Remember Soviet Union? 30% of all R&D efforts of USSR were performed in Ukraine. High-tech, space tech, nano, bio - they did it all. This tells you something about local engineering talent. Multiply that by increasing internet penetration, access to business know-how and venture capital. What you get is a vast pool of potential breakthrough businesses waiting to be incubated and cultivated. Cheap.

And that’s as far as global opportunities are concerned. Ukraine itself has a population of 50 mln and is a potential outlet to the Russian 200 mln people market. We’re talking about rather homogenious and isolated market. Think copycating. Think replicating proven business models. Any questions?

Quite a few in fact. Like - how is it there? What are the people like? What about labour costs? Recruitment services? Infrastructure? Political and legislative stability? Infrastructure and business environment?

When flying to Ukraine I had all these questions bouncing in my head. I was hoping to clarify some of these issues during TMT.Ventures‘08 Kiev conference hosted by New Europe Events.

Few months back I’ve met an Ukrainian entreprenuer and a great guy Yegor Anchishkin. Based on that experience I was expecting a lot and I must say I wasn’t dissapointed.

Ukraine is an emerging market for sure but apart from its local engineering talent it’s got great connections with Sillicon Valley through numerous ex-USSR inhabitants now living around the world and in the Bay Area itself. They know what’s left back home and they’re taking advantage of it while the global and regional VC funds consider it too early to enter Ukraine.

The conference agenda looked great. So did the speakers list. If that wasn’t enough I was expecting an emotional and thrilling 7 minutes contest. Nice package.

For starters Andrzej Jasieniecki, MCI Investment Director, proved his language skills when speaking Russian and surprising most people in the audience. Because of the big internal market some people know English rather passively which doesn’t stop them from building successfull businesses. Andrzej IMHO is one of the most successful VCs in Poland by the way.

Another positive surprise for the audience came with presentation of Ms. Lidia Adamska, v-ce President of the Warsaw Stock Exchange. She speaks both Russian and English which certainly helps. Her business English and presentation skills were the best I’ve heard from a non-native speaker. That’s class. WSE’s offerings sold themselves as an alternative to other markets like LSE. Cheaper, closer, equally stable and secure and they speak Russian.

Speaking next was Tomasz Czechowicz who is one of the most successful and most distinguished VCs in Central Europe. In fact I think his top-ranked-CEO-style presentation and image is a bit intimidating for most entreprenuers. I’ve seen it at several different occasions and in many countries. He’s all business. All other VCs say that.

One of the highlights of the event was also a Paul Fisher presentation. Paul represents Advent Venture Partners and a Westerners easy-going personality. And he’s a fun guy to be around. Just like few months back in Warsaw he raised great interest and did a lot of networking after the presentation. Easterners dig Westerners like Paul, Greg or Sean.

Then the most anticipated part of the event commenced. The 7 minutes contest is is a unique competition for innovative entrepreneurs and their projects from the space of telco, new media and new technologies. It is an express elevator up to the community of investors and experienced businesspeople with decision-making power whose recommendations and support are like rocket fuel for the projects aimed in the right direction.

‘7 minutes’ is also a challenge for entrepreneurs trying to make an impression and deliver a convincing presentation in an extremely short period of 7 minutes. It is a test of self-confidence and charisma for the project-leaders standing in front of a demanding audience, their competition, world-class investors, bloggers and media people.

And it was moderated by Yuri Boyko - an eloquent engineer, hi-tech entreprenuer well known to many venture capitalists, an invited speaker at the industry and scientific conferences and co-organizer of master classes for high-tech start-ups. I must say he was the perfect guide for the young and not-so young Ukrainian ‘7 minutes’ finalists. Very involved and really supportive. And he flew over from the States to do this job. Just like in previous contests I was the moderator’s side-kick running the 7 minutes clock and viciously stopping the finalists presentations. That was fun. Hopefully most people got the idea of self-improvement and polishing their presentations.

The ‘7 minutes’ presentations … I’ll update this piece later.

Then the discussion panels followed. Since they were in Russian and the simultaneus translation wasn’t too accurate I didn’t get much of it but one thing is sure - these folks mean business.

All of this couldn’t have happend if it wasn’t for Denis Dovgopoliy of BayView Innovations - the local business angel and investor relations consultant. Denis knows everyone, pickes the most promising start-ups and flies to San Francisco several times a year to get them going. He’s the local go-to-guy if you want to invest in Ukraine. And he’s smart to stay independent from any particular VC fund too dispite many employment offers. That’s how emerging markets work.

Having a beer with a global VC sounds good but try to arrange it and you will learn it is not easy at all. ;-)

Here’s my HOW TO and case study from a night before TMT.Ventures’08 Kiev conference.

First - you have to understand that a VC may have plenty of money under management but has very little time for having beers with entreprenuers. Perhaps the easiest way to have a beer with a VC is to register at a conference s/he is speaking at. But if you think offering a beer before or after the presentation is a good idea - think again. You have to count on inconvenient flight connection which places an unsuspecting VC in a strange city the evening before or after the official event.

Second - you have to know the right people. Sometimes there’s an unofficial networking dinner before or after the conference. Sometimes there isn’t which doesn’t mean a VC will stay in his/hers hotel all night. Good intel is crucial at this point. You must know the organizer like Ewa Stepien of New Europe Events.

Third - you must understand that even if there’s no official networking party your chosen VC will not wonder around the city at random. S/he will choose a place in order to maximize ROI making the most of the limited time at hand. Most probably s/he will choose a hotel bar/restaurant or an irish pub where there’s a chance someone will speak english and signs on the toilet doors will be in English and not in some unrecognizable and strange language. And s/he will let the organizer of the event know where s/he is in order to make some people go there.

Then - you need one more person to accomplish your mission. A local guide with an intimate knowledge of the local night live, bars and restaurants. Not just any guide but a person doing business with VCs and having experience in dining with them. I was lucky to meet Denis Dovgopoliy of BayView Innovations who knew all Kiev irish pubs which allowed me to have a beer with a global VC.

The three of us - Ewa, Denis and myself - met Paul Fisher of Advent Venture Partners in Golden Gate Irish Pub which sounds like Sillicon Valley but is very European. In fact it’s named after the ancient gate to the city which it is situated next to. But VCs do not really care - they just maximize the ROI in clubbing and Golden Gate sounds familiar and promising.

We found a table, exchanged initial ‘who-does-what’ information and proceeded to exchanging contacts and coming up with business development ideas for each one of us. One meal and two beers later we started spilling more tasty bits and pieces of gossip and tips on how to handle a VC. Having a beer with one was high up in the top 10 ranking.

UPDATE - I recalled some more: We also discussed VC-psycho-analysis methods used by some VCs. Paul suggested that if someone talks a lot about some area of his/hers plan or operations at expense of other topics it means that this area might be his/hers weak point. Or s/he’s just excited about it. Anyhow be equally brief whatever you say when a VC is around. ;-)

We also discussed dynamics of “sexiness” of a project. Paul said that if a project is not initially sexy it will never be. However if it is at least sexy a bit it might get more sexy in time. At this point I didn’t know if we’re talking about investment projects, women or something else. Ewa said the rule applies to everything so I concluded we reached a Theory of Everything for which some scientists have been looking for decades.

Right before we left the place it turned out that Paul is a really talented actor. Ewa pointed out that he really resembles another talented actor Jason Statham. To prove his skills Paul provided us with some of his best faces like “I’m not satisfied with the results Mr.CEO”, “Where are the profits you promised” and “What do you mean by market is down right now”.

Mission accomplished: relationship established, contacts acquired, lessons learned.

What Paul didn’t confess to is blogging at www.thecoffeeshopsofmayfair.com