Our New Kiev Office Joins the Gorilla Family

One of the oldest cities in Eastern Europe, with a history dating back to 482 (not a typo), Kiev is a cosmopolitan city of 3 million, roughly the size of Chicago. From the beautiful Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) to the baroque majesty of St. Andrews church, Kiev is a blend of the ancient and the modern. And in recent years, the city has emerged as a high tech hub, home to a highly educated and skilled workforce that has spawned a number of innovative technologies and companies.

At the end of 2011, Gorilla announced the acquisition R3Si, a former Magento Silver partner located in Kiev. This so happens to be just a stone’s throw from Magento’s local offices where the ecommerce platform was first developed. Following the announcement, Gorilla Principal Brian Grady and COO Justin Finnegan traveled to Kiev to meet the team, learn more about their work culture and environment and instill their vision for the future of the company.

Enthusiasm for the visit was immediately apparent when a half dozen members of the Kiev team greeted Brian and Justin at the airport. From there, Brian and Justin spent their first day touring the city. It so happened that this fell on Orthodox Christmas, one of the most important days on the Ukrainian calendar, which provided a unique insight into the city’s rich heritage, and equally rich cuisine.

Day 2 was spent at the Kiev offices formally introducing the Kiev team to Gorilla and vice versa. First came a tour of the office and the carpal tunnel-inducing realization that the office wi-fi password was 64 characters long—courtesy of our security-conscious Director of Technology, Igor Rafalovsky. The first order of business was to have this changed. Next came a walkthrough of the 2012 business plan and an overview of Gorilla’s overall philosophy. This included an organizational realignment of resources to better support the rapid growth of Gorilla’s dedicated Enhanced Managed Services offering GEMS and our newly launched In Store product development business unit.

Following the company meeting, one on one discussions were held with each staff member to answer questions and solicit their input and suggestions. And to bring a taste of the camaraderie that is a core part of Gorilla culture, the entire group embarked on a team-building exercise that translates to any language: bowling.

Overall, Brian and Justin were tremendously impressed by the professionalism of the entire Kiev team and what they will bring to Gorilla as we continue to grow. Chicago and Kiev may be 5,000 miles apart, but our people are already more closely aligned than any of us could have imagined.