He created his own business from scratch. He never had relatives in high places. He used his own money for the start-up capital. Andrey Monosov is a person whose biography will be particularly interesting to aspiring businessmen. After all, he proved that desire alone is actually enough to achieve success.
The entrepreneur was born into an ordinary family and studied at an average secondary school. He never inherited a multimillion-dollar fortune and never got a single undeserved promotion at work with help from influential relatives. The businessman achieved everything in his life on his own.
Andrey Monosov: Biography of the CEO of IA Tech
Today, the businessman is the CEO and founder of a big IT company. But his interest in entrepreneurship started much earlier, when he was still a teenager.
Childhood and First Earnings
Andrey Monosov was born in 1988. He attended an ordinary public school. His father, Leonid Monosov, first worked as a teacher, but later got a job as a driver. His mother was a doctor in a medical clinic.
Later in life, Andrey confessed that he never wanted to follow in his parents’ footsteps as a child. Despite his sports and academic achievements and passion for programming, he always saw himself as an entrepreneur. He discovered his passion for business at the age of 16, when he began making money by repairing cellphones and other devices. He looked for clients, planned his time, and handled all responsibilities on his own. This way of doing things appealed to him much more than the idea of being someone else’s employee.
Degree in Economics
The entrepreneur’s father, Leonid Monosov, says that Andrey baffled him and his wife with his choice of profession. They were sure that their son’s passion for programming would be reason enough to follow a fitting career path. However, the teenager decided to have his own way; without informing anyone, he applied to a university and was accepted to an economics program.
“We did not expect this,” Leonid Monosov admitted. “Our son did not consult us when choosing his future profession. It seemed that, given his passion for programming, everything was obvious. But his dream of having a business made him choose economics. Only later, we realized that he was absolutely right — even as a kid, he knew how to pursue his goals.”
Career Path
Andrey planned to stay on the path of traditional employment for no more than 10 years — this was the time frame that he considered acceptable for building a career. He believed it would be enough to accumulate sufficient start-up capital and gain relevant experience.
Career Path in Banking
Andrey Monosov started his career path in the banking industry. He believed that he would be able to adapt to the working conditions, show his best qualities, and quickly work his way up. But this did not happen. The future entrepreneur later noted that over time he realized how career progression worked at the bank. Promotions were given either for the “length of service” or through nepotism.
“I did not have any connections, nor did I have decades to work for a bank,” Andrey Monosov says. “When I realized that a quick promotion was not in the cards for me, I changed jobs. But it was the same story at another bank and I understood that I had to pursue a new career in a different field.”
Managing a Department in a Big Company
Andrey Monosov was able to gain relevant experience only after professional retraining. He changed his area of expertise and started working in consulting. There were no problems with career advancement in this field — it took the future entrepreneur only a few years to become the head of a department in the company.
In this position, he:
- Conducted negotiations with major clients.
- Changed the motivation strategy and HR policies.
- Worked to improve the performance of essential employees.
- Reviewed budgets, including advertising expenses.
- Monitored the progress of important projects.
Under Monosov’s leadership, his department significantly reduced costs and improved its performance year after year. The manager had every reason to expect the CEO of the company to offer him to take charge of a regional branch in no time. It was then that he decided to quit his job and leave the company.
“I knew that the offer would be too tempting,” Andrey says. “I was afraid I would accept it and give up on my dream. I talked to the CEO and we came to an understanding. He was upset, but in the end, he let me go without a scandal. And I am very grateful to him for it.”
Launching a Business
Andrey Monosov says that he would have happily launched a business within a few days after quitting his job, but instead he decided to take a two-year time-out to make thorough preparations. The entrepreneur knew that there was no room for error — building another start-up capital would be too difficult.
Founding of the IA Tech company
Andrey Monosov officially registered his business in 2017. The year was marked by the opening of IA Tech, a company that designed and improved business management software. From the very beginning, Andrey wanted to build a business in IT, which seemed to him the most promising field. But he spent a lot of time researching the market and choosing a specific niche.
The entrepreneur confessed that he could not make the final decision until the last moment. However, enterprise software ended up being a good pick — the market was not very competitive and the quality of existing offers was subpar. The company was quickly expanding its client base and the head of IA Tech was constantly signing new contracts. However, the staff was not growing in number as quickly as new projects.
Finding Solutions and Becoming a Market Leader
In 2019, IA Tech experienced a staffing shortage. Its in-house developers had a hard time keeping up with the workload, so the CEO decided to hand over a new project to a contractor. And this did not lead to a positive outcome. Quite the opposite, it almost cost the company its biggest client.
After that, Andrey Monosov never made such a mistake again. To solve the problem, he:
- hired HR experts;
- quickly signed new employment contracts with qualified developers;
- modified the motivation system;
- opted out of partnering with outsourcing software development companies;
- increased employee salaries.
Andrey recognized his mistakes, learned from them, and made sure he never repeated them. In a short time, he managed to grow as a businessman and change his approach to running the company. The new strategy allowed IA Tech to become one of the market leaders. Today, it grows at a consistent rate, builds up its profits, releases licensed products, and continues to create customized enterprise software.
Andrey Monosov is a remarkable example of a self-made entrepreneur. When still at the planning stage, he flatly refused to use outside investments and never turned to them later. The entrepreneur managed to create a company from scratch and make it one of the market leaders without having big start-up capital and help from third parties.
Personal Life of the Businessman
Andrey Monosov grew up in an ordinary family and studied at an ordinary school. And yet, he was able to create a company that has now become one of the best experts in its field.
However, the entrepreneur’s busy schedule did not get in the way of his family life. He met his wife when still a teenager, and today, the couple is raising three kids together. Andrey Monosov says that he tries to spend as much time as possible with his family. At the same time, he single-handedly runs his own company and finds time to play sports, do music, and travel once in a while.