Konstantin Kalinov, founder of the airline ticket aggregator Aviasales, died on December 26 in Moscow. He retired from operational management of the company at the end of 2016
Photo: Konstantin Kalinov’s personal Facebook page
The founder of the airline ticket aggregator company Aviasales, Konstantin Kalinov, died in Moscow. This is stated in a letter from the company’s managing director Max Krainov, which was received by RBC. The Aviasales press service confirmed information about Kalinov’s death.
“What happened is impossible to believe. And it is impossible to find words to express the significance of our loss,” the letter says.
Kalinov died on December 26. There is no information about the circumstances of his death. Kalinov was 40 years old, he was born on September 4, 1977 in Leningrad.
“Ten years ago, Kostya Kalinov created a service that today no traveler in Russia who plans his trip online can do without. All this time, Kostya was at the head of turbulent events in the company, be it the creation of the product itself or its marketing. Right now we are grieving together with Kostya’s loved ones and expressing our condolences,” Aviasales Product Director Anton Baitsur told RBC. He added that the causes of Kalinov’s death are unknown.
“Kostya was an amazing person. He always communicated completely freely and openly with new people, easily sharing knowledge, experience, contacts - everything that was sometimes very difficult for him. He was sharp and always honest. I am grateful to him for his experience and really appreciate getting to know him. I'm really sorry. It’s impossible to believe,” Arseny Kamyshev, a friend of Konstantin Kalinov and co-founder of the communication agency Magic, told RBC.
The Aviasales portal began as Kalinov’s personal blog, in which he talked about special offers from airlines, then it became a separate portal. Kalinov was the company's executive director until the end of August 2011, when he was replaced by Krainov.
On December 31, 2016, Kalinov wrote on his Facebook page that he now has a “rather mediocre attitude” towards the company. “Please no longer associate me with the products of these great masters of online business, free of charge, without SMS. So yes, I went, thank you all,” he wrote.
Kalinov graduated from the department of training operational officers of the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and after that he served in the police for some time, The Village wrote. In the late 1990s, he created a website on which he sold erotic photographs, then the site became an affiliate network for traffic exchange, but did not bring in regular income. Kalinov later created the hosting provider UPL Telecom (he sold his share in 2008). He traveled often and wrote a program for himself and his blog readers that collected promotions from tour operators and airlines.
In September 2017, Konstantin Kalinov turned 40 years old. The causes of death of one of the brightest Russian entrepreneurs are unknown. Managing Director of Aviasales Max Krainov announced the launch of a memorial website.
Aviasales, the No. 1 metasearch engine for air tickets in Russia, grew out of the travel blog Kosyan.com, which former St. Petersburg policeman Kalinov ran in the late 2000s. Kosyan is a school nickname. A year ago, an entrepreneur with a scandal left operational management.
Kalinov criticized investors and management, asked to stop associating him with the company he created, but in the information field it remained his continuation: impudent and rude, but too charming to be seriously offended by it.
“The Secret” re-read the latest posts and interviews of the deceased.
About the creation of Aviasales
Many people know, many don’t, but it so happened that a little over ten years ago I binge-holed myself heavily on the 25th isomer of lysergic acid (LSD) with my friend Beaver (he got it from him). And it was at that wildest moment **** A wonderful trip I came up with Aviasales.
About clients
Unfortunately, over the years I have realized that 95% of people are made of cork. But I’m not from the traffic jam and I don’t always understand what they will like.
About the power of Aviasales
We are simple people, we are about grandmas.
About shocking
I am like this myself, but this is also an image. You can be very smart and post some smart shit on this Facebook. But I'm not very smart.
About employees
Yes, they fight, the pests, on these motorbikes! Otherwise there are no problems.
About whom to fire without hesitation
You should be fired without hesitation for lying.
About dealing with stress
Before we raised our first round, I had a pretty stressful period. When it ended, I realized that I needed a break. As a result, so that no one could find me, I smashed my smartphone and computer, pointed my finger at the map and flew to the Middle East.
About personal life
Just now it was eight years since I got married unsuccessfully. Dude, just believe me, most women don’t pretend to be fools, they are.
About emigration
I always say that I am a climate migrant.
About downshifters
A downshifter is someone who goes away to smoke weed, but I went to work.
About the office in Thailand
Our Aviasales office occupies almost an entire street in Thailand. This is a large three-story villa, about 100 people work there. Of these, about five are Thai... Each employee can safely swim during the working day.
About travel
The most exotic country, perhaps, was Lebanon. I was very impressed by Cambodia with its Angkor Wat temple... I really want to travel around Latin America properly. See Machu Picchu, visit Rio, get acquainted with the local culture. I haven’t really been to Africa yet. I want hardcore - a safari with giraffes and hippos, trips through a real desert. In Asia, I have not yet reached Burma.<…> In Russia I haven’t even reached the Urals yet. I would really like to go to Lake Baikal and the Far East.
About the house
I come to St. Petersburg and return to Phuket. My home is in Thailand. Yes, I love St. Petersburg, I have parents and many friends there. But you live in St. Petersburg for two months, and the rest of the time you wait for summer. Sometimes you have to wait five years.<…>There is something hooligan and * carefree, I like his inhibition and measuredness. Moscow is not like that, too fast for me.
About priorities
Do you mean forcing yourself to work? I force myself to rest! This business is like a child you can’t leave and sometimes you have to beat yourself on the wrist, leave your computer, try not to take your mobile phone.
About money
Here's to the Dolce & Gabbana sweater<…>They took a thousand bucks from my card. I was stunned when I bought it in Hong Kong for local dollars without understanding the currency. If I had known, I wouldn't have bought it. In general, it doesn’t matter to me whether it’s a brand or not, I can buy a thing on the market if I like it. I know how and love to spend money, but for a very long time I have played enough with expensive brands, I realized that all this is pointless.
About the quarrel with investors and parting with Aviasales
In short, I now have a rather indirect relationship with Aviasales. All questions to<...>for lovers of beautiful numbers. Please no longer associate me with the products of the great masters of online business, free of charge, without SMS. So yes, I'm off, thank you all. I have everything. I mean, everything will be as we like. And Skyscanner has one more client.
Naked waitresses serve champagne in the bar of the Foto Hotel, with flight attendant uniforms painted on their bodies in heavenly colors. The bar is located on the roof. Offers views of the sunset and the lights of Phuket's nightclubs. Everything is ready for the party, beautiful women are arriving, today they are celebrating the seventh anniversary of the airline ticket search engine Aviasales. The company's founder, Konstantin Kalinov, asks for more gin and tonic.
There are three hundred guests on the roof, among them successful Internet entrepreneurs like Andrei Romanenko from Qiwi and Petr Kutis from OneTwoTrip. The holiday will end with Kalinov getting punched in the face, and this is not surprising. Kalinov has a reputation as a bully. He curses competitors and colleagues at Facebook, harasses unwanted partners, and threatens offending employees. Many people have reasons to punch him in the face. He admits this himself: “Many people hate me, but I don’t care. There are only two successful companies on the market, the rest suck investments.”
In winter, Aviasales attracted the first $10 million in investment from the Itech Capital fund. The project was estimated at $65 million, which corresponds to five times the company's revenue. Kalinov says that he works with the stars. People come to him from Yandex, Booking.com and Acronis. The Village traveled to the headquarters of the metasearch engine on the island of Phuket to find out how a man with an explosive character created the largest company in the Russian online travel market.
Veranda at the Aviasales office
Aviasales office in Phuket
Swimming pool at the Aviasales office
View from the Aviasales office in Phuket
Escape
Kalinov calls himself a “climate emigrant.” He was born in St. Petersburg, entered the faculty of training operational officers of the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and graduated from there with a law degree. At one time he worked in the police, but he doesn’t like to think about it and tries to stay away from documents at Aviasales.
Kalinov became an Internet entrepreneur in the late nineties - he made a website with erotic photographs and began selling them. In the 2000s, the resource turned into an affiliate network that drove traffic between dozens of sites. Earnings were irregular - sometimes $500 a month, sometimes a thousand. From the site about love grew a serious hosting provider UPL Telecom, which now operates in many European countries. “Adult business is a very tough thing. If you don’t think with your head, don’t analyze people’s behavior, and stupidly hit banners, it doesn’t work. You have to think well with your head,” Kalinov believes that he went through the school of survival on the Internet when he was engaged in erotica.
Working for himself allowed the entrepreneur to travel around the world. He shared his impressions on the Kosyan.com blog. He was always looking for cheaper tickets and at some point wrote a simple program that began to collect the best promotions from tour operators and airlines. There was nothing like this on the RuNet at that time, and blog readers began to actively use the service. In 2008, Kalinov sold his stake in UPL Telecom for a five-figure sum in euros and focused on his favorite topic - travel.
In fact, he did not intend to make a breakthrough and did not dream of creating a new Facebook or WhatsApp. He wanted to make a project that would bring “15-20 thousand bucks into his pocket and not require a lot of time.” Kalinov always strived for simple and understandable joys: good income, sun above his head and sea sand under his feet. But when I saw a chance to make a breakthrough in the tourism market, I decided to “grab it with my teeth.”
The first snow falls in Moscow, and the sun is scorching in Phuket. Katya, a designer at Aviasales, rides her bike past palm trees and elephants to the office. She needs to go to the Rawai Pier, a huge concrete structure that hasn't been moored to for a long time. big ships and ferries, and turn right, just past the large golden portrait of the king.
Now the company has a little more than one hundred employees. Seven years ago, it was difficult to attract programmers to Asia. “They are all introverts, they don’t leave the house, but here they have to go to spiders and snakes,” says Kalinov. Now applicants undergo a rigorous selection process. Katya Knysheva tried twice to get into Aviasales and received an offer after she sent a bright presentation about her love for the project. “When a marketer writes to me and can’t find my email, I don’t need such a marketer. We have fighters with balls of steel working for us,” Kalinov is proud.
Turning his desire to move into the warmth from cold St. Petersburg into reality, Kalinov took his employees away from temptations. In Moscow, a million entertainments distract from work, and in Thailand, Aviasales employees’ colleagues replace both friends and neighbors. New concepts appear over a cup of morning coffee (at 12 o'clock in the office, when the work day begins) and over a glass of Mai Tai (after nine, when the work day ends).
Konstantin Kalinov
History of Aviasales
Max Krainov, co-owner of Aviasales
Popularity of metasearches
Data for November using the SimilarWeb system
Aviasales
4.5 million users per month, 75% from Russia
skyscanner
3.5 million per month, 92% from Russia
momondo
1.5 million per month, 77% from Russia
Kayak
300,000 per month, 77% from Russia
Yandex.avia
860,000 per month*
Aviasales employees in the Phuket office
Aviasales analytics on the board in the office
Aviasales employee in the office
Aviasales office
Aviasales office
Aviasales office
New goal
This year, the economic crisis and bankruptcies of tour operators ruined the plans of Russian travel companies. Aviasales grew by 70% versus 100% last year. There are still many people in Russia who buy tickets offline. The company's first task is to lure them to its website. The second task is to develop new markets in order to be less dependent on Russian turbulence and falling demand.
Aviasales made an attempt to develop international markets in 2012, when, following its main competitor, Skyscanner, it launched a search engine under a different name in China. It was assumed that the billion-dollar audience was ready for such a product, the hypothesis was confirmed by the data marketing research, ordered by Aviasales a year earlier. However, the story about the development of the Chinese market turned out to be a myth, and going there was a mistake. Chinese agencies don't need metasearch engines. “Everything happens there through the Baidu search engine, they don’t understand our model at all,” says Aviasales technical director Boris Kaplunovsky.
When the conquest of China turned out to be a utopia, Kalinov decided to focus on other markets, primarily his second native one, Thai. Creating an interface in this language takes more time than developing it. Manager Didi is helping to work on the Thai version - she is one of six Thai employees in Phuket. Didi painstakingly composes words into sentences, but when they are transferred to the interface, it turns out to be nonsense. “When birch bark manuscripts were found in Veliky Novgorod, sentences were written together, there were no commas, and spaces were placed between sentences. There were no vowels either. This is roughly how the Thais have preserved it,” explains Kaplunovsky.
For now, the company is conducting tests and trying to understand what promotion will work here. Sometimes Kalinov approaches girls in bars, shows them the interface and asks if everything is clear. This is how first-hand reviews from Thai users appear. Now Aviasales attracts popular bloggers, including the star of the local federal channel “Tri” IT Princess.
The company is also looking at America. The search engine Jetradar, created for entering international markets, has not yet matured to enter Western markets (according to SimilarWeb, it has only 250 thousand users per month). “In America, let them butt heads with Kayak budgets and Skyscanner. When they run out of money, we will come down from the mountain and *** (show them),” - it is too early to throw all our efforts into conquering the largest and most saturated market in the world.
Being an eccentric entrepreneur and creating a consumer service is a great success. The fame of wacky antics, funny clothes and tough temperament will always outpace information about the economic performance of a business and attract the attention of the audience, even if the product is not good enough. Charismatic leaders like Jobs, Branson and Chichvarkin not only have extraordinary charm, but they live for their product and demand full commitment from both themselves and others.
Kalinov began work on Aviasales without the desire to change the world, but, having devoted seven years of his life to the project, he came close to the pantheon of great eccentrics. When a deal to attract investment was being prepared, Kalinov lost 25 kilograms out of excitement and turned from a healthy jock into a wiry man. When I found out that several employees were planning to skip the corporate party for a vacation in Bali, I wrote angry letters: among other things, I promised to cancel the bonus if they did not reschedule the trip. Missing a company birthday feels like a betrayal to the founder.
Aviasales has already become the largest metasearch in Russia and dictates its terms to the entire market. Kalinov’s odiousness did not stop the development of the company, did not destroy it, but, on the contrary, aroused even greater interest in it. In Russia, people are happy to side with the strong and laugh at the loser. They need a leader who will show the way. Kalinov came to success not only because he built a good service, but also stood out from the gray mass. It remains to be seen whether this approach will work in other countries.
Story about development Chinese market turned out to be myth, A going there is a mistake, they are saying now in the company. Sales Analysts doesn't exist there
Photos: 1-4, 7-14 – Alexey Ilyin, 5, 6 – Aviasales press service
* According to Yandex, Yandex.Avia is one of the top three Russian metasearch engines, with an audience of 1.3 million per month
On December 26, the founder of the service for searching air tickets Aviasales, Konstantin Kalinov, died. He was 40 years old. Over the course of 10 years, his company has gone from a modest blog to one of the main travel services in Russia. “360” tells the main thing about Kalinov and his project.
Konstantin Kalinov was born in St. Petersburg. He received legal education at the faculty of training operational officers of the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. His first business on the Internet was a site selling erotic photographs, on the basis of which the hosting provider UPL Telecom appeared, The Village said.
Aviasales was created in 2007 as a personal blog of an entrepreneur, in which he collected airline shares - Kalinov loved to travel and spent a lot of time abroad. In 2008, he sold his stake in UPL Telecom and focused on the search engine.
Initially, Aviasales, besides Kalinov, was handled by one editor; over time, programmers and other specialists were involved in the work. As a result, the project has grown to one of the largest services for finding cheap tickets in Russia. In an interview with Oleg Tinkov last year, Kalinov valued Aviasales at $250 million.
At the end of 2016, the entrepreneur announced that he was retiring from operating activities in the search engine due to health problems, but remained on the board of directors. “Many people know that I have been sick quite seriously for a long time, and I no longer have the strength to do direct work. I remain on the board of directors and will influence the company’s strategy, but I no longer participate in operational management. I hope that when I recover my health, everything will return to its place,” he said.
Kalinov's resignation was accompanied by a scandal. On his Facebook page, he gave several reasons for leaving management.
I'm ashamed of the quality of the company's products. I am categorically against the chosen vector of development, two. I personally am disgusted by the characters on the board of directors and in the management of the fund, three. I do not consider some top managers to be professionals, four
Konstantin Kalinov.
Later, in an interview with Rusbase, he stated that representatives of the iTech Capital fund Gleb Davidyuk and Andrey Romanenko spoke out against his management - they and Aviasales top managers had disagreements with Kalinov regarding the development of the search engine.
Kalinov was known not only for his successful business, but also for his eccentric behavior. In 2014, the entrepreneur publicly criticized the founder of the Ostrovok.ru service, Sergei Fage. Kalinov was unable to book a hotel room through Ostrovok and called Faga at night to help him solve the problem. Fage promised to deal with her in the morning. Kalinov was offended by this - he began to insult him on social networks.
Kalinov passed away on December 26. According to a Vс.ru source, the cause of death was cancer.
What happened is impossible to believe. And it is impossible to find words to express the significance of our loss. The best way to honor Kostya's memory is to continue his life's work. And to live as he himself does - not to be afraid and achieve results that others are far from achieving. Thank you, Kostya. We love you
- letter from the head of Aviasales Maxim Krainov to employees.
The founder of the airline ticket search engine Aviasales, Konstantin Kalinov, died at the age of 40. His friends reported this on Facebook. “Papa Kostya passed away this morning. A person who was real in everything, both in his strengths and in his weaknesses,” wrote Kalinov’s friend Vasily Potemkin.
As TJournal notes, Kalinov died on December 26, at about 9:30 Moscow time. The cause of death, according to the publication's sources, was cancer. Telegram channel “Mash” writes that the disease required “ special treatment to your body,” in particular, a complete ban on smoking, drinking alcohol and junk food was required.
Kalinov’s illness became known at the end of 2016 - then the creator of Aviasales announced that due to health problems he would stop being involved in the operational management of the company.
In April 2017, Kalinov said in an interview with Rusbase that he still participates in the boards of directors of Aviasales and has recently begun to take “more participation in the life of the company.”
“Kostya left the operational management of Aviasales about six months ago. He remained one of the owners and took part in making strategic decisions,” the press service of the company created by Kalinov told Gazeta.Ru.
“You could love Kostya, you could hate him, but it was hard to be indifferent to him,”
— the blogger, better known to Internet users as the “elf trader,” wrote about the incident on his Facebook page.
“It was difficult for Kostya to let him into his circle, but if he called someone a friend, it was forever. Kosyan was one of those rare people now who kept his word, was not afraid of anyone and did not dissemble in front of any bastard. I was drawn to music and understood culture deeply. He was an inventor and a foundation,” his friend Potemkin writes about Kalinov. “Kosyan helped a lot of people, knew how to distinguish, but rarely refused. He had his own style and his own quirks. I'm proud to have known him and to call him a friend."
“In general, no matter how you say it, it will come out false: founder, visionary. Kostya is always above all these stereotypes. All the time I try to avoid the past tense when talking about him,” Kalinov’s business partner Maxim Krainov said about the incident. “What happened is impossible to believe. And it’s impossible to find words to express the significance of our loss,” Krainov added.
The Aviasales search engine, which has now become the most popular tool for searching air tickets among Russians, can be called the main brainchild of the deceased Konstantin Kalinov
Metasearch initially appeared in 2007 in the form of Kalinov’s personal blog, where he accumulated special offers from airlines. Soon, several programmers joined his initiative, which marked the beginning of the formation of the project as the company Go Travel Un Limited, of which the Aviasales service became a part. In 2010, the company’s office from St. Petersburg moved to the island of Phuket in Thailand, where it is still located.
Kalinov resigned from the post of chief executive officer of the company in 2011, losing it to Maxim Krainov. The founder of the company himself retained the post of vice president of products and a seat on the Board of Directors.
In 2012, the Aviasales service launched its own mobile application, which just two days after its release took first place in the AppStore in the “Travel” category. At the same time, the English-language version of the project was launched - the JetRadar service, thanks to which Kalinov’s project reached the international level.
“The best way to honor Kostya’s memory is to continue his life’s work. And to live as he himself does - not to be afraid and achieve results that others are far from achieving. Thank you, Kostya. We love you,” says the letter from the current managing director of Aviasales, Maxim Krainov.