InfoTrust

Founders Alex Yastrebenetsky and Michael Loban have some fundamental differences: Alex is an engineer, Michael a marketing guy. Alex is a University of Cincinnati alumnus, while Michael graduated from Xavier.

But they have some more crucial similarities. Both immigrated to Cincinnati from Ukraine, where they shared a distant family connection and knew each other a bit. And both are entrepreneurs at heart who hold executive positions at Info Trust, a web analytics firm that helps companies improve their digital marketing. Alex is co-founder and CEO of Info Trust, while Michael serves as its chief marketing officer.

Both arrived in Cincinnati as teenagers. Alex came to study engineering at UC in 1994 after growing up in Kharkhiv, one of Cincinnati’s sister cities. Though he describes himself as an engineer at heart, he made the decision to someday open his own business after he saw about 200 co-workers laid off in the recession of 2001-2002.

“Since then I realized I wanted to control my own destiny, and I’ll do what I need to make it happen,” says Alex, who moved from a student visa to a work visa and later became a naturalized citizen. Michael was in high school when his family was awarded a green card and moved to Cincinnati. He graduated from Xavier in 2008, majoring in marketing and entrepreneurial studies, and worked in marketing for a few years before joining forces with Alex at InfoTrust.