Pavel Stepanov
Founder and CEO, Virtudesk. On 1 show, 1 appearance. The Shows tab opens the full record on each.
founderexecutive@pavelStepanov77 ↗LinkedIn ↗pavelstepanov.com ↗
In 2016, Stepanov founded Virtudesk, scaling it into an Inc. 5000 company providing virtual assistants and outsourcing services. A former real estate broker with a law background, he also founded Tymbl Technologies and contributes to the Forbes Business Council.
1shows
1appearances
12statements
1resolved
0supported
1contradicted
0%fully supported
Everything Pavel Stepanov said on any show that made the record, most notable first. Each card names its show and opens the statement there.
Stepanov: Direct foreign hires cannot be written off on US taxes
“If you're hiring somebody directly in another country, the money you pay them, you would not be able to write it off on taxes. So this person would have no status because there's no provision in the U.S. For you to write off foreign employees or foreign contra…”
Stepanov: Set payroll frequency to match business systems, not worker preference
“Again, keep in mind, Sean, you need to pay how your business works, not how it's convenient for them. They would love to get paid every day. You actually set up the rules. You're the employer and you set up how your company is running, not how they want to get…”
Stepanov: Performance bonuses should only be used for sales roles
“Only for sales positions where actually bonus is tied to the specific performance of the sales. It's hard to tie bonus to any like admin work, something that it's not sales specific because you can throw money at a problem, but it's not going to fix the proble…”
Stepanov: Virtual assistant failure is the founder's fault, not the assistant's
“Your virtual assistant is a reflection of your business, of how you are running the company. If you think your virtual assistant sucks after working with you for a certain number of years, you need to look at your business model. You need to look at your organ…”
Stepanov: Creating bespoke organizational roles for exceptional candidates is generally correct
“Sometimes we've been creating positions just for the right person. Right person comes along. We like him. We want to hire this person. We want him to be part of a team. We create the position for him. And guess what? Most of the time, it's actually right decis…”
Stepanov: Direct contracts with offshore workers are likely unenforceable
“You need to speak with a lawyer to discuss about enforceability. I have some doubts about that, but my hunch, you won't be able to, if it's somebody in another country.”
Stepanov explicitly prohibits salary advances and personal loans in offshore contracts
“I would actually write it out in a contract that your pay is only going to be conditioned on those terms. I would actually prescribe Describe in the contract that there's not going to be any advances paid out or any loans given. It's against your company polic…”
Stepanov: Reactionary hiring degrades organizational structure and incoming talent quality
“If you do it more of a, like a reactionary hiring, you would probably suffer with quality of the people and the structure, because then basically you're introducing new person into the existing business instead of that person growing with you.”
Stepanov rejects the build-to-exit mindset common among modern startup founders
“I think these days, everybody wants to build a business model, wants to exit and cash out. Not me.”
Stepanov: Philippine call center hires possess strong English and US cultural alignment
“Once you actually hire somebody who's from a call center industry, then those people will have great command of the English language at the same time. They have experience working at a U.S. Company, and they understand American mentality better.”
Stepanov: Framing work as 'with' leadership eliminates deference and enables open dialogue
“I don't say work for you. I say, you're actually working with you all the time. That's what I tell my employees. We work together. I, there's people working with me, not for me. The reason being is because again, I want to make sure that people understand we'r…”
Stepanov actively eliminates hierarchical honorifics like 'boss' among offshore workers
“They call me boss Pavel. I said, please don't do this. I've been called sir in interviews and I'm like, look, come on. I'm your age or younger. Come on. Yeah. They call you sir. Sean. We try to eliminate that as a, it's not part of our culture. So those who wo…”
One line per show, most statements first. The link opens Pavel's full record on that show: the calibration, argument clarity, speaking style and every statement made there.
| Show | Role there | Eps | Statements | Record | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 WE LIVE TO BUILDLEDGER | Founder and CEO, Virtudesk | 1 | 12 | 0% 0/1 | full record on We Live to Build → |