Ruslan Tymofieiev (Ruslan Timofeev): Principles of Selecting Startups and Importance of Networking Effect

Ukraine is rich in successful startups. But they need good investing support and experts insights. Ruslan Tymofieiev (Ruslan Timofeev), the founder of the venture investment fund Adventures Lab, comments on the principles of selecting startups to invest in and shares his story of becoming an investor.

How to know what startup is worth investing in?

Before putting money on the table, an investor should research the startup’s project: its objectives, the company’s strategy, the business model of the product, and so on, notices Ruslan Tymofieiev. The founder of the venture investment fund accents the importance of studying the market and its demand at the present day. It allows defining the competition level and drawing a conclusion on whether the startup will reach the target audience and stand out for their competitors or not. Accordingly, the investor emphasizes the market more than the team of the startup. He believes that a success factor is hidden in a growing market.

Sometimes, an investor can experience an inner feeling about the startup and intuitively invest in it. Ruslan Tymofieiev confirms several cases of accepting projects, relying on intuition. But this process should be considered carefully. Intuition can often let them down. Collected data is also a defining factor in whether to invest in the project or not. Data seems to be more compelling than intuition.

Tymofieiev names another crucial fact in investment that is a networking effect. Project founders should have good communication skills to collaborate with employees as well as partners and investors. It will enable them to interact with more potential customers and social media to build strong networking. Ruslan Tymofieiev states that communication is a key to prosperity.

At Adventures Lab, the founder provides an in-depth analysis of each project: its perspectives on the market, meets the team personally, estimates the founder’s communication skills, and the business model of the product. Only after this process, he will understand whether the startup is worth investing in it.

In addition, the venture investment fund works with portfolio companies. Mostly, they provide consulting meetings with startups’ founders: discuss the existing problems and help them come to new ideas on how to advance their business.

From business management to investment

Ruslan Tymofieiev (Ruslan Timofeev) has a good school of business. His ladder of success started when he was 18. The expert built successful bridges to leading marketing entrepreneurs and promoted social network communities. After some time, he created one of the most successful CPA networks in the Health & Beauty niche.

Later, the investor mentions that he felt like doing enough in managing a business, and it is high time to start a new one in a new niche. The first tries in investment Ruslan Tymofieiev made in 2014. He invested in several projects with failure but never gave up. Instead, he continued diving into this niche to improve himself. Therefore, in 2019, a venture investment fund Adventures Lab was established by Tymofieiev and Andrew Kryvorchuk, who became the Managing Partner at Adventures Lab.

Adventures Lab is a venture investment fund that supports many successful Ukrainian startups and gives life to those that faced crashes in the process. Its investment portfolio has already reached more than $15 million. It invested in outstanding projects like EdoDo, Reface, Salo, and others.