Sergei Dreizin is co-founder and CEO of software engineering company Akvelon, based in Bellevue, Wash. Born and raised in Moscow, he moved to the U.S. in 1992, after the Soviet Union's collapse, getting his computer science degree from the University of Minnesota before going to work for Microsoft in the Seattle area.

But he maintained personal connections to Russia, and Akvelon established a large engineering operation in the country — numbering about 800 people, or more than half the company's workforce. Akvelon also has 300 people in Ukraine, with a large office in Kharkiv, a city near the Russian border that has come under heavy attack.

On March 11, Akvelon shut down its operations in Russia following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

But that was just the beginning of the story, as Dreizin explains on this special episode of the GeekWire Podcast in conversation with GeekWire co-founder John Cook. See GeekWire.com for written excerpts.

<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/sergeid/">Sergei Dreizin</a> is co-founder and CEO of software engineering company<a href="https://akvelon.com/"> Akvelon</a>, based in Bellevue, Wash. Born and raised in Moscow, he moved to the U.S. in 1992, after the Soviet Union's collapse, getting his computer science degree from the University of Minnesota before going to work for Microsoft in the Seattle area.
But he maintained personal connections to Russia, and Akvelon established a large engineering operation in the country &mdash; numbering about 800 people, or more than half the company's workforce.&nbsp;Akvelon also has 300 people in Ukraine, with a large office in Kharkiv, a city near the Russian border that has come under heavy attack.
On March 11, Akvelon<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6904187513087389696/"> shut down its operations in Russia</a> following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.&nbsp;
But that was just the beginning of the story, as Dreizin explains on this special episode of the GeekWire Podcast in conversation with GeekWire co-founder John Cook. See GeekWire.com for written excerpts.

GeekWire brings you the week's latest technology news, trends and insights, covering the world of technology from our home base in Seattle. Our regular news podcast features commentary and analysis from our editors and reporters, plus interviews with special guests.

GeekWire reporters John Cook, Todd Bishop and guests talk about the latest tech news and trends.

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