Plamen Russev
The man who turned lessons from failures
into a method for building trust.
The man who turned lessons from failures
into a method for building trust.
From ages 6 to 16, he helps with construction, does farm work, sells at the market. Later becomes a street musician, bartender, while also being a student.
At 17 years old, he leaves the mathematics high school in Varna to pursue his entrepreneurial passion.
At 19 years old, he achieves his first significant financial success as a radio producer.
At 22 years old, he acquires a Sony Pictures license for a TV show and goes bankrupt during hyperinflation in Bulgaria. He is left without money even for electricity bills, with eyes burned from UV lamps on the film set, and with huge debts. That's when he begins work on his trust system, which today bears the name Russev Trust Framework.
In the next 7 years, he creates tech companies in 4 countries and successfully sells 3 of them.
At 30 years old, he begins actively analyzing technologies and investing in companies where he sees potential to create the future.
At 32 years old, he creates Webit – with a mission to stop the brain drain from Bulgaria and change the country's image.
At 35 years old, he launches Founders Games – an innovation competition, which today has a prize pool of $6 million and participants from 150 countries.
At 41 years old, he writes the book "The Power of People – The New Marketing".
At 47 years old, he founds WIN – a public investment company on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange.
Today, at 50 years old, he manages investments from Australia to America, from France to Israel; writes "Trust Capital".
This is the journey from childhood to managing a public company. From the first failures to creating Webit. From formulas in the black notebook to systems that turn trust into a measurable quantity.
As an investor, he learns that numbers show opportunities, but people create value. As an entrepreneur, he understands that vision without effort remains just a mirage.
At 50, he owes more to the future than to the past. This book is one of his ways to pay.
But the most important journey is the last one – toward the prediction he crossed out a decade ago. About the division of humanity that is coming. And about the choice of where we will stand when it becomes a fact.
This is his story – subjective, personal, true. And an invitation to the reader – not for recipes, but for reflection. Because at the end of the day, we all seek the same thing: someone to trust.
And trust begins with the choice to share the truth.
Looking back, Plamen Russev realizes that the most important recognitions in his life are not personal trophies, but signs of trust from people and institutions for which he is deeply grateful.
Each of these recognitions is not just a line in his biography. They are part of one common story and proof that the trust capital is the most valuable asset we can build together.
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"Rock bottom is not a place. It's a choice."
"At the Varna market I learned the first lesson in economics - value is in people, not in coins."
"In a world where AI can imitate everything, real human trust becomes the most important currency."
"Don't promise what they want to hear. Promise what you can deliver. Then deliver a little more."
"Bad news on Monday is better than good news on Friday. Early transparency saves trust."
"Asymmetry is relentless. You build slowly, you lose quickly. Accept it."
"In my life there is one story that repeats itself - the story of challenge. Although I have never been a seeker of extreme experiences, life has repeatedly placed me on the edge between worlds. The climb to Everest Base Camp was exactly such a moment."
2000 people bought the book before it existed.
With just one promise - the author to tell the truth.
You may not know him. But it might be worth 3 hours of your time.
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