Ulugbek Pulatov

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, many high-level edtech producers decided to leave Russia. I realized they would soon start looking for projects in nearby countries—especially for influencers to produce content.

Producing influencers yields the best financial results. While they were still figuring out their next steps, I knew the key was to have the top influencers in my country in my pocket.

I immediately started meeting with all the major influencers in Uzbekistan—about 20 in total (with millions of followers and genuine influence).

I signed contracts with 14 of them, where I promised to pay them for one ad per month, but without actually running the ad. In return, I secured their agreement to decline any offers from other producers.

As a result, I began connecting producers with influencers, earning 10-20% from each deal. I essentially acted as a marketplace. This strategy generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue and provided us with valuable experience that we applied to our other projects.

During quarantine, I helped my friend promote his product with more than 100 popular celebrities in Uzbekistan in exchange for his goods (cost $30). The entire country believed my friend's company was government-backed because people assumed that a huge amount of money was being spent on advertising. No commercial project had ever done anything like this before, but in reality, I simply took advantage of the unique market conditions.