I’m Alexander Golev. I build businesses. I’ve been doing it long enough that I can’t really imagine doing anything else.
I’m British, despite what my name might suggest. I chose the UK because I like how things work here. The rule of law means something, people respect your privacy, and a UK business is taken seriously anywhere.
Before Great Britain, I lived in Switzerland, Cyprus, and several parts of the former Soviet Union, and I worked in all of them. None of them worked the same way, and you had to learn how each place did things before you could get much done.
Building things
I’m an entrepreneur. It’s how I’m wired. I’ve been building businesses for most of my adult life, and I still enjoy putting a team together and making something work where nothing existed before.
Building things means problems come up. When they do, I want to fix them, not argue about whose fault they are. You made a mistake? Fine, let’s not do it again. Now, what’s the solution?
And the fixing always involves people. Behind every company, contract, and negotiation, there are actual humans. Corporations don’t make decisions. The people inside them do. When we negotiate with Microsoft or defend a client in an audit, we’re dealing with human beings who have their own pressures and targets, and their own way of seeing things.
My Daily Life
Most of the time, I’m the CEO of SAMexpert. We help companies make sense of Microsoft licensing and cloud costs.
These are subjects that have been made deliberately complicated. Microsoft licensing is a maze, and the people who sell it have no incentive to make it clearer. So companies overpay, or they get audited and told they owe millions they didn’t expect. We help them understand what they actually need and negotiate on their behalf. And when Microsoft comes knocking, we defend them.
Off the clock
Away from work, I have plenty to keep me occupied. I’m training for my microlight pilot licence, something I’ve wanted to do for years. I ride a motorcycle, run and cycle when I can. I speak several languages and I’m always learning another. I spend a lot of time cooking and baking, and I write music.
If it seems like already a handful, I’m also a serial dad, and I spend a lot of time with my children. My wife Nadia is a talented painter. Her work hangs in galleries, and a lot of it hangs on our walls at home.
You and I should talk
I’m always happy to hear from people. You can find me on LinkedIn, and if you want to ask questions about Cloud FinOps and Microsoft Licensing, I do regular Q&A sessions on SAMexpert TV.
Speaking and Podcasts
I speak at conferences and go on podcasts, mostly about Microsoft licensing and cloud costs, sometimes about AI. If you’re organising an event or hosting a show, my speaking page has everything you need.