Nikolai studied programming and became a successful researcher. His story is less well-known than Pavel's, but equally important, as he was the one who developed the MTProto protocol for Telegram Messenger in 2013, making the platform the most secure mass messaging system in the world.
The Durov brothers’ first major foray into the tech world was the creation of VKontakte (VK) in 2006. Inspired by platforms like Facebook, VK quickly became Russia’s most popular social network, attracting millions of users (it had 49 million users by 2009). The platform stood out for its intuitive interface and multiple functionalities, setting a new standard in the social media space in Russia. It was at this time that Pavel began to gain notoriety in the Russian business establishment, earning him the nickname “the Russian Mark Zuckerberg.”
However, VK's success brought with it several negative bahamas number data and dangerous – consequences for the brothers. In 2011, Russian authorities demanded access to Vkontakte users' data in order to monitor the activities of political dissidents. The brothers refused to give in to these demands and became a target of the government.
In 2014, amid political tensions and pressure from the Russian government to control the platform, the Durov brothers decided to sell their stake, leave the company and leave the country to protect their integrity. At that time they settled in Dubai, but later moved to other countries and addresses that they kept secret to preserve their integrity. Later, Pavel ruled out returning to Russia, stating that "the country is incompatible with the internet business at that time."
This event marked a turning point in the brothers' careers and was the catalyst for the brothers to become the creators of Telegram.