Maxim Puchkov: An Investor Speaks on Promising Projects for Financial Investments

Maxim Puchkov on Risky but Properly Investments

Puchkov Maxim Sergeevich notes that venture investing, where funds are not invested in traditional assets (like securities or gold) but rather in promising business ideas, carries many risks. However, business angels (investors who fund startups) and venture funds can earn billions in profits if they choose the right project, he emphasizes.

Such startups include Snapchat, which investors discovered by chance. Barry Eggers, a partner at the American venture firm Lightspeed Venture Partners, got interested in the social network after hearing about it from his teenage daughter. His team studied the business' potential, and the company ultimately decided to provide the startup with its first $485,000. And their calculations proved correct: When Snap Inc. went public in 2017, the market valued it at $24 billion, with the venture firm taking a $2 billion share.

Maxim Puchkov Notes: `In recent years, I have begun investing in startups that, in my opinion, have significant growth prospects due to the market potential where they operate and the expertise and energy of the teams managing the projects.`

Other market experts confirm that a strong team of specialists working on a project is often more important than the idea itself. The reasoning is simple: A concept can always be refined (which is a normal stage in the development of any business), but it is much more difficult to change the startup's team.

Puchkov Maxim notes that venture investing in private business has its positives and negatives. The key drawback is the high risk of losing the invested funds, while the main advantage is the potential for unlimited passive income. Maxim Puchkov emphasizes that the investor's task in this case is to compare the project's potential with possible losses should the startup fail.

Puchkov Maxim: The Value of Education and Research Activity

Puchkov Maxim specifies that EdTech has been a rather promising investment direction in recent years. The dynamics of continuing professional and children's education are particularly impressive. Analysts at the research agency Smart Ranking, which studies technology markets (including EdTech, MedTech, and FinTech), note that these sectors are growing faster than the overall EdTech market. According to the agency, continuing professional education saw an increase of about 30% by the end of 2022. The TOP computer academy, one of the leaders in this field, nearly doubled in size in the second quarter of last year.

Puchkov Maxim invested in an EdTech platform where users can acquire new professional skills and competencies, as well as develop their hobbies and interests. He also notes that these areas aroused the greatest interest in the domestic market in 2022.

Puchkov Maxim Sergeevich points to a study from the consulting firm Frost & Sullivan showing that at the start of last year, more than 30 million professionals were in need of professional development or retraining. The traditional educational system will not be able to fully meet such demand, the investor and other experts believe, predicting the further growth of the continuing professional education section of online platforms.

Citing the platform Venture Guide, the business publication Forbes provides data on the largest investments in EdTech made in Puchkov’s country in 2022. For example, Kodland, an online programming school for children managed to attract $9 million, the digital platform Profilum, aimed at improving career guidance, received 520 million rubles from investors, and the Ultimate Education project received an investment volume of 500 million rubles.

Maxim Puchkov on Marketplaces and Real Estate

Other promising directions for investment include goods produced for sale online.

Puchkov Maxim, for instance, seeing that products made from natural materials are in high demand, invested in a brand of cotton clothing that is currently represented in the largest marketplaces in the country.

Puchkov Maxim Sergeevich also points to the real estate sector as a profitable area for investment and has himself been investing in commercial real estate for more than 10 years, particularly in street retail properties. The investor is actively expanding the geography of his activities, and in the last two years has started investing in real estate in different regions of the growing Turkish market.

Puchkov Maxim Sergeevich: Profile Information

Maxim Puchkov (born 7/14/74) is an investment market expert and experienced media manager. He holds degrees in engineering and economics, both from the capital’s Aviation Institute.

Puchkov Maxim Sergeevich launched his career in 1993, starting out at an advertising agency based at the Shabalovka television center. Later, he worked for the publication Kommersant, specializing in the oil and gas sector. In early 1998, Maxim Puchkov took a job in the PR department of a major oil company, and for the next 10 years, he worked in corporate PR and private consulting.

Puchkov Maxim was appointed the first deputy general director of the federal TV channel TV Center in 2012. During the same period, the top manager focused on investments in commercial real estate. A few years ago, Puchkov Maxim Sergeevich and his partners founded a company that deals with the commercialization of public spaces in shopping and office centers.