Oleg Shchgolev, CEO and Co-founder of SEMrush, also created SEOquake that was released in 2006. SEOquake was the inspiration to creating something more complex. Then SEMrush was born with the help of his partner, Dimitri Melnikov.
Today, SEMrush has 10 years in the market with 500 employees, revenues close to 100 million, and about 2 million users worldwide.
I had the pleasure to interview Oleg, including some questions beyond Search.
KT: What type of inspiration, vision, and loyalty did you see in Dmitri Melnikov that made you want to go in business with him?
OS: First and foremost, Dima is my friend. Second, he is a SEMrush co-founder; he’s been here right from the very beginning. We have always believed in the product that we’ve been working on and I totally admire him as my friend, my colleague, and co-founder.
We make most decisions together as CEO & co-CEO. Our temperaments are mutually reinforcing and this contributes greatly in allowing us to make balanced and informed decisions.
KT: How is your relationship with your partner Dmitri Melnikov?
OS: I’ve known Dmitri for more than 30 years. We grew up in the same neighborhood; we started programming together and over time our friendship expanded into a business partnership. We’ve gone through lots of ups and downs together.
KT: To be successful in the tech industry do you consider a person has to go to college or can they be self-taught?
OS: Formal education greatly enhances discipline and concentration, helps you socialize and find the right and important people — to network, if you like.
But a lot of leaders I know are self-taught. Back when I was a student,