#myjourney

I’m transforming my Newsletter into a Startup Journal! It’s going to be quite personal & full of actionable insights. The reason for doing this is simple - to track myself.?

Here’s the intro to my journey - how did I find myself as an entrepreneur & why entrepreneurship is the only path I could envision for myself.?

The Beginning

When I was a kid I always felt like an alien among my peers. Because each of them dreamed of being someone, and me… I dreamed of living in as many roles as possible - and it felt weird till it started to materialize.

I grew up in a really close-knit family so my parents supported me in all my endeavors. But still - through their own experience. Experience from the Soviet Union. What means:

• Don’t Stand Out from the crowd
• Unique Solutions to Problems - impossible
• Formal Education - the only way to get the answers to life's questions
• You can't make a living doing what you love
• Don’t trust the World

And the common phrase that blew my mind every time:

“If you don't obey, you'll become a janitor”.

The point is: I couldn’t get what is bad in being the janitor.

What if I like to make the streets clean? What if that’s my real passion?

Another question I’ve been concerned about was: How to earn money for an apartment by following my parents' instructions?

The math didn't add up in any way - in Russia, getting a college education and then a "high-paying" job you could earn an apartment, on average, after 30+ years.?

And that’s definitely not the life I dreamed about. And thanks to TV & early Internet - I know that the life of my dream exists. So I have to find a way to avoid all the parents' projections & warnings.?

Pivotal Moments

Since early high school, I've been a bit of a standout amongst the rest of the student body:

• My name was on the school's honor board
• I participated and won in math Olympiads
• Performed in the school theater
• And wrote poetry

With my schoolfellow Kirill G. we gave a first try to our entrepreneur minds - selling the fancy stationery products in the school.

But the first traceable “Enlightenment” came in my first years of college life:

There were student parties each 6 months - organised by the Universitiy. And it was terrifically boring: filled with rope competitions & tedious lectures. Meanwhile, students craved fun.

So here I am - building my first Company in the field of Event Management - named “Le Chat Production”. Pronounced [Lyo Sha] in French, it sounds exactly like my diminutive name! ?? My parties featured poker games, rap artists performances, girls dancing, beer pong - essentially everything student could dream of. The Company thrived after just the first 2 events, expanding to several other Universities.

However, my success was short-lived. The University, not wishing to compete, requested that I shut down and transfer all my Customers to them. Although they offered to let me keep the profits, I declined. As a result - they expelled me in my third year.

I went to the Army, came back, got the job and then…

Second Enlightenment happened. I’ve been working in an IT Company that was a representative of another Big IT Company Такском - in Russia, they love mediation. The company designs and issues electronic certified devices - digital signatures - for signing documents in electronic document management, Tax Ministry and so on.

I was the only employee who ran all the process: it started with me responding to the Customer Requests & finished with me delivering the Device itself.

One day I realized I could do it on my own. The only difference was my financial motivation: to get a salary, which is around 30% of Revenue, or full Revenue. Ofc, this would also bring some expenses, but still - it would be my own project. So… I contacted the Head Office of a Partner Company, had a few negotiations and received a "Trusted Agent" badge.

That's how my journey began. Something inside me couldn’t let me ran away from myself and every time I was embraced by the idea of running my own Company. Why is that? Let’s dive deeper!

The Manifesto

Entrepreneurship is about Mindset. And Mindset is about Values:

Values might change over the years - going through the business experience You face a lot of challenges and Your beliefs are being sorely tested. And there’s nothing wrong with improving & changing it over time.?

Last Year I wrote a short Manifesto - for the soulmates entrepreneurs. And it’s still relevant to me. And I guess it will remain so for a long time to come.

1. We love Life
2. We belief that Life is about Research & Development
3. We believe that Research & Development are only effective if it’s about Your Passion
4. When we discover a Passion - we Act
5. When we Act - we use Reason as our guide in decision-making
6. We believe that Reason can only be relevant to a critical thinking Individual
7. We believe we are not alone. So we are open for cooperation & networking

It was written for some business club and for myself as well. That's what's driving me every day. Ofc, there are a lot of things and reasons to start this and that. But if You ask me to describe it briefly: this Manifesto is absolute enough.

And also I love to Create.

Wins & Losses

On the way to define myself as an entrepreneur there were a lot of challenges - and all of them led me to myself. Step by step.

I will describe it writing this Journal, but here are a few of insights that I gained in the early beginning:

• The failure - is a step
• There are always Problems that are not Solved yet
• There are always Competitors today, even there was none yesterday

My journey is just gaining speed - I’m 31 today and I’ve already faced a bunch of wins/loses, such as:

Wins:

• Got the first business experience at ±17
• Built a Consulting Company that ranked Top5 in the industry (constructions)
• Raised over $1M in funding?
• Built 20+ jobs that still exist today

Losses:

• Shut down over 5 Companies
• Faced Dark PR from Competitors
• Wasted an Opportunity to save the business in 2021 ??

We’ll dive deeper later, but the List is to highlight that there’s no Black/White anymore when it comes to Entrepreneurship. There are only lessons and steps.

What’s on the table?

Lets move to the nowadays.?

1. Main focus is - my own startup trainer42 ? Hiring Booster .

TrAIner is built for Tech Employees - to help them to Get the Job of their Dream! ?? I meant, in Tech Giants. It allows You to simulate realistic interviews and get instant feedback on Your success: both Hard skills & Soft skills.

This is the main reason I decided to convert Newsletter into Startup Journal - I want to publicly track my progress. I've stayed in the shadows too long. It's time to come out.

Current stage:

• Concept is ready
• Market Research is done
• MVP development started
• Fundraising activities started

2. Behind the scenes there is YS Horizon - Consulting Agency for early-stage Startups, co-founded with gamedev pro Edgar Yanichev .

It was established to help Founders with launching their first Startups & Companies: providing them qualified Market Research services, Pitch Development & Advisory Services. We are focused on Tech Companies that operate in the US market mostly.

The Research quality is good enough that I even commissioned market research for my trAIner idea! ??

1. In addition to the above - I serve as an Advisor to several interesting startups:

• Glocal搜索引擎优化平台2024|EN.Gloc.al 国际搜索引擎优化&初创企业搜索引擎优化 - tremendous idea & proactive team. SaaS that allows Your business to reach new Markets - boosting your website with the power of Glocal translation & international SEO in 109 languages. Current stage - Seed Fundraising (to grow)
• Field of Ambiguity - Real-time Online GaaS, where Action meets Magic in a dynamic Multiplayer Arena Hero Battle. The game is developed by EDYAN DEV and it fills the ‘magic’ gap in the gaming market. Current stage - Playable MVP is ready, Seed Fundraising (to Release)
• Unnamed Company (yet ?? ) by 2 charming girls Patrisha . & Elda George . They're going to build a Women Health Wiki App with an AI assistant that will help women to pre-diagnosis some health issues at early stages & improve the global level of awareness in MENA region. Current stage - Concept Polishing, Pitch Development.

1. Besides the above: I’m a passionate writer. And I truly believe in the promise of AI technology. So I’ve created WhyAI - it started as a boutique agency, helping Companies to integrate AI capabilities into their workflows. And today this is boutique Media about AI startups & people. I don't get to devote a lot of time to this project, but I intend to grow it into a quality media outlet and a cohesive community around it.If You're interested in AI - check our last Article on AI inventors.
2. Last, but not least: I’m supporting "紧缩"迪拜 – 迪拜的创业公司和人民 as an Editor in Chief. Since I started we've formed strategic partnerships with Future Innovation Summit & Blockchain Life 2025 . And we have also significantly increased key metrics.Sometimes I write there.

Actionable Insights

Start small. Start today.

And learn the AI scene.        

Conclusion & Invitation

Since this is a Journal - there's no conclusion except I’m a bit tired writing this article & at the same time I feel encouraged with this step:

Public Tracking Mode is ON.

I hope you enjoyed reading this & find Yourselves at some points.?

I invite you to continue this journey with me:

We have ups and downs ahead of us. Wins and loses. Love and Hate. Kings and Pawns.?

But all of that - is my Entrepreneur Life and I really enjoy this journey.

Feel free to join! ??

Imagine. Believe. Achieve.

With ??

X Sherman

P.S. I don't have many photos, so let one of them be on the cover of this article: talking to the BIRD Foundation & Limor Nakar-Vincent about my idea (Thanks for the valuable feedback & tips, btw)!