To repay the debt to the city

The name of Cēsis has been mentioned several times in connection with one of the most well-known Latvian IT companies, “Draugiem Group”. The first of the company’s donated public drinking water facilities was opened in the city, before that we could read about the “Konrāda kvartāls” project, which plans to renovate several buildings in the old town. A conversation between Jānis Gabrāns, a journalist from the newspaper “Druva”, and Agris Tamanis, the founder and co-owner of “Draugiem Group”, a native of Cēsis.

When draugiem.lv was founded, from which “Draugiem Group” grew, a large part of the employees were from Cēsis. What about now?

For a while, Cēsis were dominant, but now there are so many people in the company that who can say how many Cēsis are there! There is some proportion, but that is why I teach programming at the Vidzeme Technical School of Technology and Design (VTDT) to create those new specialists who would increase the number of Cēsis in the company again in the near future.

The connection with Cēsis is not over, there was an office of “Draugiem Group”, now there is “Printful”, which is one of the group's companies. More new steps – “Konrāda kvartāls”?

I've been a Cēsis resident for five years now, and it's time to give something back to Cēsis. I've already said that the city invested a lot in my education, and it's time to give back. I'm doing it the way I see it, the way I know how, and the way I can.

“Konrāda kvartāls” is already in the process. On the one hand, it was a coincidence, on the other hand, a random project. Architect Gatis Didrihsons, with whom I have collaborated on other projects, told me this spring that a project had been developed for “Konrāda kvartāls”, coordinated, but no one wanted to implement it. At that time, I was looking for a place for an office in Cēsis. We had an office in small premises, in the summer Riga residents were happy to come here to work, because it is peaceful, fresh air, lakes, rivers. They like it here, but there was not much space there, so I was looking for larger premises that would be located right in the old town. Then the architect told me about his idea that between “Konrāda kvartāls” and a wooden residential building there is an empty space where an office building can be built that fits perfectly into the landscape.

The deal has been made, the buildings have been purchased, and the architectural firm has started updating the project. When I visually imagine this place already renovated and built, I see that it will perfectly revitalize the old town.

You have been a teacher at a technical school for two years. It is not often that a co-owner of a large company becomes a teacher.

It was a coincidence. One evening I had a conversation with an English teacher at a technical school who shared the problem that there was no programming teacher for the programming course. Maybe I had something in mind? I get asked this often, and I know that I have nothing in mind, but I somehow said that I could try it myself until I manage to find a teacher. She immediately called the director that a teacher had been found, and the next morning I woke up as a teacher. At first I reproached myself for taking on this so lightly, but I liked it! It also improves me, because now I have to get a pedagogical education, which will be something new for me again, because I have to go to school again. I like communicating with young people, working at a school is disciplined, because I have to adapt to the schedule of classes, there is no free regime there. Will I be a teacher long-term, probably not. But it is also clear that I will only leave when another teacher is found.

What kind of young people do you see in technical schools?

When I started working there, they told me – get one from everyone for being a programmer, and that’s a victory. Out of 20 young people, six of them graduated with distinction, and in total about ten are normal programmers. I see that the potential is huge, young people are interested , and if programming is taught, maintained, and developed, the return is huge. I am very satisfied with what I do at the technical school. I see with what sparkling eyes young people leave the classroom after classes.

How long does it take to understand which young person will make it and which won't?

In the first two or three lessons. There are young people who do it, are happy that they are succeeding, want to know more. In the breaks, they ask questions, come up with ideas. I understand that his basic knowledge is still small, but his interest is great, and it is clear that he will be a programmer. Two years is enough to motivate, to give him the right sources to study on his own, because the hours allocated at school are not enough.

Of course, there are young people for whom the main thing is to get to the computer, install something they need on it, while the teacher is talking in front of them. Then I advise them to do it more quietly, so as not to disturb those who want to gain knowledge. It is clear that I will not be able to make programmers out of them. But the good news is that about 80 percent of young people come with great interest.

The company “Draugiem Group” has always thought about its employees, about a modern working environment. Do employees appreciate it?

I think, definitely, because the environment is very important. From the first day of operation, it is very important for us how the employee's working day will look. How he will feel, whether he will have a full stomach, whether he will have somewhere to relax, think, meditate. One of our main values ​​is that the employee should be loved, understood, knowledgeable, appreciated.

When we started working at “Dream Factory”, there weren't many companies in Latvia that had open-plan offices with what seemed modern to us at the time. No gray walls without windows, small cubicles, faux wood furniture, or uncomfortable chairs.

Now it's the norm, we see what offices are like – with lots of plants, art, ergonomic chairs and desks. So we started thinking about what the next step would be to raise the bar even higher. We decided to go to young people, start educating them, making a contribution at a time when they haven't yet entered the job market.

It sounds like the employees are being spoiled a bit.

On the one hand, yes, a little spoiled, but it should be noted that there is a shortage of good programmers all over the world, so in a company this person is in a way like a king, with whom one must be careful, whose wishes must be satisfied.

You've said that entrepreneurship isn't about getting a lot and getting it fast, you have to think long-term. When draugiem.lv was created, did you see the current “Draugiem Group” in the long term?

For me and my business partner Lauris (Lauris Liberts, founder and co-owner of “Draugiem Group” – ed.), it’s always been one big experiment. We don’t burn all the additional revenue we generate right away. Our long-term view is that we try to develop, create new products, mostly niche products that we ourselves feel are necessary, and spend money on them. In the long term, this has resulted in many good, modern, and large companies in the “Draugiem Group”.

It is also important to Lauri and me that the people we hire, who will be responsible for a specific area, are smarter than us. That has been the condition since day one. If, for example, a marketing specialist has to tell me what to do, then he is not a marketing specialist, because I really am not. If I cannot ask him for advice, he is not suitable for this position. From day one, we have hired people who are more knowledgeable than us, so that it will help the company develop, help us grow ourselves.

Another important thing is to be able to leave management at the right moment, if a strong director has been appointed who is successfully developing the company. You don't need to ruin something, thinking that you know better. Go away, let the company develop, but create something new yourself. We see that the set of values ​​that we want to see in the company is already implanted in the initial stage; based on these core values, development takes place.

Is it possible to think long-term in digital technologies and solutions?

Lauris and I have talked about how in this field you can't even give a five-year forecast of how things will turn out, not even three years. I know that business classics require forecasting, but we just - shoot!

Is the portal draugiem.lv preserved for memory, so to speak, for sentiment about its origins?

No. We have no problem closing a company if it becomes unprofitable. Closing a profitable company would be stupid, and no matter how much someone might not want to hear it, draugiem.lv still has a significant income. No, nothing happens to us because of sentiment.