Sergey, many creative people remember the moment when they first felt a passion for their work. How did it happen to you?
As a child, there was a television program about computers. That's when I first became interested in them.
Were there mentors on your way, or did you learn everything yourself?
I haven't had my own computer for a very long time, so I learned to program on pieces of paper. I showed them to a teacher at school and asked if the code would work. She shook her head and said, “No, it won't.” But I didn't give up; the desire to learn was stronger.
You've traveled a lot, visited different places—how did that help you come to the version of yourself you are now?
The trips themselves did not help at all. Rather, on the contrary, they only distracted from moving towards the goal.
But the people I met along the way definitely contributed to my development.
If you're in a shared space with smart people, even online interactions will give you a lot. Development always begins with a desire to improve living conditions, free yourself from obstructing beliefs, and change habits. And this is where the environment you are located is very important. If you want to learn something and reach a new level, find people who already know all this and be in their field. Communicating with them and learning from them will be of great benefit.
When I needed advice on how to start a programming school, I started asking everyone I knew about it and came across a young man who worked in Silicon Valley. This guy asked me to call and spent several hours sharing his experience. This openness to everything new and to any interactions resonates with me very much.
In an interview, you mentioned that your son inspired you to create an online programming school. Please tell us a little bit more about this.
When my son was born, it was very interesting to see how he develops, grows, learns things and learns naturally.
And then one day, on the playground, the son found out about the existence of Minecraft. He didn't have an iPad back then, so he just memorized game instructions and recipes. When my son finally got access to the game itself, he was already a pro at it. At first, the child played enthusiastically, and then at some point he started watching YouTube videos about others playing. Actually, this was the end of its development.
And it should be noted that since childhood I have been used to being constantly studying — this is how my dad raised me. And, of course, I became extremely upset that my son had stopped developing.
Something had to be done about it, so I started looking for ways to connect Minecraft to programming. Even considering my engineering background and the fact that I had a fairly high level of computer skills, it took me several days to launch the basic version of the platform. Initially, the child had to press buttons, which is quite difficult for six-year-old children, as their coordination is not yet so well developed.
Then I started looking for a way to sell the product, because I already saw its benefits back then. At first, the project was completely charitable — I offered to use the platform for free. But no one did it. Then we decided to launch a startup, and at the very first stage we made every possible mistake. For example, you first had to study demand, find working distribution channels, and then prepare the product. First of all, we created a product, hesitated to release it for a long time, then found no demand, continuing to stubbornly do exactly what we did initially. And then at some point I came to school to see my kid and he says they're computer scientists playing Minecraft. I didn't believe it, I thought my son had messed up something, decided to watch it and saw that the teacher was using our platform to teach children. And then it struck me that I realized that I needed to open an online school with virtual lessons.
Sergey, you also said that a person who once tried programming will never be the same. How did this affect your life?
I believe you should always understand what's going on inside you and how it affects your actions and their results. If you watch all this closely, you can track what certain thoughts lead to and build an algorithm based on this. If I go and take certain steps now, I will probably get the expected result.
There are a lot of different people around, some are more successful, some are less so. Each person interacts with the outside world in their own way — this is influenced by a set of beliefs, values, and various programs that cause the recurrence of certain events in life. If these programs are replaced by others, people will start moving in a different direction.
This does not mean that everyone can be made a millionaire — this is probably too ambitious a task after all. But it is possible to become more aware and more responsible for what is happening to you. Very often, people believe that they are influenced by some external circumstances. But if you think about it, everything that happens is the result of your actions or inaction. And if at first it is difficult for a person to change something, you can provide them with some ready-made patterns of thinking and behavior, and then they will reprogram their life.
Thus, the analytical thinking skill learned in childhood will last a lifetime and will be useful in other activities. In this sense, I think programming is very useful, because even the very first steps already lead you to a magical interaction with the outside world. You're doing something completely abstract, seemingly unrelated to the outside world, and bam! — you get results. A product of imagination, which until now did not exist in reality, suddenly appears on the screen. It turns out that there is such a light impact on reality. And even if this is just a digital reality, you get the feeling that you can transform the world around you, so your actions allow you to change your life and build the future the way you want.
It is believed that programmers are people from another planet with their own special way of thinking. Can developing programming skills be at the expense of a child's socialization?
Everything should have a middle ground. If a child, on the contrary, is too sociable and spends his days idle chatter and parties, this will not give him anything in terms of his career.
The most important thing is not to be afraid of the natural manifestation of the child's character. It's just that something else needs to be added to this natural direction. If, for example, he's retiring and only programming, it's up to adults to show that there are other interesting things in the world. Open up new ways for children, diversify their everyday life, and show them different ways of interacting with other people.
Speaking about me personally, in the nineties, such enthusiastic people were called nerds and no one wanted to be friends with them. And thank goodness! I'm happy that my classmates didn't let me into their parties — what I did instead of idle communication eventually became my most powerful resource.
In general, I think it's unacceptable to go into one thing, for example, video games. Physical activity should be an obligatory part of a child's life, no matter what he is interested in — computing, drawing or reading books. If children constantly sit in one place, this is harmful, but if you add sports, it is useful.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I think it's important for parents to set an example for their child even during leisure time. If mom and dad, for example, try to stop children from using gadgets while keeping their hands on smartphones and tablets, the ban will not lead to anything. Show it in a different way and the child will learn it.
I set a limit for myself: every hour all my social networks and YouTube are disconnected for a couple of hours, so you can often see me with textbooks. The thing is, I've always wanted my kids to do well, and when I was a kid, I didn't get along very well with math. So in order to help children learn this subject, I took textbooks and started studying them. As a result, I got to quite complex sections of higher mathematics and slowly began to enjoy it aesthetically.
Do you have a big goal or dream?
My dream is to teach programming to 2 billion kids! I believe that if all these guys go from thinking “I'm small, I can't do anything” to the state “I control myself and shape the reality around me with the help of my thoughts”, this will lead to big positive changes in the outside world and in other people's lives. I think many of the world's problems will disappear, and some may not even appear.
And finally, what would you wish parents and children?
Let's start with the question — am I entitled to give advice? Yes, I can talk about certain achievements in life: I worked for various Russian and foreign companies and was financially successful. Did I know in advance how to achieve this? No, I just lived and did everything out of harmony with myself; I always tried to get into an environment where it was interesting and pleasant for me to communicate and develop. And, on the contrary, I ran away from a place where it was boring, where everyone thought contrary to my views.
Thus, if they ask me for advice, it will be this: hide phones and tablets away!
Try to get as close as possible to the people you admire. Provide yourself with an environment where you want to grow and develop, reach new heights, and be inspired by the successes and victories of others. If you love sports, be in a place where sporting achievements are highly valued. If you are crazy about programming, look for people who will appreciate it. I tell parents the same thing: if your child is into something, create an environment where their success matters in the eyes of others.
As for training, we need conditions under which development is possible. For example, I didn't have my own personal computer before college. My parents were middle class so I didn't have everything I wanted. This has given me an attitude towards achievement: if I want to, I have to figure out what to do to get it. Nothing will appear out of nowhere — it's important to start processes: both internal and external. You have to interact with the world to make your wish come true and life will give you everything you want.
If you want your child to become more creative and develop creativity, as well as logical and mathematical thinking, sign up for a free one trial lesson on programming for the Progkids online school. All lessons are held in an individual format, as well as at a time convenient for you and your child, which makes them as comfortable as possible. Experienced teachers take a unique approach to each young talent and encourage students to undertake any creative endeavors. Our school has an internal educational platform where you can learn programming in a game format. Moreover, your child can create art using AI, learn to start their own blog, or create animated music videos. By the way, our school has its own online space where students share news, creative projects and achievements, participate in competitions, and play Minecraft and other games with teachers.
