Entrepreneurial Mindset: Tips from a YC Alumni
To discuss the tech revolution and entrepreneurship over a cup of coffee, the co-founder and CTO of AiSDR, Oleg Zaremba, visited the cohort of the Mission Possible venture-building program. Such breakfasts provide the cohort with networking opportunities and a deeper understanding of the startup ecosystem from successful entrepreneurs, investors, and industry experts.
Professional Path
Before becoming an entrepreneur, Oleg studied applied mathematics and physics extensively in Ukraine, Italy, and Poland. After his studies, he gained work experience at SoftServe in Lviv and as an IT consultant in Gdansk, where he gained important experience for starting companies.
Later, he moved to Amsterdam and started working at Booking.com. Simultaneously in 2017, Oleg and Yuriy started building AXDRAFT.
“For the first time, I worked part-time, closed one computer and opened another and continued to work on AXDRAFT”
In 2019, the brothers first made it to Y Combinator, which greatly accelerated the development of their startup.
Advice 1: It’s important to have a clear one-liner that explains the company’s activities, understandable even to grandma or grandpa
Oleg recommends honing this skill to ensure a clear understanding of what the company does. This is the first sentence you have, and usually, the question arises after it, how do you do this? And now you already have a second sentence.
“You must understand about all your companies and your projects firmly and hone every day. Without pompous words, without terrible terminology, but with an understanding of what you are doing.”
Having successfully developed a company that works with companies like DTEK, MHP, Glovo, and Bridge American Tobacco — AXDRAFT was sold to Onit Inc. in 2020. After the sale, the brothers worked another 2 years as local managers and later founded AISDR and immediately applied to Y Combinator.
Advice 2: Use every opportunity to accelerate the development of your project.
“If we hadn’t made it into YC, this idea would have been slightly postponed and would have moved at its own pace.”
Preparation for the Y Combinator interview was intense. There were difficulties with the possibility of coming to San Francisco, which cast doubt on their participation in the program, but despite all obstacles, they received an offer without having a developed product or prototype, just an idea. This demonstrates a high estimate of their idea and potential.
AISDR provides integration with Gmail for sending personalized emails, simplifying the work of sales specialists.
Since its founding in July 2023, the company has raised $3 million in investments with a valuation of $20 million.
Y Combinator greatly contributes to expanding the network for startups, opens doors for knowledge exchange and attracting resources necessary for rapid growth and scaling of the company.
Read our previous blog with tips on how Ukrainian startups can get into YC. Insights from Ukrainian entrepreneurs — YC Alumni where one of the speakers was Yuriy Zaremba:
Advice 3: Use your previous experience and mistakes as a basis for further development.
Oleg notes that experience in previous projects now plays an important role in their current startup. He and Yuriy are using the experience gained to avoid mistakes they made earlier, especially in team building and corporate culture creation.
In AiSDR, the use of options came earlier, taking into account the positive experience in the previous company. Oleg emphasized the importance of options in startup culture and that they can bring significant financial income to employees who joined the company at an early stage.
They give options to key roles in the company with 4 years vesting schedule.
Advice 4: Feel responsible for every dollar that has been invested in your project, but plan the money rationally, supporting motivation.
Every founder encounters responsibility and great pressure after receiving investments. In their first experience, Oleg and Yuriy limited their salary, which greatly reduced their quality of life, saving on corporate equipment.
But later they realized that for example having a corporate computer from the point of view of data security, it makes sense, and a fair salary helps to balance personal financial needs.
Oleg shared that their company carefully plans finances, counting all expenses, income, and cash flow every month, allowing them to determine the time during which the company can exist without additional income — in particular, they have a “run rate” for 24 months.
Advice 5: Prioritize customer needs over technology
The company’s technology stack is not decisive in its success. It’s more important how the product meets customer needs and how the company responds to feedback for continuous improvement.
“Your technologies are not important. What matters is what your product does and whether it does it well”
Calmly accept feedback and build from it the next improvements. Customers who bring you the most headaches with their requests, and bug feedback, but still use your product, are a star, adds Oleg.
The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Shaping Startups
AI is not just a technological trend, it’s a revolutionary movement that changes the industry. This technology gradually becomes an integral part of our everyday life, similar to how the internet once developed. This opens up new opportunities for entrepreneurs to create new services and products.
“An interesting application of artificial intelligence is the automation of human jobs that are too complex, large, or costly to be performed by humans.”
Oleg Zaremba believes that the key to success lies not only in technologies but also in a deep understanding of market needs and the ability to think innovatively.
The Mission Possible venture-building program contributes to creating an environment conducive to the development of innovative ideas. This program was created to launch a new wave of entrepreneurship in Ukraine, providing entrepreneurs with the necessary resources and support.
“I believe that staying here and building a company here — this is our contribution to the future,” Oleg Zaremba said.
