Our stellar (and surprising) team in Armenia

01 April 2016

By Lara Setrakian, CEO, News Deeply

The story of Armenia's tech boom is now a firm and famous part of the country's modern history. The opening of the Tumo Center for Creative Technologies in 2011 gave the movement a visual icon and a physical center of gravity. Young people in Yerevan, and soon elsewhere across the country, gobbled up the opportunity to learn and expand their talents, joining the knowledge economy in force.

The industry itself had a virtual mascot: the heads-down, ever-coding computer engineer, who could whip up an app or digital marvel on demand, ready for export to the global market. Wildly successful startups such as PicsArt and Shadowmatic rightly reinforced the image. From a nation of chess players and PhDs would come legions of digital whiz kids –a wave of technical talent.

But there's been an overlooked aspect of Armenia's tech economy, an untapped pool of talent that brings tremendous value to organizations which set up locally. Within Armenia's labor force are young, energetic, diligent professionals in a variety of fields; we've built a team in Yerevan that handles operations, business development and digital production. And in the nearly three years since we started there we haven't regretted it for one moment.

Our mix of functions often comes as a surprise to other tech companies, who expect to see us exclusively ship engineering work to Yerevan. They had perhaps overlooked the fact that in a broad set of skills and functions, Armenian talent can play a vital and additive role.

Armenia excels in what we at News Deeply call "assignments of diligence," tasks that require focused intelligence and conscientious follow-through. Our growing office, which happens to be run and staffed by women, handles some of our company's most important functions. They have the education, experience and linguistic skills we need to keep the company growing and moving forward. Most importantly, at least in my mind, they bring a top-notch work ethic and culture of commitment to the job at hand.

Our first employee and Yerevan office head, Arpine Grigoryan, has been at the heart of our team for nearly three years. And while I know she's unique in so many ways, I also know there are many more talented people like her, looking for the right opportunity to grow and contribute to the success of a new business.

From each round of hiring at News Deeply I've learned that the talent in Armenia is robust and ready for action.

Any company that can send work to Armenia should take a close look at the depth and breadth of potential hires, across a range of fields. Those who don't are missing out on a great opportunity and hampering their own growth. In the global war for talent and the cutthroat world of technology, our Yerevan team has become a secret weapon. We're grateful for it and, because of it, we see a bright future ahead.

This is an original contribution by Lara Setrakian, CEO of News Deeply.

This article was orginally published on HIVE.