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Ruslan Kogan
BornNovember 1982[1]
Babruysk, Belarus[2][3]
NationalityAustralian
Alma materMonash University
Known forFounder of Kogan.com
Websitehttp://www.kogan.com.au/ruslan-kogan/

Ruslan Kogan (born November 1982)[1][5] is a serial entrepreneur, and founder and CEO of Kogan.com as well as several other eCommerce related companies in Australia.[6][7][8] He was Australia's richest person under the age of 30 from 2011 to his 30th birthday in November 2012. His wealth has multiplied more than 20 times in half a decade, making him number 162 of the richest 200 in BRW Australia's Rich List 2014,[9] and one of the top 10 richest in Australia's Young Rich List 2014, with a personal wealth of $349 million.[10]

Kogan holds several publicised controversial views regarding the consumer technology industry, expressing his opposition to the Australian Government's proposed internet filter[11] as well as lambasting them for their handling of the Set Top Box Scheme.[12] He was also the only executive from a consumer electronics vendor in Australia to campaign against the introduction of 3DTV into homes around the world.[13][14]

He has written articles as both a guest and regular for several large media outlets, including a guest article for Forbes giving his views on Facebook,[15] a guest article for Fast Company about the importance of social proof in business,[16] a guest article for VentureBeat about affiliate marketing,[17] a guest post on Gizmodo outlining his opposition to the filter[18] and The Age regarding the future of TV.[19] He was also a guest columnist for business magazine BRW throughout 2011,[20] and has on several occasions provided guest opinions on the world's largest technology blog, TechCrunch.[21][22] In 2015, he was interviewed on the Bloomberg Television series High Flyers.[23]

Early life

Ruslan Kogan was born to Belarusian parents,[24][25] and moved with his sister Svetlana and parents to Australia in 1989.[26]

Kogan grew up in the Elsternwick Housing Commission flats, and started his first business at the age of 10 by finding lost golf balls, cleaning them and selling them for $0.50/each[26] to golfers at Elsternwick Golf Course on Saturday mornings.[27]

Kogan was interested in technology from an early age, building his first computer at the age of nine.[28] He has started approximately 20 businesses since the age of 10, with Kogan.com his most recent and most successful venture.[29]

Kogan attended Brighton Secondary College and Melbourne High School[2] before going on to complete a Bachelor of Business Systems (Information Technology) at Monash University.[30]

By the age of 23, he had worked at the IT departments of Bosch, GE, Telstra, and was a management consultant at Accenture.[31]

Starting Kogan

Kogan left his job at Accenture in 2006,[32] and started Kogan.com at the age of 23 in 2006 from his parents' garage in Melbourne, Australia.[33]

When he was asking factories to provide quotes for the manufacturing of the first production run of Kogan TVs, he claims the factories laughed at him and would not accept his small order.[34][35]

He realised he was able to create a business benefit for the factory beyond the small initial order. He noticed that the organisations he was dealing with had poorly laid out marketing material, with incorrect spelling and grammar, and so reworked all of their material. After he sent them the work, they replied to him and accepted the initial order, and even gave him a better price. A week later, they told him that they had just won a large contract with a US customer because their documentation was the most professional.[34]

When Kogan began to sell TVs on eBay, the TVs were in full production and he needed to pay the supplier, but eBay shut his account down because he was yet to receive any feedback. He had no way of paying the remaining amount for the first production run. He was forced to apply for many credit cards, ask his friends to do the same, and take cash advances on all of them.[36]

Following this, he travelled to China, where he took charge of the whole container load of TVs and personally inspected each one. Kogan watched the TVs get loaded onto the truck, got in a taxi and followed the truck driver to the port to make sure the container made it on to the vessel safely. .[36]

The company rapidly expanded to a broader range of products such as Digital Radios, GPS devices, Netbooks, Tablets, and Video Cameras,[37] and in September 2011 began selling complementary products from a range of brands including Apple, Canon, Nikon, Samsung, Motorola and others.[38]

Kogan achieved $3 million in its third year,[39] followed by $8 million in the fourth,[40] $22 million in the fifth,[41] $70 million in the sixth,[42] and over $200 million in the seventh year.[43] The Wall Street Journal speculates Kogan is worth over $400M.[44] More than 2 million products have been delivered by Kogan, with daily sales of more than $1 million.[45]

Having started with no external funding or capital, Kogan.com has grown to become one of Australia's fastest-growing businesses in any industry.[31][46][47][48]

Awards

Kogan and his company Kogan.com have won the following awards:

  • Top 50 Most Influential People in Tech. Joins Mark Zuckerberg and Mike Cannon-Brookes as the only Gen Ys on the list.[49]
  • SmartCompany Hot 30 Under 30 CEOs[50]
  • The Australian Top 5 Young Chief Executives.[51]
  • T3 29th most influential person in the technology industry.[52]
  • Virgin Australia Top Guns in Tech.[53]
  • The Age Top 100 most influential people in 2008.[54]
  • BRW Young Rich List 2009 with a reported wealth of A$15M.[55]
  • BRW 2009 Fast Starters list at rank 37.[56]
  • BRW 2010 Fast 100 at rank 15.[57]
  • BRW 2010 Fast Starters list at rank 17.[58][59]
  • BRW Young Rich List 2010 with a reported wealth of A$29M.[60]
  • Charter Security Retail Innovator of the Year 2010[61]
  • Anthill Top 30 under 30 entrepreneurs for 2010[62]
  • The Age Top 100 most influential people in 2011.[63]
  • BRW 2011 Fast 100 at rank 27.[46]
  • SmartCompany 2011 Hot 30 Under 30.[64]
  • BRW 2011 Young Rich List with a reported wealth of A$62 million, Australia's richest person under the age of 30 (2011 - 2012, his 30th birthday).[65]
  • BRW 2012 Young Rich List with a reported wealth of A$145 million.[66]
  • BRW 2012 Fast 100 at rank 14, valued at A$75.2M.[67]
  • Men's Style Magazine 2012 Men of Influence.[68]
  • Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2012 Southern Region Winner[69]
  • Deloitte Technology Fast 50 - 4th fastest growing technology company in Australia in 2012.[70]
  • BRW Fast 100 2012 - Ranked 14[71]
  • BRW 2013 Young Rich List at number 4, with a reported wealth of A$315 million[72]
  • BRW 2014 Rich List at number 162, valued at $320 million[73]
  • BRW 2014 Young Rich List at number 6, with a reported wealth of A$349 million[74]

Open source

Kogan has been a strong believer in open source solutions for many years, telling Computerworld: "We are huge believers in cloud computing and open source software. The reasons are simple: open source software is usually faster, better and has more features."[75]

Kogan believes that open source tablets like Android present a significant challenge to the Apple iPad's dominance of the tablet market, and was the first to launch an open source tablet in the UK for under £100.[76]

In Australia, he launched a laptop running the open source version of Google's Chrome OS before multinationals like Samsung and Acer could launch their own products.[77]

Criticism

Kogan is known for using social media to take a swipe at his competitors[78] and has been accused of making 'outlandish statements' through his company’s blog about giant retailers like JB Hi-Fi.[79]

At Kickstart Forum 2008, in Gold Coast Australia, Kogan was called a 'loudmouthed punk', when he said the future of retail was heading online.[80]

Personal life

Kogan purchased a BMW Z4 in 2010 and is training for a pilot's licence.[81] He rents an apartment on St Kilda Rd, Melbourne, overlooking Albert Park Lake.[26]

Kogan was the first Australian to register as a passenger on Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic sub-orbital spaceflight, having paid a deposit on the US$200,000 ticket.[82][83][84][85]

References

  1. ^ a b Murray, Jody (8 October 2011). "Ruslan Kogan, 2011 Anthill 30under30 Winner". Anthillonline.com. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  2. ^ a b "Meet The Founder: Ruslan Kogan" (PDF). Nicta. 30 March 2010. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  3. ^ "News Views: June's Big Issues" (PDF). The Banking & Finance Report. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  4. ^ BRW (10 November 2014), BRW Young Rich200, BRW, retrieved 12 November 2014
  5. ^ "Ruslan Kogan". Smartcompany.com.au. 21 April 2010. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  6. ^ Jen Bishop (12 March 2010). "Furniture entrepreneur grows online business | Dynamic Business – Small Business Advice – Forums | Dynamic Business Australia". Dynamicbusiness.com.au. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  7. ^ "Office Chairs - Buy Outdoor Wicker & Eames Chair Replica". Milan Direct. 6 August 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  8. ^ "Designer Office Chairs - Buy Barcelona Chair & Eames Chair Replica". Milan Direct. 6 August 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  9. ^ "BRW Rich 200 List 2014". BRW. 22 June 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
  10. ^ "BRW Young Rich". BRW. 10 November 2014. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  11. ^ "The Australian Government's proposed internet filter". Kogan.com.au. 1 April 2010. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  12. ^ "Government Set Top Box Scheme Blows Out". Kogan.com.au. 15 February 2012. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
  13. ^ "3D TV offerings limited as manufacturers strike 'exclusives' with movie rights holders". The Courier-Mail. 4 May 2010. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  14. ^ Melissa Singer (19 April 2010). "3D television". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  15. ^ "Dear Mark Zuckerberg, Here's How You Double Facebook's Share Price". Forbes. 31 October 2012. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
  16. ^ "The secret power behind why we pick busy restaurants over empty ones". Fast Company. 29 August 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
  17. ^ "The big ugly affiliate marketing scam". VentureBeat. 12 August 2013. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
  18. ^ "Fight The Filter: Thoughts From Ruslan Kogan, CEO Of Kogan Technologies | Gizmodo Australia". Gizmodo.com.au. 13 July 2010. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  19. ^ Ruslan Kogan (9 December 2011). "Want more and better TV? Stay tuned, it's coming". Theage.com.au. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  20. ^ "Ruslan Kogan: The importance of persistence". Brw.com.au. 23 November 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  21. ^ Ruslan Kogan (9 April 2012). "Foxconn Bears The Brunt Of Ivory Tower Assault On Capitalism". TechCrunch. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  22. ^ Ruslan Kogan, Contributor 4 March 2012 (4 March 2012). "Ruslan Kogan". TechCrunch. Retrieved 1 September 2012. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  23. ^ "Kogan.com's Ruslan Kogan: We Want Tech-Savvy People". Bloomberg. 24 July 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  24. ^ http://www.kds.vic.edu.au/pdfs/Harp%20Bulletin/2010/Term%2004/32%20Harp%20-%2012%20NOV%202010%20-%20WEB.pdf. Retrieved 23 October 2011. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)[dead link‍]
  25. ^ Elizabeth Knight (23 September 2011). "Online hulk Kogan gets on big retailers' nerves". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  26. ^ a b c Peter Munro (8 April 2012). "Only double or nothing will do". Theage.com.au. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  27. ^ "Friday Five: Ruslan Kogan". Delimiter. 28 August 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  28. ^ "Ruslan Kogan Keynote at Entrepenuer [sic] Unconvention - The Kogan startup story". YouTube. 16 April 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  29. ^ Lorna Brett (30 September 2011). "Ruslan Kogan: young and hungry for success | Dynamic Business – Small Business Advice – Forums | Dynamic Business Australia". Dynamicbusiness.com.au. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  30. ^ "Classnotes, 2000s, Monash Magazine 2008". Monash.edu.au. 28 May 2008. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  31. ^ a b "Interview: Ruslan Kogan on social media, entrepreneurship and how startups can succeed". My Business. 1 August 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  32. ^ "Entrepreneur cuts TV middle men - BizTech - Technology". smh.com.au. 26 March 2007. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  33. ^ Bishop, Jen (May 2010). "Kogan's Online Empire" (PDF). Dynamic Business Magazine. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  34. ^ a b Ruslan Kogan (24 June 2012). "Doing Deals In China". TechCrunch. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  35. ^ "Success stories - Turning your idea into business reality". Startupsmart.com.au. 29 October 2010. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  36. ^ a b "The man who would be King — Wealth Creator Magazine". Wealthcreator.com.au. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  37. ^ "LED TVs, LCD TV Deals from the LED TV Specialists. Best value LED TV discounts in Australia from". Kogan. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  38. ^ Connelly, Claire (14 September 2011). "Kogan begins selling brand name products, claims to have cheapest iPads in Australia". Herald Sun. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  39. ^ "30 hot entrepreneurs aged 30 and under". Smart Company. 30 November 1999. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  40. ^ "Ruslan Kogan Young rich and growing two businesses Fast". Dynamic Business. 17 July 2010. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  41. ^ "The $62 million man who proved his mum wrong". Sydney Morning Herald. 19 March 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  42. ^ "Ruslan Kogan Will Be Going To Maccas For A 4am 'Michelin Star' Meal This Saturday". Business Insider. 13 June 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  43. ^ "Top 500 companies". BRW. 12 August 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  44. ^ "Kogan, Dick Smith Explore Options". The Wall Street Journal. 11 September 2013. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
  45. ^ "Kogan shake up for grabs to steer ambitious growth". Australian Financial Review. 11 September 2013. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
  46. ^ a b [1] BRW Magazine. Retrieved November 2011.
  47. ^ [2] BRW Magazine. Retrieved November 2011.
  48. ^ "Fast 100" (PDF). BRW. 27 October 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  49. ^ Top 50/2012: The Most Influential In Technology, The Australian, 28 February 2012, retrieved 7 December 2012
  50. ^ "2012's Hot 30 Under 30". Smartcompany.com.au. 17 April 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  51. ^ Chapman, Mardi (March 2012), Young CEOs (PDF), The Australian, retrieved 7 December 2012
  52. ^ Tech 100 (PDF), T3, retrieved 7 December 2012
  53. ^ Top Guns In Tech (PDF), Virgin Australia, July 2011, retrieved 7 December 2012
  54. ^ Top 100 Most Influential People (PDF), The Age, 2008, retrieved 7 December 2012
  55. ^ Young Rich List (PDF), BRW Magazine, 2009, retrieved 7 December 2012
  56. ^ Fast Starters (PDF), BRW Magazine, 25 June 2009, retrieved 7 December 2012
  57. ^ Fast 100 (PDF), BRW Magazine, 2010, retrieved 7 December 2012
  58. ^ David OlsenThe Downundercover Economist (29 April 2010). "Ruslan Kogan lands two companies in BRW's 2010 Fast Starters | Dynamic Business – Small Business Advice – Forums | Dynamic Business Australia". Dynamicbusiness.com.au. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  59. ^ Lindhe, Jane (29 April 2010), Open All Hours (PDF), BRW Magazine, retrieved 7 December 2012
  60. ^ "Tech companies populate BRW Young Rich - Software - Technology - News - CRN Australia". Crn.com.au. 30 September 2010. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  61. ^ Charter Security (1 August 2010), Charter Retail Innovation Award (PDF), Charter Security, retrieved 1 August 2010
  62. ^ Magazine, Anthill (27 October 2010). "Ruslan Kogan, 2010 Anthill 30under30 Winner". Anthillonline.com. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  63. ^ Top 100 Most Influential People (PDF), The Age, retrieved 7 December 2012
  64. ^ "2011's Hot 30 Under 30". Smartcompany.com.au. 19 April 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  65. ^ [3] 2011 BRW Young Rich List. Retrieved November 2011.
  66. ^ Lindhe, Jane (27 September 2012), Young Clicks v Old Bricks, BRW Magazine, retrieved 8 December 2012
  67. ^ Fast 100 (PDF), BRW Magazine, retrieved 7 December 2012
  68. ^ Men Of Influence 2012 (PDF), Men' Style Magazine, retrieved 7 December 2012
  69. ^ "Ruslan Kogan (SR) | Entrepreneur Of The Year". Eoy.ey.com.au. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  70. ^ Shepherd, Grant, Deloitte’s top tech companies of 2012, Tech Trader, retrieved 8 December 2012
  71. ^ BRW (25 October 2012), BRW Fast 100, BRW, retrieved 1 November 2013
  72. ^ BRW (20 September 2013), Young Rich, BRW, retrieved 21 September 2013
  73. ^ BRW (22 June 2014), BRW Rich 200, BRW, retrieved 3 July 2014
  74. ^ BRW (11 November 2014), Young Rich, BRW, retrieved 12 November 2014
  75. ^ Gedda, Rodney (13 August 2009), Kogan drops 10-inch Linux netbook price to $399, Computer World, retrieved 7 December 2012
  76. ^ Ruslan Kogan Talking Tech & Tablets on Bloomberg, YouTube, 1 June 2011, retrieved 7 December 2012
  77. ^ LeMay, Renai (3 June 2011), Kogan launches early Chromebook, Delimiter, retrieved 7 December 2012
  78. ^ Lindhe, Jane (27 September 2012), Young clicks v old bricks, BRW, retrieved 15 November 2013
  79. ^ LeMay, Renai (9 March 2011), How seriously should we take Ruslan Kogan?, Delimiter, retrieved 15 November 2013
  80. ^ LeMay, Renai (1 March 2011), Aussie retailers are Apple’s bitch, claims Kogan, Delimiter, retrieved 15 November 2013
  81. ^ Bishop, Jen (17 July 2010), Ruslan Kogan: Young, rich and growing two businesses. Fast., Dynamic Business, retrieved 8 December 2012
  82. ^ Neerav Bhatt. "Future of the manned space flight - The Drum Opinion (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". Abc.net.au. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  83. ^ KoganVideo. "Virgin Galactic - Interview with Ruslan Kogan on Channel 7 News (9/12/09)". YouTube. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  84. ^ KoganVideo. "Virgin Galactic - Interview with Ruslan Kogan on Channel 9 News (9/12/09)". YouTube. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  85. ^ "Virgin Galactic - Interview with Ruslan Kogan on Today Tonight (9/12/09)". YouTube. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
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