A genius who gave life: «Happiness is a matter of technology»

Published: 2024-01-17

Ilya Svirin —
CEO of the Nordavind group of companies, who has made a revolution in healthcare and given the world a lot of unique technologies in the field of safety and trade


Who is Ilya Svirin? An entrepreneur or an inventor?

Every day for 20 years I have been helping people to survive. An entrepreneur is not a generator of ideas. Let’s leave it for gods and dreamers. An entrepreneur is a “What else can I do?”-kind of person. Just an idea itself doesn’t mean anything. Only a customer’s need has meaning. From this point of view, I don’t invent anything, I satisfy customers’ needs and show choice in every product of our company. And then people decide for themselves.

You launched your company almost 20 years ago. By today’s standards, it’s already a “long-liver”. What is the formula of your success?

There’s only one true formula repeatedly proven by time and all long-living brands. If your business still functions, the reason is not your genius. You need to forget about your genius and live in people’s world more often.

Has your customer changed during the life of the Nordavind company?

People will always remain people. With their values, their desires, their dreams and their needs. People’s needs never vanish, it is a constant value. The way to satisfy them is a variable value. It is a constant exchange.

What motivates you?

There’s no truth in the idea that motivation exists. And there’s no truth in the ideas that you have to motivate yourself. Motivation is a deception of a market economy. How do you feel when you just want to sing sitting in public transport or standing in the kitchen? When you want it so much that if you don’t do it right away then it will be the end of the world? How does an artist feel when he sees a canvas? How does a surfer feel when he sees the ocean? Inspiration. Inspiration is nothing else than an inner motivation. You don’t need motivation when you want to express yourself. When you don’t have a rigid paradigm with the words “I have to”, but you have a persistent, inner and irresistible desire with the words “I want”.  I have never seen Creators without ideas and a desire to do something. I have never seen artists, dancers, writers without ideas and a desire to do something. But many times I have seen people who need training on motivation because once they lied to themselves and tried on other people’s ideas. As a result, nowadays there are almost no ideas in the world calculated for customers. All ideas are calculated from the point of view of a simple motivation that is a reluctance to work as a courier and a desire to work as a boss. 

But do you still motivate your company’s employees?

I am really happy that I have managed to assemble a team of like-minded people out of key people who  do something every day not for the sake of motivation but because they live customers’ lives, your lives. You use out products and these people use years of their lives to give you this opportunity. It is not difficult to find employees and even top employees and to motivate them. It is difficult to find those who will die for your dream every day.

When we think about Starbucks we think of a person with good taste. When we think about Lamborghini we imagine a little man who conquered the world. What do people imagine when they think of Nordavind?

The whole global technological progress that has only one goal – to serve for the benefit of people. 
Striving for the best that a person can do. And also love. To people and science.

Do you have some kind of universal technology that you can apply to everything? 

It’s a skill to love people more than yourself. More than your ambitions, more than your doubts, more than your illusions, prejudices and your pride. The greatest privilege that is given to a person from above is to be the reason for somebody’s good changes in life. Use it! At any moment of your life, at any meeting, any stage of development of your idea, you can honestly and openly ask yourself one single question: who do I love more at this moment? Myself or?

And what about happiness?

Happiness is a matter of technology. And we have done everything to make you happy.

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