4 ms·

Isn't JetBrains a Russian company that moved their HQ to Prague due to fear of Russian government?

marcinzm 6y ago
Based on Wikipedia it was founded in the Czech Republic by three Russians in 2000 which makes it a Czech company just as much as Tesla is an American company (rather than South African). edit: Fixed founding date, coffee hasn't kicked in yet
- mcv 6y ago
  They weren't founded in 2010, but in 2000. I was a bit confused for a moment, because I distinctly remember using either IntelliJ or RubyMine in 2008. I had no idea they were a Czech company with Russian founders though. Good to hear not everything comes from SV.
  - marcinzm 6y ago
    Ooops, fixed, thanks.
- tailsdog 6y ago
  As I understood it Tesla was founded by Americans and later Musk bought in.
  - peteretep 6y ago
    > Tesla was founded (as Tesla Motors) on July 1, 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning in San Carlos, California ... A lawsuit settlement agreed to by Eberhard and Tesla in September 2009 allows all five (Eberhard, Tarpenning, Wright, Musk and Straubel) to call themselves co-founders
    - usrusr 6y ago
      Well, SpaceX isn't exactly considered "Africa's Space Programme" either. (But Jetbrains is surely far more Russian than SpaceX is South African)
- FpUser 6y ago
  >"...Tesla is an American company (rather than South African)" Difference being that Tesla does not keep their core team in South Africa.
cabirum 6y ago
No, not due to fear. It's just somewhat easier to sell their products using a EU based legal entity. Another example would be Yandex, registered in the Nethelands. JetBrains main dev offices are in St Petersburg, Moscow, Novosibirsk.
- TravelPiglet 6y ago
  The Czech Republic wasn’t part of the EU in 2000.
  - krzyk 6y ago
    Well, it was "a bit" closer to EU than Russia :)
- seanmcdirmid 6y ago
  I've never met JetBrains dev who wasn't Russian, and I've met a few (all really smart).
konart 6y ago
It's just marketing & taxes (I assume). Everything else is in St.Petersburg. Not too long ago they even bought[1] hotel complex for their office. Now they are building another business center[2] near by. [1] https://vc.ru/office/83175-ofis-jetbrains-v-sankt-peterburge https://vc.ru/office/83175-ofis-jetbrains-v-sankt-peterburge [2] https://nsp.ru/5683-mozgi-sobirayutsya-u-gazproma https://nsp.ru/5683-mozgi-sobirayutsya-u-gazproma

Based on Wikipedia it was founded in the Czech Republic by three Russians in 2000 which makes it a Czech company just as much as Tesla is an American company (rather than South African). edit: Fixed founding date, coffee hasn't kicked in yet

mcv 6y ago
They weren't founded in 2010, but in 2000. I was a bit confused for a moment, because I distinctly remember using either IntelliJ or RubyMine in 2008. I had no idea they were a Czech company with Russian founders though. Good to hear not everything comes from SV.
- marcinzm 6y ago
  Ooops, fixed, thanks.
tailsdog 6y ago
As I understood it Tesla was founded by Americans and later Musk bought in.
- peteretep 6y ago
  > Tesla was founded (as Tesla Motors) on July 1, 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning in San Carlos, California ... A lawsuit settlement agreed to by Eberhard and Tesla in September 2009 allows all five (Eberhard, Tarpenning, Wright, Musk and Straubel) to call themselves co-founders
  - usrusr 6y ago
    Well, SpaceX isn't exactly considered "Africa's Space Programme" either. (But Jetbrains is surely far more Russian than SpaceX is South African)
FpUser 6y ago
>"...Tesla is an American company (rather than South African)" Difference being that Tesla does not keep their core team in South Africa.

cabirum 6y ago

No, not due to fear. It's just somewhat easier to sell their products using a EU based legal entity. Another example would be Yandex, registered in the Nethelands. JetBrains main dev offices are in St Petersburg, Moscow, Novosibirsk.

TravelPiglet 6y ago
The Czech Republic wasn’t part of the EU in 2000.
- krzyk 6y ago
  Well, it was "a bit" closer to EU than Russia :)
seanmcdirmid 6y ago
I've never met JetBrains dev who wasn't Russian, and I've met a few (all really smart).

konart 6y ago

It's just marketing & taxes (I assume). Everything else is in St.Petersburg. Not too long ago they even bought[1] hotel complex for their office. Now they are building another business center[2] near by. [1] https://vc.ru/office/83175-ofis-jetbrains-v-sankt-peterburge https://vc.ru/office/83175-ofis-jetbrains-v-sankt-peterburge [2] https://nsp.ru/5683-mozgi-sobirayutsya-u-gazproma https://nsp.ru/5683-mozgi-sobirayutsya-u-gazproma