And the funny thing is they never actually got back to me. And my classmates who were more, I guess, on the traditional side of the engineering who wants to get into software development and all of that, some of them actually got some help from those HR guys. But for me, it was always a struggle to find a real place to apply my skills and do what I want. And as I mentioned, I managed to find this company they were trying to establish industrial park. And I was helping them on that. But shortly after I graduated, I spent another six months in that operation. And I just left the corporate world. And me and my friends, we founded a company in logistics. And it’s an incredible experience. I’m glad I had it. Again, Ukraine, Odessa specifically, it’s still a local market, and it’s not as exciting, not as big as United States. So, it’s an important time, I realize, that I want to get exposure to international experience as well. And that actually led me to MBA later down the road.
[05:43] Chris: Yeah, absolutely. Val, for some folks, the goal post-MBA is to become an entrepreneur and to do exactly what you are already doing. But you actually came back after even having that kind of dream for a lot of people. So, what else were you thinking about? Besides the exposure, was there anything else you were thinking about from the MBA? And then how did you end up choosing to come to Haas and some of the schools, maybe, that you selected?
[06:08] Valentyn: Absolutely. So, I guess, for me, it was completely different from what probably the usual path is from a corporate to MBA then to entrepreneurship. It was a pivot, in a way, because I mentioned we had a small logistics company. They’re not small, by the way, now. The guys are still running it, and it’s a great business. But for me, at some point in time, I realized that it’s not a unicorn story, and in the best case scenario, I’ll be well-off financially, but I’ll still be a local businessman man. And as I mentioned, I decided that I want to give it a shot, take risk, and just explore international markets a bit.
And I can say that I won’t get back to entrepreneurship in some point in time. I guess it’s a disease, probably, in a way. But I had this another dream of mine as well. I really liked investing, and even with my own limited funds, I was trying to do something in that field. For me, the pivot was about going into an MBA with the goal of changing both geographies and the industries. I really didn’t have financial experience that I could really market in the United States. And MBA, it made sense for me to make a switch to another industry and change the geography as well.
So, when I was applying, to answer your second question, I really was thinking I didn’t have emotional connection to Berkeley, to be entirely honest. When I was applying I was thousands of miles away, and I was applying to top schools. And it didn’t really make much difference. The only connection there is I knew two things. The first one is I felt big potential in technology, so I wanted to start in the right field, in the right market. And what’s the best place to do that other than there? And the second thing, I actually could relate to the four defining principles. It’s funny because, usually, you think it’s just a marketing tool of some sort. But in reality, some of those are indeed what I have been trying to be as a person. And it’s one of the things that I actually wrote in my essay. My favorite one is confidence without attitude. And to me, it fits my personality really well, I think. I believe, after my experience of working with different graduates from different schools, Berkeley and Haas is really distinguished by incredibly smart and hardworking people who are modest and have the confidence without attitude at the same time.
So, that was one of the things that I actually was able to relate to. But when I got to the school, it turned out that it was actually an amazing fit. I realized only after being at Haas how lucky I got, essentially. It was challenging. And as someone who was trying to change so many things—geography, professional field, the culture, and the language, everything—was a challenge for me. I had to work quite a bit. But the environment, it’s just incredibly supportive, and everyone, starting from my classmates to just faculty, I got a lot of support in the school. And I’m glad I ended up in Berkeley and I made the right choice in the end.
[10:50] Chris: Val, you had a big dream, but you were able to accomplish that dream. You graduated from Haas and went into banking, and then, soon after a couple of years, in private equity now. Could you talk about what that experience was like, transitioning, and then, also, what did it feel like going from being an entrepreneur and then graduating the program and now you are in your professional career as an investor now?
[11:13] Valentyn: Yeah. I think, honestly, it was probably more challenging for me than it had to be because I was used to be more on the entrepreneurial side, making my own decisions and trying to drive things forward. When you get into big corporations such as Barclays—I spent a couple of years as an investment banker and technology group at Barclays. When you get in that sort of environment, it’s way different because, from one side, you really have to learn a lot. And I realized that I don’t have the messages, as I mentioned. So, I was trying to learn as much as possible. But at the same time, it’s just corporate world is quite different from entrepreneurship in its nature. And for me, I’m incredibly likely to an additional switch after two years in Barclays, two and a half years in Barclays. I just recently moved to private equity investing. It’s called Siguler Guff in New York. And we invest and we acquire companies in emerging markets. And I feel that there’s a huge overlap with my experience, my interests, the mission that I can see for myself in investing in emerging markets, because someone—I mean myself—from emerging markets, then I get a chance to see firsthand just the impact of diligent international investors.
We will probably get into it, but after the revolution in Ukraine in 2014, I spent some time in investment team of the government. I volunteered to help on the investment team, investment committee of the local Odessa government in Ukraine. And I was working with incredible individuals. And one of them is former president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, who used to be a professor at Columbia University. And right now, by the way, he also suffers from injustice of the regime in Russia because he was in strong opposition to Russian regime, being the president of Georgia. And afterwards, he admonished Ukraine when his term ended. And I want to make this point as well. He is now actually jailed in Georgia for what I believe completely political reasons. So, we have to be aware of that as well. But back in the time, I spent some time helping them with their investment strategies and really saw firsthand how important international investors are for emerging country like Ukraine, for example. So, I’m glad to be on the other side of the table now, and to do something that I feel really changes lots of people in those countries for the better.
[14:45] Chris: Yeah, absolutely. It’s awesome to hear that you can do that in your work as well. One of the other things, I think it’s pretty notable you’ve come out very publicly to gather support for the Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. Could you talk about what it was like when you first heard about recent aggression and what was going on? You were, like you said, working in the States and working on all the things that you’re doing in your day job, and then the aggression started to build fairly quickly. Could you explain some of the background? And then, also, what was your experience like when you first started hearing about what was going on in your home country?
[15:21] Valentyn: Of course, I think, as every Ukrainian, I took it really personally, obviously, because in reality it’s completely the injustice of the attack by itself. It just breaks my heart because I have personal story with Ukrainian culture. And I’ll dive into it in a little bit. But for me, as someone who has family in Ukraine and I see many of my friends right now are risking their lives. And I believe what their risking their lives for is not only Ukrainian nationhood or just Ukrainian matter. In reality, and it’s probably one of the most important things, that just an idea, if I could leave you and the audience with some sort of an idea, it would be this. I think it’s not just Ukraine-Russia war. I won’t say much about injustice of the attack or the fact that, in reality, it’s a war of autocracy against freedom, I believe, of dictatorship against democracy, because dictators can’t afford having real democracy on that border. And there are just different parts of history that I could bring into the whole topic, but I think the most important thing for everyone to realize is that, at this point in time, regular Russians—and I’m speaking about 60% of people there—they just hate everything connected with United States. And they hate European Union. They hate US because they blame US and EU for their poverty and for their failures—or essentially, the failures of the government.
And you know why? Because their government has been telling them that for decades now. Russia, essentially, it’s a poor country. And they spend a huge portion of their budget on military and for just police, like internal police, because they’re really afraid of any potential revolution or something that could resemble democracy within the country. And they spend a lot of money on that. But in addition to that, based from different estimates, 15 or 25% are spent on media. And when I say media, I mean propaganda. And it’s huge amounts of money that was going into media inside and outside the country. And they’ve been doing it for decades. And unfortunately, you can just go on YouTube and see interviews of just regular people on the streets in Russia who might talk about an idea about nuking United States or taking over Berlin. I think it’s crazy and it’s scary. And I realized that not all of the Russians are like that. I have a bunch of friends who are completely same people. But what’s scary is this level of propaganda that’s happening right now. And in US, I might hear people sometime saying that there is no national interest of United States in Ukraine. We don’t care who’s going to rule Donbas. And we should not be risking World War III here. Unfortunately, first of all, it’s immoral position to have. And secondly, just because it’s genocide in the middle of Europe right now. It’s really a genocide, what’s happening. It’s horrible.
And secondly, unfortunately, when you speak with that spoiler line, you are just playing chamberlain, you are not preventing World War III. You are just postponing it. And obviously, NATO is not going to intervene and fight on behalf of Ukraine at this point. It’s unfortunate because I believe it could prevent additional victims, but I can understand that. At the same time, I think the best thing that everyone can do right now is to help Ukraine to stop this aggression right here right now, to prevent horrible consequences for the entire world later on.
And that’s probably it on this question. And I can share ways how to help. And I think you mentioned that we’re going to do it in the end of the podcast. So, I definitely have some practical to-dos that all of us should be aware of.
[21:05] Chris: Sure, absolutely. To your point, the power of propaganda, specifically in Russia, is pretty significant, right? And one of the things I noticed in something that was written in another publication was that you mentioned about Russian justification for attacking and killing people in Ukraine. For folks who aren’t aware of that, maybe aren’t keeping up with the news, could you explain a bit what that justification is? And can you also explain why that may not make any sense to people who actually were living in Ukraine, based on what are some of the propaganda coming out against Ukraine and Ukrainian people?
[21:47] Valentyn: Yeah. Many thanks, Chris. I think it’s really important question to highlight. So, let me start with just my personal connection. What they justified with is there are a couple of things. So, first one is to support local Russian-speaking population in Ukraine. And second is to prevent Ukraine from entering NATO. So, keeping those two things in mind, my personal perspective as someone who has been speaking Russian in Ukraine for my whole life. My whole family speaks Russian.
Let me put it this way. In 2013, we had a revolution in Ukraine, 2013, 2014. Why it happened? Essentially, we had a puppet president who was sponsored by Russia, as it turned out. And that guy, at one point, he decided unilaterally that, instead of integrating with European Union, Ukraine is going to integrate with Russia, instead. So, after that, it evolved from a small protest, a couple of students, 200 people went out to the main square in Kyiv in the capital where the people protest. And they were, at some point, severely beaten by riot police on the order of the president—of the former president, essentially. And At that point in time, on the next day, there were hundreds of thousands of people on the streets, because you can’t really beat someone up or shot someone out in Ukraine by force. You cannot make people who have values of freedom deep in their blood to just shot them out at force. And that started the evolution, essentially. Many people, unfortunately, we had to pay with blood. Many people died. And I was one of the guys who, actually, I was running out there on the streets as well. And it was scary to go out. There were protests. There were some blocking police preventing them from making headquarters and all of that.
It was scary, but what was even more scary is to think what will happen if you don’t go out. If you wouldn’t go out, help the country and the place you live, it’s going to look next day. And essentially, we prevent it. Ukraine, at that point, the former president, he ran to Russia. And democratic government was elected. And we prevented Ukraine just becoming another puppet state of Russia at that point, that’s the goal of Russian regime, is to keep their sphere of influence of the former USSR and establish puppet regimes in neighboring countries, essentially. And Ukraine, at that point, prevented that from happening. So, Russia, as a great neighbor, they just backstabbed us and they intervened. They took Crimea, annexed Crimea, at that point in time in 2014. And they started a war on the east of the country. Again, saying that they’re helping Russian-speaking population there.
So, myself, as a Russian-speaking citizen of Ukraine, I, first of all, had never experienced any issues with speaking Russian or speaking any language I want in Ukraine. As someone who was born in, probably, typical for that geography, culture, and environment, I didn’t really identify myself as a Ukrainian, per se, back in 2013. I didn’t have this strong cultural affinity to Ukraine, to be honest. I knew I’m a citizen of Ukraine, but we always were thinking that—going to be somewhat in good relationships with Russia just because it makes sense to be in good relationship with your neighbor, to have economic relationship and all of that. But at this point in time, in 2014, when Russia backstabbed Ukraine by annexing Crimea with no reason, I started to feel myself as a Ukrainian. And that was the first, I guess, mass movement in the country when most of the people started to realize that we are completely different from Russia. And to be safe with this kind of a neighbor, we started to think about potentially joining NATO, because NATO was never a thing in Ukraine, honestly. Since independence, if you look at all of the surveys and polls supporters of NATO, it was less than 20 to 30% of the country.
After 2014, everything changed, because we realized that we had a neighbor who will and can attack us at any point. That’s why the politicians started to speak about NATO, at least. And you have to understand that, in reality, it wasn’t really an option for Ukraine to become a part of NATO in the next 10 years, at least. So, when Russia said that they started the war to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO, they achieved the opposite, because now you can see Northern countries, you can see Finland, you can see all other countries who historically have suffered from this imperialism that still prevails in Russia, they’re starting to realize that they need some defense and they need some support as well. So, by starting this war, Russia not only just blew up their economy. They not only united all the Ukrainians together. I believe, really, after the war end, Ukraine is going to be more united than ever. And it’s going to be incredibly prosperous country in the end, because this aggression just changed our moral compass inside the country. And at the same time, it brought attention of international organizations to the issues. And I think, with international support, after the war ends, the best way to actually change something within Russia is to show that Ukraine is going to be prosperous and successful. And hopefully, after Russian people see that, they will realize that they have to do something on their own within their country. So, I hope that answers the question, in a way.
In addition to that, some people, this concept about connection between Russia and Ukraine that Putin, president of Russia, he has been publishing those crazy notes, having nothing better to do other than just trying to change history, at least. Because that’s one of the tools that you will see Russian empire has been doing for hundreds of years.
And if you really want to know more, I didn’t dive deep into the question before, as I mentioned, before 2014, but to really understand the history here, I recently read a book by a professor of Harvard, Serhii Plokhy. And the name of the book is Lost Kingdom. So, it really goes deep into the history and relationship between Ukraine and Russia. And when Kyiv was really successful cultural and economic center of the region, there was no Moscow. When Ukraine was their own government, and by the way it was democratic government, back in the times, Ukrainian culture is based on really democratic values. When that was happening, Russia was still on their one goal. And after Russian empire took over Ukraine, they’ve been trying to introduce this concept of Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus is the same nation, which is, to start with, not true. You can see distinct cultural differences between those nations.
And by saying that there’s some sort of a connection and brotherhood, the only thing they’re trying to achieve is not to help their brothers and sisters. What they’re trying to achieve is just a strong national identity and re-establish this imperialistic sort of mindset. And this is scary because, honestly, it just goes against all of the lessons of history and all the lessons that they got in the 20th century.
[32:32] Chris: Yeah, absolutely, Val. Val, as we come to a close, I know we were talking about one of the most important things is the action items, as it relates to what people can do, and then, also, where should people focus. I know you have talked about some thoughts. Could you share a bit about what do you think is important for people to think about and focus on as it relates to Ukraine? And do you have any action items or next steps you think Haasies or the Haas community can do to stay involved and help to support the folks in Ukraine really fighting against the aggression coming in from Russia?
[33:07] Valentyn: Absolutely. And first of all, thank you, Chris, for just having me here, because I think it’s really important to talk about it. And we probably are at the point where people are just getting tired of negative news and the war. They’re trying to move on. But in reality, it’s important for all of us, as I mentioned. It’s really war against freedom and the war against Western values. So, I appreciate all the help that Ukraine received so far. And I think I’ve been doing a bunch of those just calls with people and trying to let people know what they can help with. And there are few action items. So, first of all, it’s probably most important. Please, use your rights as citizens and appeal to elected representatives. Just move this top on their agenda, essentially. Let them know that it’s important for you and let them know that, if they want to be elected for the next term, they should be helping Ukraine. I think that’s really important thing.
Secondly, at this point, Ukraine needs weapons. And Ukraine needs vehicles. And we’ve proven Russia fails to achieve really any of the strategic targets for the war in the first month and a half. We’ve proven that Ukraine is really capable of resisting and we are capable of winning this war at some point. As I mentioned, we’re winning this war in the help of, really, everyone, and the West including. So, to support Ukraine, let your representatives know that they should be supporting, providing help to Ukraine, including weapons, because in reality, it turns out, Russia is not as good as some people saw in the warfare. We have been winning. And the problem is there are five Russian soldiers and one Ukrainian, and there are three tanks on one Ukrainian missile-launcher. So, to really fight back, I believe Ukraine needs weapons.
The third thing, and it’s really important. And I really appreciate everyone, all of my friends here in US and my classmates from Berkeley. I’ve received so many the donations for the Ukrainian cause. And it’s like tens of thousands of dollars that were channeled through me to NGOs who are helping victims of war, who are helping soldiers now. I really appreciate that. If you want to help on that front, we recommend a couple of things. So, I recommend to donate. The best channel would probably be Razom. It’s Razom for Ukraine. It’s an NGO. They’ve been working in Ukraine for 10 years now. Those guys are incredible. They’re completely selfless. And they’ve done incredible job helping soldiers and refugees and everyone else. So, if you want to donate, go to razomforukraine.org, R-A-Z-O-M-forUkraine.org. And you’ll see a couple of links there with just ways to donate. If you want to, feel free to get in touch with me personally, and I’ll help match your donations, and send them to specific causes. That’s where I’m from, where my friends and other selfless people, they’re helping refugees and other people who suffers from the war.
So, those three items would probably be the most important ones. I think fourth one to add to that, we, as businessmen, as graduates of Haas, we are making purchasing decisions, all of us. At some point, we either will be or we are. And don’t buy Russian products, because by buying Russian products, you are paying companies who are going to pay taxes in Russia that, in turn, going to be used to finance the war. And it’s a war that we are making by our wallets. So, be mindful of that. And please, check your channels. Check companies who are still working in Russia. I think those four things would be the most important ones.
[38:02] Chris: That’s awesome. Well, Val, it’s been so great to have you on the podcast today. We want to wish you and your family and loved ones all the best. And we’ll definitely be supporting you and continue to get this information out to the Haas community. So, best wishes. And thanks, again.
[38:19] Valentyn: Thank you so much, Chris, for having me. And go, bears.
[38:22] Chris: Go, bears.