Martynenko Stefanii Yuriiovych, 32 years

How a lawyer negotiated 50% of a company and immediately stepped into strategic management

Today, I am an entrepreneur and partner at Nexus — a business at the intersection of international law, international legal consulting, and international marketing for e-commerce.

Our main focus is providing legal support to Ukrainian companies entering international markets, including launching and scaling businesses in global e-commerce and on Amazon. My path into entrepreneurship began along a classic legal career trajectory: like most lawyers, I saw myself becoming a partner in a company. The question was not whether I would reach that level, but how I would get there. The turning point for me came after my studies in Europe.

I made a conscious decision to return to Ukraine rather than build a career abroad. Moving to Kyiv was another important step—into an environment with greater opportunities, stronger competition, and a faster pace of development. These decisions changed my strategic thinking and shaped my vision for international business development and the export of Ukrainian companies. Over time, I joined a relatively small law firm, intending to gain experience and later move to a larger organization. However, I saw a different reality: the difference between large and smaller law firms often lies not in the quality of their services, but in their access to resources and client acquisition channels. Connections and networks play a significant role at large firms. This is particularly evident in international legal services and business consulting, where understanding the global market is just as important as knowing the law.

I realized that I did not have the political or administrative connections that could accelerate my progress within such a system, and starting from scratch in a large corporate machine did not align with my sense of purpose or ambition. So I took a proactive approach. Instead of waiting for opportunities, I initiated partnership negotiations myself and negotiated a 50 % stake in the company. For the founder, who was no longer ready to be fully involved in the day-to-day running of the business, this was a mutually beneficial solution.

For me, it was an opportunity to move straight into strategic management, building on the company's established client base, team, and reputation. This saved me several years of early-stage mistakes and allowed me to focus not on launching from the ground up, but on scaling the business, launching international marketing for Amazon, and creating a comprehensive client support model.

From Amazon market-entry support to comprehensive consulting

How did the business idea come about?

My main idea was to create a new line of work within the company in addition to legal services. At first, we specialized solely in supporting businesses entering the Amazon marketplace. But we quickly realized that clients needed not a standalone service, but comprehensive support for international business. Today, we are much more than just a law or marketing firm. We can support projects from the initial idea through to sales, and then help establish family trusts to pass on the profits earned. We carry out the vast majority of tasks ourselves, which means we can take full responsibility for quality.

We have grown into an international consulting firm that brings together international law, accounting support, and international marketing for e-commerce. I believe this is the approach of the future. In today's world, simply providing a service is no longer enough—most people are interested in the end result.

Trust as a foundation, and communication that translates into revenue

What key skills helped you launch your business?

The foundation of my professional growth has been basic human qualities: honesty, straightforwardness, kindness, and the ability to be someone the team, clients, and partners enjoy working with. This directly affects the level of trust—and trust is the basis of legal consulting and long-term work with international clients. The second group of important skills is practical communication: public speaking, advising clients, negotiating, and quickly finding common ground with different people. For a lawyer, these are essential tools that translate directly into revenue, partnerships, and quality management.

A partnership that coincided with the start of the full-scale war

What were the 3 most difficult challenges you faced in the first years?

1. The first year of my partnership coincided with the start of the full-scale war, creating additional challenges. The first and most important task was to keep the team together amid extreme uncertainty. For a service business, a stable team is the foundation of its existence.
2. The second challenge was managing without prior management experience. Before becoming a partner, I had never managed a company or a team, but I had to make difficult management decisions quickly.
3. The third task was effectively resetting the company at a time when the legal business was more likely to shut down than to have any prospects. I needed to build a new structure while maintaining operational stability and good relationships with people. An additional challenge was managing professionals who were older than me and had extensive professional experience.

The contraction of Ukraine's B2B market as a systemic challenge

What crises has your business faced, and how did you overcome them?

We have not had any internal crises that called our business model into question. At the same time, there is a systemic market crisis: Ukraine's B2B segment is contracting, making growth more difficult even with a strong strategy and marketing. In these circumstances, striking a balance between costs, ambitions, and market realities is key. For me, development is not about aggressive scaling, but about considered management and the strategic development of the business's international operations.

Betting on young, ambitious people rather than dependable mid-level performers

Which decisions proved most effective in growing the company?

The biggest boost to growth came from changing our hiring model. I deliberately chose young, promising, and ambitious professionals. There is a temptation to choose less ambitious but dependable employees who stay with the company longer. But I chose a different approach: I would rather work for a year with an energetic, intelligent person who grows professionally quickly than spend years maintaining an average level without development. For a company with a team of around 12 people, where opportunities for vertical career growth are limited, this is a strategy focused on speed and quality.

Why I can't single out any critical mistake

Which of your mistakes do you now consider the most valuable experience?

I cannot single out one fundamental or conceptual mistake that significantly changed my path. By nature, I am a cautious person, so I try to minimize risks. Of course, there were individual inaccuracies or management decisions that could have been made differently, but none became critical or defining for my professional development.