About

Hi, I’m Alex Maltsev.

I build digital businesses, products, and communities. For more than 20 years, I’ve worked at the intersection of technology, growth, business development, and international markets — while almost always building something of my own on the side.

I was born in the Soviet Union, spent roughly 25 years living and working in China, and now live in Thailand.

From developer to building businesses

I started out as a web developer in the early 2000s, building websites and experimenting with online projects when making things for the web still meant doing almost everything yourself.

That technical background gradually led me into other parts of building digital businesses: product, marketing, user acquisition, partnerships, localization, and eventually business development and management.

China and international markets

China has been a major thread running through much of my professional life.

At Aviasales / JetRadar, I launched and developed the company’s China direction, working on localization, marketing, partnerships, and integrations with Chinese travel platforms.

I later joined Alibaba, where I worked on the growth of AliExpress in Russia. My work ranged from performance marketing and partnerships to affiliate marketing, conversion, marketplace development, and online sales.

In 2017, I co-founded Runuo, through which I worked on China-focused digital, localization, research, and marketing projects for international companies including Yandex, Sber, Aeroflot, Rosatom, and Sotheby’s International Realty.

These experiences taught me that entering a new market is rarely just a marketing or localization problem. It usually means connecting product, technology, operations, infrastructure, payments, partners, compliance, and local user expectations into one working system.

What I’m doing now

Today, I’m Head of China at Wildberries, where I work on developing the company’s business and seller ecosystem in China.

My work spans market localization, seller acquisition, partnerships, payments, ERP and API integrations, local infrastructure, Service Centers, events, and other parts of the ecosystem needed to operate and grow a cross-border marketplace.

A large part of my role is cross-functional: turning business needs into projects that can actually be delivered across product, technology, infrastructure, legal, finance, data, marketing, operations, and external partners.

I’ve always built things of my own

My professional career has always run in parallel with independent projects.

I founded Magazeta, an independent Russian-language publication about China that grew into a long-running media project with more than 5,000 published articles.

I co-created Laowaicast, a Russian-language podcast about China, and over the years I’ve built websites, communities, media projects, and other experiments around subjects I wanted to explore.

More recently, I created CapoeiraWiki, an independent knowledge project documenting capoeira’s history, people, groups, and culture.

I’m also the author of 50 Lessons on Capoeira, Teaching, and Life, a book about teaching, leadership, community, and the lessons that practice carries into everyday life.

You can find more of this work on my projects page.

Outside work

I’m a father and a longtime capoeira teacher and practitioner.

I enjoy learning languages, reading, studying unfamiliar subjects, and starting projects simply because I want to understand something better.

On my blog, I write about what I’m learning, work, books, capoeira, and life. My now page is a snapshot of what I’m currently focused on.

Get in touch

If you have a question, an idea, or just want to say hello, email me at [email protected].

I reply to every email, usually within about a week. If you don’t see a reply, check your spam folder.