Universium

I must admit. I indulged in a few too many donuts and croissants while gearing up for the?#Figma?conference. But it still baffles me that I got to briefly meet & chat with?Instagram?co-founder?Kevin Systrom. Besides the obvious, it was genuinely insightful (and brave) of him to share the hurdles he faced from launching and recently shutting down the Artifact app. I'm sure a lot of you know how tough it can be to get your first venture off the ground. But most of us rarely wonder what it's like for those whose first gig is as big as Instagram. Unless you’re ready to proudly retire, buy a boat, and sail around the world, returning to square one for your next venture might feel a little different. Surely, you have huge advantages over a first-time founder. You probably don't have to worry about paying your bills so much. Investors are likely quicker to cut you a check. People want to work with you and for you. However... 1. You're older. You probably have a family. You can't stay up late and pull all-nighters. Your lack of agility isn't letting you move fast. 2. You're used to big budgets and delegation. It's hard to switch back from "manager" to "solo mode" again. 3. You cast a big shadow. Now, try buying a domain or retaining a vendor. Unless you work under an alias -- everything has a few extra zeros at the end. 4. "You can no longer live under a rock". Your every move (whether you like it or not) is now public news, and "stealth mode" is hardly an option. With all of the above, it's clear that one must remain humble and true to the first principles. The discipline, brutal honesty, and self-inventory won't ever go out of style (thanks,?Ted Bullard,?for teaching me about the last one). But if you keep working hard enough -- you might just get the chance to hear people admit that you had a follow-up to your "overnight success". ?? Keep believing. Keep building. Stop listening to what others say. Meanwhile, I'll stop eating croissants. Pinky promise. ??

It is time to reveal our biggest secret.

Welcome back! Over the last decade, I've had opportunities to collaborate with various startups, and even pitch to a few investors. However, the mindset of the latter has always remained enigmatic to me. Today I got a chance to fix that and interview Madin Akpo-Esambe -- an investment partner at Tacoma Venture Fund, a VC fund focusing on helping early-stage startups. Madin and I discuss various stages of his entrepreneurial journey (from his young years in consulting to running his own startup -- Trava, to later joining TVF earlier last year). Please, enjoy! Watch on YouTube: https://lnkd.in/d28cM25s Listen on Spotify: https://lnkd.in/d2JSNuNf TVF: https://lnkd.in/dxUHN4g6 Madin's LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/dA4MSHFC Need help in designing or building your startup: https://lnkd.in/dnKgrWT4 #empoweringbrightideas

"Code becomes content. Coders become creators." -- I kept coming back to this idea throughout the day today at #GoogleIO. This is my first time at this event, and it’s been 4 years since my internship here. After OpenAI’s mindblowing upgrades of #GPT4o, I was flying to Mountain View with quite a bit of anxiety. I’ve been somewhat rooting for Google in the AI race, and this last batch of GPT updates felt like they were going to leave folks from Googleplex in the dust. But Google has introduced a truckload of new things today. Sure, Gemini can’t help you with your meditation/breathing (yet). But here are some releases that felt especially exciting to me: 1. Gemini for Workspace (looks like my yearly bookkeeping reconciliation has become much easier); 2. Project Astra (and a mysterious pair of glasses of the gal holding the phone ??); 3. No more XML UI editing on Android (where have you been in 2014 when I was suffering with backward-compatible layouts ??) 4. Deadly warning for various apps, including Grain, JasperAI, Chegg, pretty much all meal planning apps, and so many more; 5. Project Starline (I’ve been on the lookout for this for a while now. This one seriously feels like magic. You’re not wearing any headset, just sitting in front of a “fancy” TV. Given how far and for how long I’ve been from my family – this product hits very close to home for me). There are plenty more updates out there, written by much more talented writers and journalists, so go check them out. ?? Finally, the most impactful conclusion I’ve gotten from today was about the evolution of the engineering workforce. We (and I dare to self-assign an engineering label) are morphing into a brand-new cohort of creators. Creators, whose job is to solve some of the world’s hardest technical problems.?Our jobs are not to be replaced, but to be empowered, to increase the velocity of our impact on the world of tomorrow. #empoweringbrightideas P.S. A pic of me being extra happy after chatting with a Googler in the Project Starline booth. Can't wait to order these for our engineering team at Universium (Vlad Rudych Vadym Chytulian Serge Bulakh)

New episode is live! This interview is very special to me, as I'm chatting with a Florida-based founder - Nicholas Mohnacky. Nick is building a platform called BundleIQ, which helps businesses accelerate research using an AI assistant ALANI. Join us, as we discuss Nick's story and his vision for the role of AI in our future. YouTube: https://lnkd.in/eeAdnpwM Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eEP2kj6t Learn more about BundleIQ: https://bundleiq.com/ Learn more about Nick's new release, ALANI: https://askalani.ai/ #podcast #ai