SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) - In what once was a recording studio in Shreveport, Konstantin Dolgan and Onega Ulanova lead one of the fastest-growing private companies in the United States - Louisiana New Product Development Team.
Last year, the company was listed on the Inc. 5000 at No. 1,181 with its 384% growth. It ranked 12th in Louisiana and first in Shreveport-Bossier City.
The company’s roots, though, aren’t in Louisiana. Or Shreveport-Bossier City. Or even the United States.
“We met back home in Kazakhstan,″ Ulanova said. “We went to the same school, university, and dated for a couple of years.″
Ulanova and Dolgan eventually married and came to the United States for educational reasons. While Dolgan was pursuing a doctorate at Louisiana Tech, he realized there was a gap between university research and market development. He started a student organization in 2014 that would be the model for Louisiana New Product Development team.
The students, who came from all different areas of the university, would take the ideas and then build them out.
“They started receiving requests from the public to develop their ideas,″ Ulanova said. “It was clear there was a need for both product development and services.″
STARTING THE COMPANY
Yet they waited a couple of years to start their company. Dolgan worked as an engineer in Shreveport. But he continued working on projects on the side while still working at his full-time job. Ulanova worked as an auditor in Bossier City. Both knew they wanted something more from their careers.
“August of 2016, we made the decision to quit,″ Ulanova said. “Enough was enough and now is the time to start building what we want to do.″
Startups are built in the United States all the time. But not all startups are successful. In fact, startups require a willingness to accept a degree of risk.
“Starting a business is always risky no matter how much money you have,″ Dolgan said. “Unless you’re willing to hustle and do it all, it’s always risky.″
But Dolgan knew he had a proven business model. He knew there was a need for a company which would take an idea through the process of concept design, prototyping, design for manufacturing, marketing, licensing and eventually manufacturing.
The couple allocated enough money to operate a few months even if they didn’t have customers.
“We did what we could to minimize the risk,″ Dolgan said. “We were not really sure that what we saw in the previous three months would continue and new customers would come. We reached out to different entities in the town, do online marketing and stuff like that.″
Then there was the matter of location.
Dolgan and Ulanova wouldn’t be starting a new product design company in Silicon Valley or even Austin, Texas. They would be starting one in Shreveport-Bossier City.
It wasn’t exactly by design, but the location proved helpful.
“It was more by chance,″ Dolgan said. “We went to Louisiana Tech. The first job Onega found was in Bossier. We relocated to Bossier. After I graduated, I found a job in Shreveport and we continued to live in Bossier. After that we built a network in this area and wanted to get into working right away. We weren’t interested in traveling just to find the right place so we kind of settled here.″
BUILDING THE COMPANY
In the early days, Dolgan and Ulanova were cautious with money. They made certain they had cash in their reserve and would be careful when it came time to make big purchases, such as an office or equipment.
Because Dolgan and Ulanova worked together, they were able minimize personnel expenses.
“We were doing everything ourselves and it allowed us to be more efficient,″ she said. “Even though we had our first employee from Day 1, we still were able to manage many other things.″
And they were able to spend time with each other. Ulanova says they are both workaholics. Long work days are routine.
Since they are married, those long work days are spent together.
“For me, it’s a wonderful experience,″ she said. “We can spend time together. We don’t need to look for topics to talk about. It’s like a child. We can dream together. We use our energy and resources for a common goal …. I can’t imagine ourselves not working together.″
Said Dolgan: “We have a few (issues) here and there, but nothing really major.″
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