Workspaces: Alexander Laryanovsky, Managing Partner at Skyeng
Alexander Laryanovsky, Managing Partner at Skyeng, recalls the internet before giants like Rambler and Yandex, reads faster than most speak, and leads business development for Eastern Europe's largest online English school.
Alexander Laryanovsky vividly remembers the internet from its early days, before the rise of Rambler and Yandex. Could he have imagined spending seven years at Yandex? Originally trained as a documentary film author-operator, he now focuses on business development for Skyeng, the largest online English school in Eastern Europe. An excellent cook and a reader who outpaces many speakers, welcome to Alexander Laryanovsky’s workspace.
About Alexander Laryanovsky
He is an IT entrepreneur and managing partner at Skyeng. Alexander spent seven years at Yandex, five of which he served as Director of International Development. In his earlier career, he was editor-in-chief of several internet publications, head of the web laboratory at the Press Development Institute, and leader of "Electronic City," a major content resource for internet providers.
What do you do in your work?
Born in a small town near the Karakum Desert bordering Afghanistan, Alexander rose to become a top manager at Yandex before transitioning to a startup aiming to create the world's best English learning platform.
While it may sound like a beautiful story, it wasn't a planned path but rather a series of fortunate moments being in the right place at the right time.
He has been involved with the internet since 1994, back when only about a hundred people were creating content manually, long before Rambler, Google, or Yandex existed. Throughout his journey, he has been a service designer, layout artist, columnist, and even an internet marketer.
At that time, the internet lacked funding and clarity about its future. Yet, his passion helped him surpass many older and more experienced professionals, leveling the playing field and allowing him to compete with smarter newcomers who arrived later.
Today, as managing partner at Skyeng, Alexander is responsible for business development, including partnerships with major collaborators and expanding into new markets.
What inspires me is the opportunity to change the world around me.
Before joining Skyeng, he was Director of International Development at Yandex, overseeing the launch and first year of operation of Yandex Turkey (yandex.com.tr), as well as launching Kazakh and Belarusian versions.
In the 2000s, Alexander led "Electronic City," one of the largest provider content platforms and file-sharing networks, hosting 50 TB online in 2008. He also contributed significantly to improving internet access quality in Siberia compared to Moscow.
What is your professional background?
Alexander does not hold a university degree. His diploma is from a cultural education college, specializing as a documentary film author-operator. After high school, he attempted to enter Novosibirsk State University but lacked sufficient math skills. Instead, he found engaging work in television and set aside formal studies.
He does not boast about lacking formal credentials but remains critical of the Russian higher education system, which he finds deeply flawed and inefficient, except for a few exceptional faculties.
Key problems in education include:
- Lack of systematization—students often wonder why practical knowledge isn't taught earlier.
- Teachers often no longer practice in their fields, while scientific progress accelerates, causing a widening gap.
- Resistance to change within the conservative educational structure.
For example, marketing is often taught by those who learned it from outdated 1960s textbooks or by teachers who themselves learned from those sources in the 1990s.
Consequently, graduates from average universities often know less about real life than those who never attended.
Alexander believes that leaders should first master general disciplines such as logic, rhetoric, team building, motivation systems, planning and control, microeconomics, and financial analytics. Only then should they pursue specialized industry knowledge. For IT, this means understanding all core business processes—from development and design to internet marketing.
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
He considers himself somewhat self-sufficient. While he doesn’t dislike any of his traits, some objectively hinder him. For example, he is easily passionate, which can distract his focus. Firing people is difficult for him, and he views each such episode as a personal failure. He struggles with mathematics as a way of understanding the world, preferring to dig into meanings rather than numbers. Despite this, he experiences no inner conflict about his qualities.
I am happiest when healthy and full of energy. I have everything I have earned.
His strategy to overcome weaknesses is surrounding himself with talented people who compensate for them, following Adizes’ concept of the "ideal manager." There’s little point in developing what you cannot excel at when others excel at it naturally.
This approach helps him succeed. Alexander is an integrator and communicator. His main drive is constant desire—he finds it hard to be idle and loves inventing and achieving. He is often praised for his flexible and quick mind, decision-making under uncertainty, and patience in nurturing young specialists.
What does your workspace look like?
Alexander loves gadgets, new technologies, and unusual items. He recalls owning the first projection keyboards five years ago and collecting stereoscopic video glasses, ceiling-driving cars, and drones—items that are not mainstream but stimulate his mind. Few become permanent fixtures, but they provide great intellectual fuel.
His main devices are an iPhone 6 Plus, a 13-inch MacBook Air, and an Apple Watch. The iPhone replaced tablets, the MacBook Air replaced the PC thanks to a 700 GB SSD, and the Apple Watch helps conserve the phone’s battery.
His smartphone is the primary screen. He can live without his laptop but not without his iPhone, which is the hub of all communication and knowledge. The Apple Watch also helps manage battery life. He always ensures his devices are charged since he never knows where he will be next.
He uses his phone to write, read, and edit. It serves as:
- A navigator: Yandex in Russia, Navigon abroad;
- A tool to avoid fines: iStrelka and Cobra;
- An alarm clock: Smart Alarm (he no longer struggles waking up);
- A camera and photo editor: built-in apps plus Hyperlapse;
- A password and payment manager: 1Password, Sence, and Alfa-Mobile;
- A calendar: built-in;
- A messenger: Telegram and Facebook* (the most reliable for calls in poor networks). Messaging apps remain the fastest communication method.
The smartphone also orders taxis, food delivery, tickets, hotel and car bookings, and plays music. The only things he doesn’t do on it are watching movies (prefers cinema or Apple TV) and studying English on Skyeng, which requires a larger screen.
His browser of choice is Safari, perfectly integrated into the Apple ecosystem and his most frequently used app. Mail clients are native iOS and macOS Mail apps, chosen for seamless integration and time efficiency. The built-in iCal handles scheduling and calendars.
All sensitive data is backed up to iCloud, with additional copies on Yandex.Disk and via Time Machine, which also allows easy restoration of original documents. Less sensitive files are stored on Google Docs.
For photo editing, he uses native iOS and macOS editors, Pixelmator on macOS, Awesome Screenshot on iPhone (accessible from Safari), and Dynamic Light for Instagram photos.
Video editing is handled by iMovie, sufficient for all his needs.
Text editors include MS Office for Mac and Google Docs, with TextWrangler for HTML drafts.
Other apps he uses:
- Monosnap for Mac screenshots—favored for interface and speed;
- Moom on Mac for window management;
- Punto Switcher to avoid manual keyboard layout switching;
- RSS Notifier for passive news reading.
His favorite services:
- Business Facebook* — still impressed by their targeting technology;
- The CLU — helps keep his tech running smoothly;
- KAYAK — his personal travel assistant, organizing tickets and bookings;
- Triz-ri.ru forum — a great resource for tackling unfamiliar problems;
- News sources like RBC, Meduza, Habr, and N+1 via RSS for staying informed without distraction;
- Yandex.Taxi for rides when parking is inconvenient;
- Wikipedia and Yandex.Market for quick information.
Do you use paper in your work?
He prefers to sketch and write when thinking or explaining but avoids paper otherwise. He also favors cashless payments.
He rarely prints, only when needing to review large amounts of information comprehensively. Notes are kept digitally.
What’s in your bag?
Charging cable for his phone, glasses case, laptop, lighter, and a spare pack of cigarettes.
When traveling, he carries only essentials: documents, credit cards, change of clothes, and earplugs. Anything extra causes him stress.
I dream of driving across all of South America by car.
How do you organize your time?
He avoids rigid long-term planning and leaves significant time for unforeseen events. He also balances "chronos" (calendar time) with "kairos" (event-based time).
He does not delegate the following:
- Anything related to his physiological needs (e.g., he won’t delegate eating);
- His rest and personal life;
- Relations with investors and supervisors;
- All strategic matters within his responsibilities.
Everything else is delegable and should be delegated.
He fills the time between sleep, meals, and personal life with work, focusing on priorities and avoiding tasks he doesn’t believe in or understand.
What is your daily routine?
He is a night owl who dislikes early mornings but often wakes up early. He goes to bed after midnight. Mornings start with a cup of espresso and preferably a hearty breakfast like a large piece of meat. While he can skip the heavy meal, coffee is essential to accept the morning’s reality.
He feels productive whenever engaged with an interesting task. For him, effectiveness is a result of involvement.
How do you pass time in traffic jams?
He observes people but prefers longer routes with less standing still. During forced waits at airports or elsewhere, he enjoys reading and appreciates the chance to relax without rushing. He has trained himself to find joy in every moment, making calm reading a pleasant compensation for waiting.
What are your hobbies?
Alexander combines three traits: he loves cooking, knows how to cook, and enjoys delicious food.
Cooking is his most frequent form of leisure. He dislikes dishes that take longer to prepare than to eat, so he avoids salads and complicated appetizers, except for manty (dumplings). Soups and meat dishes are his specialty. While not a culinary genius, he believes he cooks better than 80% of Moscow restaurants.
Lifehacks from Alexander Laryanovsky
Books:
- "All About Life" and "The Adventures of Major Zvyagin" by Mikhail Veller — arguably the best guide on life and human desires.
- The entire "Echo Labyrinths" series by Max Frei — about loving your work in a close-knit team.
- "The Hard Thing About Hard Things" by Ben Horowitz — a poignant book on the tough journey to success.
- "The Black Swan" by Nassim Nicholas Taleb — his personal bible about recognizing weak signals and being ready for anything.
- "Management of Absurdity" by Richard Farson — about the dangers of dogma.
- "Advertising and Public Relations Techniques" by Igor Vikentyev — a perfect guide for training PR thinking in the TRIZ style.
Films and Series:
"The Very Same Münchhausen" tops his list. The only two non-boring series for him are "The Simpsons" and "South Park"; others become predictable after the first episode.
Podcasts and Videos:
He finds human speech bitrate too slow compared to his reading speed, so he prefers reading over audio and video. Exceptions are science documentaries on Discovery and similar channels where visuals are more engaging than sound.
Websites:
His favorite reading is N+1, always offering interesting topics to ponder.
What is your life motto?
He takes full responsibility for everything that happens to him, even things beyond his control or foresight. This mindset frees him from most problems. He does not wait, ask, blame, or complain.
Everything he has is a result of his actions or inactions. Blaming himself is pointless; since time travel isn’t possible, he focuses on changing his future.
*Meta Platforms Inc. and its social networks Facebook and Instagram are restricted in Russia.
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