WEBVTT - U.S. Tech Company Aiding Workers in Ukraine

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<v Speaker 1>This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Bloomberg

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<v Speaker 1>Quick Takes Tim Stinovic on Bloomberg Radio. As we await

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<v Speaker 1>the heightening geopolitical tensions as a result of Russia's moves

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<v Speaker 1>on Ukraine. Let's not forget that people actually live there

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<v Speaker 1>and they are trying to figure out whether to stay

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<v Speaker 1>to flee. Their future definitely can be at this kind

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<v Speaker 1>of time, feel very much up in the air. And

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<v Speaker 1>next guest has nearly three d employees in Ukraine. Uh

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<v Speaker 1>and he's joining us with what are you seeing and

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<v Speaker 1>what they are doing? We welcome Andy Kurtzig. He's founder

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<v Speaker 1>and c of Just Answer. It's a site that connects

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<v Speaker 1>people with doctors, lawyers, vets, mechanics, all kinds of experts. Seven.

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<v Speaker 1>He is with us on the phone from San Francisco. Andy,

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<v Speaker 1>nice to have you here with Creedy and myself. How

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<v Speaker 1>are you and how's your team doing? Who are on

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<v Speaker 1>the ground in Ukraine. It's a nice to nice the

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<v Speaker 1>secret here as well. It's a terrible situation in Ukraine.

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<v Speaker 1>Our team is suffering, the people of Ukraine are suffering,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's a very difficult time right now. So what

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<v Speaker 1>are you doing? To prepare walk us through that process. So,

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<v Speaker 1>so that we've been in Ukraine's two thousand and ten

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<v Speaker 1>and that was when Jennakovich was president, basically prudent control

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<v Speaker 1>of Jennakovic we were, So we were there while it

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<v Speaker 1>was under Russia's control. We were there during the made

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<v Speaker 1>On Revolution in two thousand and fourteen, which was another

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<v Speaker 1>trying time. And then we've been there since then with

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<v Speaker 1>Russia invading Crimea and fighting on the east, and so

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<v Speaker 1>we've had some time to prepare and we've mambled to

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<v Speaker 1>put together lots of plans that we are now implementing

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<v Speaker 1>to keep our folks safe and to keep operations as

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<v Speaker 1>stable as possible. So you meant you mentioned it's obviously

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<v Speaker 1>a difficult situation for your employees. I'd love to go

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<v Speaker 1>back there, and can you can you drool down a

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<v Speaker 1>little bit for us in terms of specifically what your

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<v Speaker 1>team members in Ukraine are dealing with at this point

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<v Speaker 1>of course, So, so Putin is a obviously bullying Ukraine

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<v Speaker 1>and is a master of propaganda and misinformation, and and

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<v Speaker 1>so the kinds of things that he's doing to our

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<v Speaker 1>folks on the ground is that you probably saw that

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<v Speaker 1>the bombing of the kindergarten about a week ago, and

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<v Speaker 1>since then he and his folks have been calling in

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<v Speaker 1>bomb threats at schools all over Ukraine, including our employees

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<v Speaker 1>kids schools. And you know, with that actually happening, right,

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<v Speaker 1>that's a real threat and everybody has to drop everything

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<v Speaker 1>and run to school and pick up their kids. And

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<v Speaker 1>it's happened multiple times in the last couple of weeks.

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<v Speaker 1>So give us some an example, give us some numbers,

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<v Speaker 1>maybe a little bit of time horizon on I think

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<v Speaker 1>this it's just so rare to have someone actively kind

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<v Speaker 1>of works out some of these logistics when it comes

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<v Speaker 1>to the employees. What kind of time horizon are you

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<v Speaker 1>kind of preparing for? Are you forecasting for? What does

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<v Speaker 1>it look like on the ground. Well, so what we've

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<v Speaker 1>been able to do over the years has put together

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<v Speaker 1>are at a large document was essentially desk con level one, two, three, four, five,

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<v Speaker 1>and at each all the actions that we're going to

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<v Speaker 1>take to keep our employees safe and to keep our

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<v Speaker 1>operations as an intact as possible. And so, for example,

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<v Speaker 1>one of the things that we're actively doing right now

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<v Speaker 1>at the level level where we are is moving our

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<v Speaker 1>employees from the east of Ukraine to the west of Ukraine,

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<v Speaker 1>and we've given them multiple options. We're putting them up

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<v Speaker 1>in hotels, We're helping them rent apartments, we're giving them

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<v Speaker 1>paid time off to to make those moves and to

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<v Speaker 1>pack things up. And that's actively happening now as one example.

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<v Speaker 1>So I'm also curious, Um, in terms of the situation

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<v Speaker 1>that that your employees are dealing with. One of the

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<v Speaker 1>stories we talked about UM earlier, Andy is the cyber

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<v Speaker 1>attacks that are happening. And we reported that Ukrainian government

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<v Speaker 1>agencies and banks were hit by what's called a d

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<v Speaker 1>d O S. I don't know if I'm saying it correctly,

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<v Speaker 1>but it's a distributed denial of service attack, right, Um.

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<v Speaker 1>And and a lot of this is to really kind

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<v Speaker 1>of chip away at the sense of security among the

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<v Speaker 1>Ukrainian people. What signs are you folks specifically seeing of that. Absolutely,

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<v Speaker 1>we called this DIDOS attacks and no problem And and yes,

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<v Speaker 1>one of our our bank in Ukraine is was one

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<v Speaker 1>of the banks that they took down with the details

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<v Speaker 1>attack a week ago. And how does that affect us

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<v Speaker 1>and our employees. Well, you know, one of the things

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<v Speaker 1>we need to do is we need to protect them

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<v Speaker 1>and make sure we can pay them on time. And

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<v Speaker 1>so if Russia were to continue to do that, we

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<v Speaker 1>need alternative ways to pay our employees because they gotta

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<v Speaker 1>pay for groceries and pay the rent and do whatever

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<v Speaker 1>they need to do in order to live. And so

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<v Speaker 1>that's the kind of thing that we worry about. The

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<v Speaker 1>other thing, uh, and so we've got all kinds of

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<v Speaker 1>plans for that. We've got money that we put in

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<v Speaker 1>a bank in Poland, we're thinking about even using crypto

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<v Speaker 1>if if if there even starts to devalue in a

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<v Speaker 1>major way and becomes useful with lots of different alternatives there.

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<v Speaker 1>So the other things we need to worry about, and

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<v Speaker 1>and and very likely and I've already been happening frankly,

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<v Speaker 1>are putin taking out communication systems, PUDEN taking out power

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<v Speaker 1>systems and so you know, on the power system side, uh,

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<v Speaker 1>we're getting diesel back of generators for our two offices

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<v Speaker 1>there so that people can can can can have access

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<v Speaker 1>that for communications. Every time the Internet goes down and

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<v Speaker 1>they are doing datas attacks on different I S T s.

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<v Speaker 1>Can you imagine how that feels to live in Ukraine,

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<v Speaker 1>Because you know that's one of the first steps. Right

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<v Speaker 1>the minute war starts, Putin is going to take out

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<v Speaker 1>your communications. And so if you're sitting there at home

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<v Speaker 1>and all of a sudden your internet goes out, you

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<v Speaker 1>think wars started. Can you imagine that feeling of constantly

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<v Speaker 1>sort of any moment your country is going to be

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<v Speaker 1>invaded by Russia, And so we've got to do all

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<v Speaker 1>kinds of things to combat that. We're getting satellite phones,

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<v Speaker 1>We're getting multiple different I s p s, so if

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<v Speaker 1>one goes down, we've got another one. We're using all

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<v Speaker 1>kinds of different chat communication methods in case one goes down,

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<v Speaker 1>with backs as to others. So these are the kinds

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<v Speaker 1>of things we're dealing with. Yeah, anecdotally, I've heard that

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<v Speaker 1>a lot, and maybe you can correct me if I'm wrong.

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<v Speaker 1>We and totally have heard that a lot of people

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<v Speaker 1>have been trying to move their their funds, their savings

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<v Speaker 1>out of Ukraine when it comes to um well, essentially

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<v Speaker 1>their life savings, pulling it out of bank accounts, investing

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<v Speaker 1>in real estate in Western Europe. You mentioned operating through

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<v Speaker 1>a bank in Poland or even crypto. Are those kind

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<v Speaker 1>of things you're thinking about as well? Well, I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>we were at US based company. We're based in Silicon Valley,

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<v Speaker 1>so most of our assets are here and we don't

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<v Speaker 1>have to worry about that where we sent money over

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<v Speaker 1>in order to pay them, and then we paid them

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<v Speaker 1>and then it's just reserves left in the bank account

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<v Speaker 1>until the next time we need to pay them. So

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<v Speaker 1>so that's not an issue for us as mine. But

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<v Speaker 1>we've got to make sure we can pay them. Hey,

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<v Speaker 1>and you just got about twenty seconds left. Do you

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<v Speaker 1>ultimately anticipate you might need to pull these people if

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<v Speaker 1>they want to completely out of Ukraine, depending on how

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<v Speaker 1>this plays out. I sure hope not, but you know

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<v Speaker 1>that is an option for sir, depending on how how

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<v Speaker 1>this plays out. We need to keep our employees safe

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<v Speaker 1>and we're going to do whatever it takes to keep

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<v Speaker 1>them safe. And I just want to end with one

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<v Speaker 1>quick thought, which is I don't think it will come

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<v Speaker 1>to that, and we're certain planning for the worst, but

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<v Speaker 1>we're hoping for the best. And our intention is to

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<v Speaker 1>stay in Ukraine. We are committed to Ukraine, and in fact,

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<v Speaker 1>we're going to try to grow in Ukraine. Alright. Gonna

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<v Speaker 1>leave it on that note, Andy, Thank you, so much.

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<v Speaker 1>I know this is a tough situation. I know you've

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<v Speaker 1>got your your plateful, certainly taking care of your folks

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<v Speaker 1>on the ground in Ukraine. Andy Kurtzik, He's founder and

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<v Speaker 1>chief executive officer of Just Answer, on the phone in

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<v Speaker 1>San Francisco,