Tech CEO and family spend spring break helping colleagues in war-ravaged Ukraine

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It wasn't enough that JustAnswer founder and CEO Andy Kurtzig advanced the salaries of his nearly 300 employees who work and live in Ukraine prior to the Russian invasion.

It wasn't enough for the founder of the Silicon Valley-based expert answer site to relocate a third of his embattled workforce, and their families, to locales across Europe and Ukrainian towns that were expected to be relatively safe.

He didn't give a second thought to paying their moving fees, rent for newly leased apartments, extended hotel stays and other travel expenses.

Then, instead of going to sunny Florida or Hawaii, Kurtzig along with his wife, Sara, and their three kids, Jamie, 17; Kelly, 13; and Kai, 12, spent their spring break traveling along the Ukrainian border. 

Their mission: to deliver bags stuffed with much-needed medical supplies and military gear, including body armor, night vision goggles and drones. Kurtzig also spent some harrowing time trying to cross the Ukrainian border to see some of his colleagues to let them know in person that he's not just their boss, but he's also their friend.

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"It's horrific, it's very scary. I couldn't get out here soon enough," Kurtzig told Paste BN on April 11, preparing for his journey as his family made it to a location in Budapest, Hungary, before going to Ukraine. "They are not only our colleagues but a part of our extended family."

Kurtzig is among many tech entrepreneurs who are spending time and money – and taking risks – to help colleagues who have seen Ukraine become a war zone. 

The country is a tech hotbed, where major companies, including Apple, Microsoft and numerous startups, have employees. It's estimated that 20% of Fortune 500 companies have remote development teams in Ukraine, capitalizing on the country’s talent-rich pool of engineers and developers.

"It's definitely a vibrant place for engineering talent," said Roman Shaposhnik, co-founder and chief technology officer of Silicon Valley edge computing startup ZEDEDA. "When I was hiring my own team we looked at Ukraine, Belarus and Russia for talent."

But that sought-after labor market is disrupted, Shaposhnik said, as Russian forces under orders from President Vladimir Putin have spent nearly two months attacking Ukraine. Shaposhnik, who's also a board member for the Apache Software Foundation, a nonprofit of open-source developers, is currently helping many Ukrainian (and even Russian startups) relocate to other countries. including Cyprus, where he's currently located. 

"There are those who want to go, but many want to stay," Shaposhnik said. "They are basically willing to give their lives for their country."

'About freedom and truth'

Why is Kurtzig so invested? Besides a lot of engineering and critical functioning being based in Ukraine, the head of the midstage startup briefly lived there after starting his company 18 years ago. His family recently spent six months in Lviv, where JustAnswer still has an office, during a school gap year in 2019.

The "senseless" Russian invasion has become personal for Kurtzig.

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"They are fighting for their democracy," Kurtzig said. "This is not just a war about tanks and bombs but about freedom and the truth. We're going to try to do our part to spread the truth. The more we can all help, the better."

Kurtzig's journey included a 19-hour flight that included a five-hour layover in Munich. All the while his family hoped not only that they would arrive safely, but also their supplies. In the end, everything made it to Munich, to Budapest (through customs) and Slovakia when they landed and finally over to Ukraine.

"Lots of borders and questioning along the way, like, 'Why are you bringing night vision goggles, drones and body armor in your luggage?'" Kurtzig recalled. "But 100% of the supplies made it through."

In addition to all the "hard-to-find supplies" that his family brought in, Kurtzig said they also bought a truckload full of food, bedding and other items for Ukrainian refugees and delivered those to a refugee food kitchen and logistics center in Slovakia. They also visited a refugee center and food operation in Poland.

Ensuring internet connections

JustAnswer was also able to equip its workers with diesel-powered generators, satellite phones and internet service provider equipment if the internet or electricity is knocked out. 

They can use the ISP equipment to connect to Elon Musk-owned SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet kits – which come with an antenna, a mounting tripod, and a Wi-Fi router – sent to Ukraine shortly after Russia invaded. 

So far, nearly 40 of JustAnswer's 252 Ukrainian employees have left the country and many more have fled to other parts of Ukraine, Kurtzig said. He provides daily updates to JustAnswer's non-Ukrainian employees and constantly encourages them to donate to the Ukrainian army and volunteer organizations through its nonprofit, Arizae Foundation, which sends funds to the Lviv IT Cluster, a trade organization renowned for its charity work. 

The donation page has currently surpassed its $360,000 goal. So far, the foundation said donations have helped create seven fully equipped shelters in western Ukraine featuring 1,000 beds and feeding more than 6,500 displaced Ukrainians. It also has delivered about 100 tons of medical supplies to hard-struck cities Kharkiv and Kyiv and a military hospital in now-bombed Lviv. 

The donations have also brought humanitarian aid to other cities under attack, including Konotop, Chernihiv and Mariupol, to name a few.

"EVERYONE is committed to Ukraine’s victory and doing their part," Kurtzig emailed Paste BN on Friday during his multihour trek in the ravaged country.

A daughter's desire

Kurtzig said the idea to go to Ukraine came from his 17-year-old daughter Jamie, who surprised her parents with the proposal. After a family meeting, they decided they couldn't say no. 

Kurtzig said he also couldn't fathom going "someplace nice and sipping Mai Tais," while his colleagues are fighting for their lives.  

For her part, Jamie Kurtzig said her parents "thought it was a terrible idea," before they started thinking about "safe ways" they could get to the Ukrainian border. However, they really had to convince her grandmother, software industry pioneer Sandy Kurtzig, who's renowned as the "Mother of Silicon Valley," that it would be a safe trip.

"I heard that it was a big problem is getting supplies over to Ukraine, and well, I said, 'What if we help deliver those supplies?'" 

Jamie has proven to be very useful. Last Monday, Jamie, who has Type 1 diabetes, helped Yevhen Shyptur, a JustAnswer employee with his continuous glucose monitor (CGM), which is a small wearable device that measures glucose levels every 5 minutes and sends the readings to a smartphone.

On a laptop screen, Dr. Rayhan Lal of Stanford Medicine helped oversee the process. Lal has worked closely with Kurtzig and his family (including treating Jamie) over the years, helping workers with diabetes in Ukraine and India manage their insulin levels.

Kurtzig said his wife and kids spent most of their time volunteering at the refugee center in Slovakia while he prepared to go to Ukraine.

A harrowing adventure

On April 14, Kurtzig took many of the supplies he had to Ukraine with Nadiya Semen, who runs JustAnswer's international operations out of Lviv.

During their 17-hour trek (which included long custom delays), they drove in Semen's car because Ukrainian women can get across borders, but Ukraine has a ban on men between the ages of 18 to 60 leaving the country. They must stay to help fight Russian forces.

Semen's car proved invaluable, Kurtzig said, since rental car agencies in the European Union aren't allowing their cars into Ukraine.

Kurtzig said their vehicle almost got through customs in about 45 minutes until border agents saw the drones and body armor. "Then we sat there for three hours shuffling from one border official to another," Kurtzig said. "Very bureaucratic."

Once they finally cleared, Kurtzig, Semen and their team were able to visit two refugee centers to deliver supplies, including the aforementioned food and bedding, in the town of Uzhhorod. He said the town's population has grown from 100,000 to 150,000 because of refugees.

He was also able to stop by JustAnswer's office in Uzhhorod where he gave employees a lot of hugs, smiles and reassurances that they would have a job throughout this crisis. He ate both lunch and dinner with his weary colleagues. 

"It was great to see them all and very emotional because I haven't seen them since before COVID," Kurtzig said. "I am humbled by their bravery."  

Body armor and air raid sirens

As for the body armor and drones, Kurtzig handed the safety supplies to Danylo, a JustAnswer employee who is serving in the Ukrainian military during his visit to Uzhhorod. Kurtzig called the experience moving.

"It was great to give him his body armor and safety supplies directly. He really appreciated it," said Kurtzig, who also arranged for various people to distribute remaining supplies across town. 

Before departing Ukraine, Kurtzig says a series of air raid sirens went off near him as the Russian navy sent two missiles into their area.

"Fortunately for me, they did not land near me," Kurtzig said early Saturday. "The air raid sirens were sounding for about an hour with very little additional information, so it was scary knowing that missiles were on the way, but not knowing where they might land.

"We were able to get out of Ukraine and into Slovakia about an hour later," he said.

The next day, still feeling the need to do much more, Kurtzig and his family drove from Slovakia to Poland and then flew back home through Zurich as the kids prepared to return to school.

Kurtzig, who normally travels to Ukraine at least twice a year, said he will maintain a presence there and encourages his fellow entrepreneurs to do so as well. Last year, JustAnswer hired 87 people in Ukraine and Kurtzig said the startup has plans to hire up to 180 more employees this year. 

He's arranged to continue paying worker salaries via a system set up in Poland, even with cryptocurrency if needed, he said. Kurtzig vows not to pull up shop.

"We’re committed to staying and growing in Ukraine. We will continue to do that," Kurtzig said. "We’re nerds, and we weren’t born to hold machine guns and drive tanks, but we will do our best to help fund the Ukrainian economy to fight back against the enemy."