Paul Asoyan: Armenia’s tech potential can be useful to the world

Last week HIVE Seed Fund’s Silicon Valley UNLEASHED: Inside Tech’s Greatest Minds event took place at Tumo Creative Technologies Center in Yerevan.

Itel.am talked to the team member of Google Strategic Partnership Paul Asoyan, who came to Yerevan specifically to attend the event.

- Being a Silicon Valley “icon”, what can you recommend to Armenian startups that see their future in Silicon Valley?

- I would recommend focusing on these three points during product development: big data, machine learning and artificial intelligence. They are the trends now. I am sure that artificial intelligence and machine learning are our only future. Nevertheless, if the companies are uninterested in these directions, they should at least include parts of them, while developing their own product.

Narine Daneghyan talked to Paul Asoyan
photo © Mediamax

I think that Armenia has a huge amount of talent, especially concerning fundamental sciences. I wouldn’t recommend focusing on mobile applications, QA, front-end development, or outsourcing. We should focus on what Armenia has always been good at - fundamental sciences and statistics.

- Of course, developing your own product is an attractive idea, but not what everyone wants to do. What would you recommend to people who want to work at corporations, such as Google?

- First, let me say that I simply admire people who choose to found a startup and develop products in Armenia. This is that bravest thing one could do. I would recommend to young people to spend their best years on founding their own business instead of working for corporations. When you’re young, you have enough time, and then you can use that experience when you’re older, working at a corporation.

However, work at Google has some requirements. One of them is brilliant education. Sometimes we reject the candidacy of a great Java developer, because we don’t need a Java developer, we need a specialist with fundamental computer knowledge. So I would recommend focusing on data structures and algorithms.

Moreover, everyone who works at Google has an “entrepreneurial spark”, as they have to do many projects on their own.

- This is your second visit to Armenia. What are your impressions?

- I was 6 years old when I came to Armenia for the first time, and it was still the USSR period. I knew nothing about Armenian IT before coming here this time. I had zero data. HIVE sent me information about the startups the Fund invested in, and that’s how I got a certain image.

You could say that this visit was a turning point for me. I grew up in Diaspora, spend my childhood in Moscow, and I didn’t know many Armenians. Then I moved to the USA. To be honest, I never felt connected with the Armenian people. I was quite indifferent before coming here, but I can’t even say how much these 2-3 days I spent here changed my opinion. I am amazed, and you cannot imagine how connected I feel with Armenia. I will continue doing things useful for Armenia.

I hope there would be more initiatives like Tumo. Another wish I have is to find ways for every Armenian child to speak fluent English.

I know that Armenia has huge potential, which can be useful for the world. I love Armenia, I am an Armenian, and I feel like an Armenian.

Narine Daneghyan talked to Paul Asoyan