ORATZ FOUNDER
Oratz Founder's Biography
Oratz.net, the best-known online directory for language
professionals, officially has two owners – Richard and William
Oratz, but in
fact, its main inspirer was Richard, the younger brother. So,
describing Oratz founder one should refer to Robert Oratz first.
Born in 1954, Robert spent his childhood in Algeria where his father
worked as a military translator. At that time his mother was a
housewife, yet a well-educated one: having spent 26 years in
Switzerland she fluently spoke German, Italian and French which was
also the native language of her husband Nicolas, Frenchman by origin.
Thus, when Robert Oratz was only 4, he used to talk to his elder
stepbrother William using 5 languages, English and Algerian included.
They enjoyed passing from one language to another smoothly and excelled
in creating cosmopolitan rhymes, starting a strophe in Italian and
ending by Algerian.
In 1960 the Ortaz' moved to Toulouse, France, where Robert went to
school. To his teachers' surprise the younger Oratz was fond both of
literature and technique, although he couldn't be considered a diligent
pupil. Thus, to believe Robert, he attended only those lectures which
seemed interesting to him, and there was only a handle of them. When the
time came to enter the college, Robert hesitated about his future
career, choosing between engineer and translator. Finally he decided in
favor of languages and became a student of Chicago University (by that
time his family moved to the USA). From that moment on the real Robert
Oratz, known for his unsurpassed professional qualities, started
growing. Of course, Robert's background helped him greatly to become an
expert linguist, but he also learned to run a successful business.
Being a member of the Language Club and the Society of Independent
Engineers, spending all his time on studies, discussing and
participating in various University events, Robert Oratz laid the
foundation of his brilliant career.
In 1974 Robert Oratz established his first translation agency
“Pro Lingvo”, and its matchless success surprised not only
the founder's friends and relatives, but also Robert himself. Actually,
in 5 months “Pro Lingvo” had become the leading translation
agency in Illinois. Having expanded its structure, Robert's agency also
served international companies, competing with worldly-recognized
translators. This way Robert Oratz established a reputation both as a
talented businessman and as a creative translator. Although the
thriving business made much profit, Robert invested practically every
dollar in the development of the company. Unfortunately, when his
mother fell ill and treatment expenses came to six-figure numbers,
Robert Oratz had to sell his business.
Not long ago Robert moved to London where he took over the post of an
interpretor in the embassy. Actually, as usual, Robert held more than
one office, giving lectures at one of London's elite colleges, having
charge of the “Tips of an Old Translator” column and being
a member of the Marketing Pros Group. The latter occupation encouraged
him to found another translation agency. Having armed himself
with experience and the deep knowledge of the market, Robert Oratz decided to
apply a comprehensive approach. His new company “Sophia”,
named after Robert's wife, not only delivered quality translation
services but also provided the staff with appropriate training and
literature. Despite the fact that the agency featured high standards of
servicing, it was also famous for its reasonable prices. As Robert
explained this phenomena: “I've never cared for money, constantly
focusing only on quality I provide. And – voila! – my
company occupies the leading market positions, clients literally
besiege us with orders, and, as a result, that notorious money
practically jumps into my pocket.” Strangely enough, but Robert
called himself neither a businessman nor a translator, preferring the
term “craftsman”: “That's my job – to help
people to understand each other. Perhaps before the Babylon Tower was
destroyed, things'd been easier, but today one should do his
best to integrate into the world community.”
The London period was marked by numerous important events in Robert's
life. He has known unspeakable success in business, gained wide
experience both as a translator and interpretor, developed several
lucrative projects, and finally, got married and became a father.
With the appearance of the Internet Robert Oratz saw many attractive
business opportunities. First he created a website to promote his
translation agency, then launched the related blog, constantly seeking
for new ideas. At last, he established an international forum for
translators where they could share experience and discuss the latest
innovations in the niche. Here Robert's engineering skills proved to be
very useful, and several months later his forum always had 2,670
members, and its traffic could be compared only with old reputable
sources. At the beginning Robert was literally crazy about his forum,
spending more than 18 hours a day on its promotion and moderating.
However, very soon, Robert noticed that, as a matter of fact, his
creation wasn't so helpful as he expected. The idea was simple as a
pie, and, after a couple months of in-depth research, in 2001, Robert
Oratz founded Ortaz.net, the most powerful today's source for
translators/interpretors and their clients.
First Robert managed the directory by himself, but later he needed
help, and his elder brother William who specialized in advertising and
public relations, joined the Oratz.net project.
The two brothers worked hard to improve their brainchild and to make it
truly helpful to language pros, regardless of their country, experience
and revenue. Robert started by giving weekly recommendations, but later
he made sure that an online library was a more efficient way to
teach. Robert dreamed of a universal structure which included all
aspects of translator's life, like studying, practicing, choosing
clients, sharing knowledge with colleagues etc. Thus, such famous
Oratz.net options as Oratz Library and Oratz Training appeared.
Concentrated on proper motivation, Robert and William also created the
Contests section where each Oratz.net member could take part and use
his/her skills and abilities to earn.
Today the founder of the best online directory for translators
Oratz.net, Robert Oratz, along with his brother William, is one of the
richest men in Europe. Robert Ortaz continues to improve Ortaz.net and
develops several other projects at the same time.
Oratz Net Oratz Founder External Directory History
