How to reinvent franchising with tech and transparency

As Dodo Pizza CEO, I've decided to lower my own salary to the lowest legally allowed figure. Why am I taking such a drastic measure?This past weekend our chain's sales in Russia—that's close to 90% of our business right now—have fallen by more than 30%. The quarantine enactment and the prohibition of restaurant work have taken their toll. Delivery revenue increase couldn't make up for the dent in our sales made by our closed restaurants. Obviously, our revenue will continue to decline in the near future.

Of course, we're not even thinking about giving up. We've already made...

While working in Merrill Lynch investment bank, Kirill Vyrypaev made a “wild” decision to become the chief financial officer of Dodo Pizza. At the time, our headquarters was still in Syktyvkar, a small town in northern Russia, so he moved there and had a first-hand experience of a severe northern winter. I guess he probably got a glimpse of the future then….

In two and a half years, Kirill did a lot for our company growth and development. We’ve raised $7.5 million in investment capital. That has allowed us to further expand our team, develop our own IT system, launch our first nationwide advertising campaign, open a commissary in Moscow, create a nationwide logistics network, and ultimately make our parent company profitable, all our investments in IT notwithstanding.

Nowadays, Kirill is not only our global CFO, but also the CEO of our Western division in charge of Dodo Pizza business in the EMEA region (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa). His team has already started working actively in Europe and the UK, and this year, he will return to London. So this is his path, from investment banking to a startup company, business, and entrepreneurship :-)

This will be a very interesting year. Our perspectives, new goals, and challenges that await us in Europe, Asia, Russia, and the rest of the world are breathtaking. After such a game, any movie will seem boring. Look into the future and join us. Dreamers know no boundaries. Drop me a line at fedor@dodopizza.com.

Stopping by at the first Dodo Pizza opened in Saint Petersburg, Russia…. It belongs to our franchisee Sergey Gritsenko. Sergey was one of our first partners—and he is among the toughest. He opened his first Dodo Pizza in his home town in Bashkortostan. Then he sold it and set out on a journey to conquer the Northern Capital, AKA Saint Petersburg. Now his Dodo Pizza is considered a legendary pizzeria in our chain. Showing pretty impressive financial results (in May, it netted 6.7 mln rubles—around $106,000), its team manages to provide customers with superb service. They follow all of our rules, they keep the place super clean, and they are fast. I’m proud to have such an amazing team aboard.

Twice he almost cried because of Dodo Pizza. First, after reading a book about the company’s founder, Fyodor Ovchinnikov. Second, when washing the dishes at Dodo Pizza in Pargolovo in the suburbs of St. Petersburg.

Yuri Kostin didn’t consider himself a softy. He used to work at a market. He handed out leaflets in the streets and helped with the family business. He grew up in Syktyvkar, Russia, earned a scholarship in Sweden, and studied and worked in Finland. He now was a father of three kids.

An arduous toil couldn’t scare him off. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have come to...