David Zokhrabyan

David Zokhrabyan

An LSE graduate and founder of the Stanford Uni. US-Russia Forum, a yearly entrepreneurship and research program. His last pre-Gitoon passion was helping Unruly as intrapreneur on projects ranging from product development to entry strategies.

LinkedIn: uk.linkedin.com/in/davidzokhrabyan/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Zokhrabyan
Shoreditch, London, United Kingdom
Member since October 22, 2013
  • About
Education
2011 London School of Economics , MS
2009 Moscow State University (MGU) , BA

I am a(n):

Entrepreneur

Companies I work or worked for:
Unruly Media, Inc.
If you're an entrepreneur or corporate innovator, why?

I want to change the world.

My favorite startups:

Unruly

What's most frustrating and rewarding about entrepreneurship/innovation?

The most frustrating part is being constrained by circumstances which you have no control over.
The most rewarding is accidentally discovering a blogpost of someone praising your company.

What's the No. 1 mistake entrepreneurs/innovators make?

Taking advice like a prescription. Entrepreneurs have to be wise enough to learn from others, but bold enough to break the status quo.

What are the top three lessons you've learned as an entrepreneur?

1. There are a lot of factors in the equation of success. And if you get zero on one, the whole thing is done. 2. You need to marry your business, otherwise it will soon slip away to a more devoted partner. 3. Your team is your fortress - you better get it right.

Full bio

During my previous position as an intrapreneur at Unruly Media, a leading social video advertising company, I enhanced my business skills and developed a solid understanding of the social media, Internet, and marketing industries, working across different departments. In Sales I learned about the business models of many different social media products and services, developed my communications and client relationship skills, and participated in external presentations and meetings. Transferring to Operations I successfully ran social media campaigns for Fortune 500 companies, and then conducted quantitative and qualitative analysis of the results. In Media I cultivated an understanding of the social media publisher space, connecting with platforms such as Facebook and YouTube, as well as designing new publisher propositions.

After gaining a comprehensive understanding of social media and building cross-functional business skills, I began working on the strategic development of the company, focusing on optimization of business operations as well as evaluation of new opportunities. My key accomplishments included producing in-depth research of europian social video advertising market, designing an entry strategy for Unruly into the new market, and participating in the creation of new products. 

Further, my experience as the Founder and Co-President of the Stanford University US-Russia Forum (SURF) is a testament to my leadership skills and ability to multi-task. At SURF, I ran a eight-month program consisting of three parts: an autumn conference in Moscow, collaborative research projects between Russian and American students, and a spring conference at Stanford where groups present their projects for submission into the SURF Journal. To ensure lasting impact, I presented our projects during pivotal meetings with the most powerful decision makers, including former President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. While managing a multicultural team of twenty-two officers in Russia and America I developed strong leadership skills and expanded my teamwork abilities. In fact, the creation of SURF provides a good example of a full business cycle: I started with an idea, assembled a team, designed a strategy, oversaw successful implementation, and secured continuation of the project in the future.