WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.859 Welcome to the Innovation Conversation, a podcast 00:00:02.859 --> 00:00:05.360 about innovators, both in business and real life. 00:00:05.860 --> 00:00:08.419 Hosted by myself, Ricardo Rescual and Harry McCona. 00:00:08.619 --> 00:00:11.660 This podcast is sponsored by OpenExperts .com. 00:00:11.919 --> 00:00:14.140 OpenExperts is a place to go if you're looking 00:00:14.140 --> 00:00:16.300 to talk with top experts from around the world. 00:00:16.539 --> 00:00:20.879 That is Open -Experts .com. This podcast is also 00:00:20.879 --> 00:00:24.539 sponsored by StartupNetworks .co .uk. Startup 00:00:24.539 --> 00:00:26.820 Networks, it's an online forum where you can 00:00:26.820 --> 00:00:28.739 find all the resources you need to learn your 00:00:28.739 --> 00:00:31.449 startup. from grants to investors to tips and 00:00:31.449 --> 00:00:33.270 tricks and how to be successful when you start. 00:00:33.609 --> 00:00:36.270 Today, we are joined by Roman Zomkom, founder 00:00:36.270 --> 00:00:40.229 and CEO of ImpressIt .io. Hi, and welcome to 00:00:40.229 --> 00:00:42.229 another episode of the Innovation Conversation. 00:00:42.429 --> 00:00:45.149 Today we are joined by Roman Zomkom, founder 00:00:45.149 --> 00:00:48.229 and CEO of ImpressIt .io, if I'm not mistaken. 00:00:48.450 --> 00:00:51.149 Yes, ImpressIt .io. That's right. Roman, welcome 00:00:51.149 --> 00:00:53.490 and please tell the audience a little bit about 00:00:53.490 --> 00:00:56.399 yourself. Thank you, Carden. Thanks for having 00:00:56.399 --> 00:00:59.700 me. So yeah, so I'm the co -founder and CEO of 00:00:59.700 --> 00:01:01.399 Compressive. We're a software innovation house 00:01:01.399 --> 00:01:04.659 and we help anywhere from early stage startup 00:01:04.659 --> 00:01:07.599 founders to large enterprises like Shell, whom 00:01:07.599 --> 00:01:10.700 we started working with recently, build their 00:01:10.700 --> 00:01:13.760 products anywhere from simple mobile applications, 00:01:14.120 --> 00:01:25.000 SaaS platforms, and AI solutions as well. How 00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:29.500 do you get started with impressive? Yeah, well, 00:01:29.659 --> 00:01:32.200 my journey is quite interesting because even 00:01:32.200 --> 00:01:34.859 though I work in tech, my background is not technical. 00:01:35.120 --> 00:01:38.359 So I was born and raised in Lviv, Ukraine, where 00:01:38.359 --> 00:01:42.700 I'm based right now. So and my background is 00:01:42.700 --> 00:01:45.819 international economics. I started here in Lviv, 00:01:45.819 --> 00:01:49.000 but also had some possibility to study in Czech 00:01:49.000 --> 00:01:53.480 Republic in EU and as I was ready wrapping up 00:01:53.480 --> 00:01:57.799 my University times I realized that I'm not that 00:01:57.799 --> 00:02:00.400 big fan of the economic side but I'm quite a 00:02:00.400 --> 00:02:03.280 big fan of the International side of my background 00:02:03.280 --> 00:02:05.359 and that's something that I wanted to associate 00:02:05.359 --> 00:02:09.199 my career with to be able to yeah to join a podcast 00:02:09.199 --> 00:02:12.360 With you based in London, you know work with 00:02:12.360 --> 00:02:17.699 companies across the seas in Europe sounded really 00:02:17.699 --> 00:02:21.900 cool for me and I was looking for a career that 00:02:21.900 --> 00:02:25.580 could support that goal and tech was an obvious 00:02:25.580 --> 00:02:30.340 choice since Ukraine was always well known for 00:02:30.340 --> 00:02:35.800 strong, motivated software professionals. Some 00:02:35.800 --> 00:02:39.020 of the biggest software development companies 00:02:39.020 --> 00:02:43.099 have their offices here. There are a lot of Ukrainian 00:02:43.099 --> 00:02:47.250 large companies as well. The product, the startup 00:02:47.250 --> 00:02:52.129 ecosystem is now growing fast. But when I was 00:02:52.129 --> 00:02:54.729 starting, it was mainly, let's say, service companies, 00:02:55.090 --> 00:02:57.349 mainly software development outsourcing companies 00:02:57.349 --> 00:03:00.590 that were on the market. And I decided to join 00:03:00.590 --> 00:03:03.770 a small software development studio called Acro. 00:03:03.969 --> 00:03:06.770 At that time, it was just, I think, seven people 00:03:06.770 --> 00:03:09.289 working there. They were just making this shift 00:03:09.289 --> 00:03:13.449 from the domestic market to the Western market. 00:03:13.689 --> 00:03:15.810 and I joined as their business development manager 00:03:15.810 --> 00:03:20.370 to help them onboard new clients. I managed to 00:03:20.370 --> 00:03:23.830 make my first sale on the second day after joining 00:03:23.830 --> 00:03:27.490 them, which was quite cool, I think, and reassuring, 00:03:27.770 --> 00:03:31.729 so it got me motivated to move forward. And in 00:03:31.729 --> 00:03:35.150 two or three months, I've helped to bring the 00:03:35.150 --> 00:03:38.550 client that basically we had to double our team 00:03:38.550 --> 00:03:44.300 in order to fulfill their needs. So yeah, I realized 00:03:44.300 --> 00:03:48.020 that, yeah, so I have, let's say, the skills 00:03:48.020 --> 00:03:51.840 and, you know, it really motivated me seeing 00:03:51.840 --> 00:03:55.580 results and also being involved in the tech industry. 00:03:56.020 --> 00:03:58.939 And yeah, over the course of four years, I helped 00:03:58.939 --> 00:04:01.419 to grow that business from seven to 70 people. 00:04:01.740 --> 00:04:03.879 And that's where I met my technical co -founder, 00:04:04.199 --> 00:04:07.340 Andrew. With whom we later go funded in impressive. 00:04:07.620 --> 00:04:10.159 It was actually an interesting It's an actually 00:04:10.159 --> 00:04:13.319 an interesting story as well because Andrew joined 00:04:13.319 --> 00:04:17.680 us to be the largest Project that we were working 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:20.160 on it was a collaboration with a monoco based 00:04:20.160 --> 00:04:23.639 company Not a not a usual location for tech businesses, 00:04:23.639 --> 00:04:27.839 right? Yeah, you'll understand the values of 00:04:27.839 --> 00:04:30.720 dating Monaco for the business that they were 00:04:30.720 --> 00:04:35.029 doing so they were building platforms, ticketing 00:04:35.029 --> 00:04:37.850 platforms for large sports events, and their 00:04:37.850 --> 00:04:42.850 biggest client was Formula One. Later on, they 00:04:42.850 --> 00:04:46.850 onboarded Juventus Football Club. They also worked 00:04:46.850 --> 00:04:52.589 with a lot of tennis tournaments, Madrid Open, 00:04:52.670 --> 00:04:56.529 for example, and other big sports events, but 00:04:56.529 --> 00:04:58.709 obviously Formula One was the biggest thing. 00:04:58.800 --> 00:05:03.000 So yes, so the team that we set up back at Acro 00:05:03.000 --> 00:05:06.720 was helping to rebuild according to the new, 00:05:06.740 --> 00:05:11.160 newer architecture principles, the platform for 00:05:11.160 --> 00:05:13.639 Formula One, Andrew was leading that effort. 00:05:13.980 --> 00:05:17.519 So yeah, so if you ever book a ticket for Formula 00:05:17.519 --> 00:05:19.180 One Grand Prix, you'll probably do that through 00:05:19.180 --> 00:05:21.899 their official ticketing shop. And that platform 00:05:21.899 --> 00:05:24.740 was built by a team here in Lviv and Monaco and 00:05:24.740 --> 00:05:27.839 still is being supported by that team and Andrew 00:05:27.839 --> 00:05:32.189 was leading that effort okay how how hard was 00:05:32.189 --> 00:05:34.769 it to get started i mean i know you you did you 00:05:34.769 --> 00:05:36.970 did quite a lot to grow your previous company 00:05:36.970 --> 00:05:39.649 but how hard was it actually to to run your own 00:05:39.649 --> 00:05:41.490 company because it's a complete shift isn't it 00:05:41.490 --> 00:05:43.589 you got a lot of worries on your mind all at 00:05:43.589 --> 00:05:45.910 the same time like i'm actually bringing revenue 00:05:45.910 --> 00:05:48.490 can i sustain this is this like a business or 00:05:48.490 --> 00:05:51.470 is this like a crazy idea so how hard was it 00:05:51.470 --> 00:05:56.649 yeah well when you work in a company and think 00:05:56.649 --> 00:06:00.449 of starting a new business. Obviously, you feel 00:06:00.449 --> 00:06:03.350 about it a bit more optimistic than it actually 00:06:03.350 --> 00:06:08.370 is when you get started. So, well, Andrew and 00:06:08.370 --> 00:06:11.250 I, we got, let's say, brought together by shared 00:06:11.250 --> 00:06:14.730 values. It just happened very naturally. As we 00:06:14.730 --> 00:06:16.889 started working together, we realized that both 00:06:16.889 --> 00:06:19.949 of us, when we take on any assignment, whether 00:06:19.949 --> 00:06:22.560 it's in the work or personal life, we deliver 00:06:22.560 --> 00:06:25.160 to the best result. And that's not because of, 00:06:25.160 --> 00:06:27.899 you know, some commitment or accountability. 00:06:28.420 --> 00:06:30.699 That's because of our personal accountability 00:06:30.699 --> 00:06:34.060 to ourselves and the desire to feel, to be proud 00:06:34.060 --> 00:06:36.740 of the results that you achieved. And that just 00:06:36.740 --> 00:06:39.160 made comparable us working together because we 00:06:39.160 --> 00:06:41.980 knew that we will put in equal efforts. And most 00:06:41.980 --> 00:06:44.939 importantly, we realized that That's the values, 00:06:45.060 --> 00:06:46.699 that's the principles that we want to build our 00:06:46.699 --> 00:06:49.439 team around. We want to bring like -minded people 00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:54.980 that will embrace the same principles and will 00:06:54.980 --> 00:06:59.579 build a strong team culture. And yeah, that's 00:06:59.579 --> 00:07:03.240 pretty much how we laid the foundation for Impressive. 00:07:03.579 --> 00:07:06.079 We realized that within the previous company, 00:07:06.759 --> 00:07:09.920 those values were not as strongly shared. And 00:07:09.920 --> 00:07:12.139 that's why eventually we decided to leave and 00:07:12.139 --> 00:07:16.589 start Impressive. I was let's say waiting for 00:07:16.589 --> 00:07:19.930 a good moment to leave obviously you know trying 00:07:19.930 --> 00:07:25.089 to build up let's say some financial reserves 00:07:25.089 --> 00:07:29.449 to sustain my family at that time I already was 00:07:29.449 --> 00:07:32.870 married we had at that time my son Danny I think 00:07:32.870 --> 00:07:37.189 he was two years old so had a lot of personal 00:07:37.189 --> 00:07:44.069 responsibilities to sustain and support the family. 00:07:44.470 --> 00:07:48.810 So yeah, it was quite a hard decision to leave 00:07:48.810 --> 00:07:53.050 a well -paid job and start something from scratch 00:07:53.050 --> 00:07:58.290 is obviously hard. And I thought that I will 00:07:58.290 --> 00:08:02.089 find that best moment, but actually it happened 00:08:02.089 --> 00:08:05.889 in a different way, which turned out to be not 00:08:05.889 --> 00:08:09.300 good. So at some point I just felt really burned 00:08:09.300 --> 00:08:14.779 out on the previous role. I just started hating 00:08:14.779 --> 00:08:21.800 what I was doing and I was really getting frustrated 00:08:21.800 --> 00:08:26.300 with the person I'm becoming because I didn't 00:08:26.300 --> 00:08:32.100 want to come back home so frustrated, so stressed. 00:08:33.210 --> 00:08:36.190 One evening, I just realized that I can't keep, 00:08:36.809 --> 00:08:40.389 yeah, continue like that. Came back home, had 00:08:40.389 --> 00:08:44.350 a chat with Sandra, with my wife, and decided 00:08:44.350 --> 00:08:47.330 to give a notice the next day. So it wasn't the 00:08:47.330 --> 00:08:50.830 best moment. It was just after Christmas and 00:08:50.830 --> 00:08:54.429 New Year holidays. So yeah, but I realized that 00:08:54.429 --> 00:08:58.230 it's enough and I need to focus my energy. on 00:08:58.230 --> 00:09:06.409 our shared venture with Andrew. So yeah, obviously 00:09:06.409 --> 00:09:09.590 the first year is the hardest. It was pretty 00:09:09.590 --> 00:09:14.370 much survival because as I mentioned, when you 00:09:14.370 --> 00:09:17.039 work in the company... you don't you take as 00:09:17.039 --> 00:09:19.399 granted the let's say the infrastructure that 00:09:19.399 --> 00:09:22.500 you have around you the team that you can always 00:09:22.500 --> 00:09:25.139 ask someone you know ask for support you already 00:09:25.139 --> 00:09:29.279 have materials that you can use for some outreach 00:09:29.279 --> 00:09:32.639 campaigns when you're doing a demo when starting 00:09:32.639 --> 00:09:36.399 something new you start from scratch and yeah 00:09:36.399 --> 00:09:40.220 so that was the initial let's say uh realization 00:09:40.220 --> 00:09:43.179 that uh yeah you're on your own you have a co 00:09:43.179 --> 00:09:45.480 -founder but still like you both you're on your 00:09:45.480 --> 00:09:47.679 own and you need to start from scratch that that 00:09:47.679 --> 00:09:51.559 was quite a hard pill to swallow and how how 00:09:51.559 --> 00:09:53.379 do you manage all that stress because it's a 00:09:53.379 --> 00:09:55.100 lot of things happening all at the same time 00:09:55.100 --> 00:09:57.580 right you got your responsibilities as as a father 00:09:57.580 --> 00:09:59.639 and a husband but you're also running a company 00:09:59.639 --> 00:10:01.139 which means you're also responsible for making 00:10:01.139 --> 00:10:03.519 sure that it takes off and it goes well so how 00:10:03.519 --> 00:10:07.710 do you handle all that Yeah well one of the values 00:10:07.710 --> 00:10:11.549 one of the principles that we also share is that 00:10:11.549 --> 00:10:16.049 we tend to try to find joy in what we're doing 00:10:16.049 --> 00:10:18.929 and obviously starting your business it's a journey 00:10:18.929 --> 00:10:23.090 and it's an adventure so obviously not as romantic 00:10:23.090 --> 00:10:27.460 as it might seem from from the outside. So, but 00:10:27.460 --> 00:10:30.600 still building something new is very exciting. 00:10:30.940 --> 00:10:34.659 It's stressful. Obviously, there's a lot of sleepless 00:10:34.659 --> 00:10:41.840 nights and so on. Deadlines to meet, really tight 00:10:41.840 --> 00:10:45.840 financials to fit in, but it's very rewarding. 00:10:46.899 --> 00:10:50.279 So, the first year, as I mentioned, was hard, 00:10:50.539 --> 00:10:55.370 but as we... Let's say reflect on on this first 00:10:55.370 --> 00:10:57.409 year together with Andrew from time to time. 00:10:57.409 --> 00:11:00.110 It was filled with so many cool activities We 00:11:00.110 --> 00:11:03.529 were so invested as a service company. So we 00:11:03.529 --> 00:11:07.230 were trying to get our first Clients and land 00:11:07.230 --> 00:11:12.049 our first deals. So for example We we saw that 00:11:12.049 --> 00:11:14.750 some teams are especially interesting for us 00:11:14.750 --> 00:11:20.019 and have large huge potential We didn't even 00:11:20.019 --> 00:11:24.019 think for too long, but just booked flights and 00:11:24.019 --> 00:11:26.700 went to the clients to have on -site meetings. 00:11:27.220 --> 00:11:31.379 So we, for example, traveled to Belgium to present 00:11:31.379 --> 00:11:35.379 the vision and proposal for the development of 00:11:35.379 --> 00:11:39.039 an internal management tool for a company in 00:11:39.039 --> 00:11:41.899 the construction and manufacturing business. 00:11:42.320 --> 00:11:46.820 So we, at that time, Since Andrew and I, we have 00:11:46.820 --> 00:11:50.840 complementary skill sets. Andrew has absolutely 00:11:50.840 --> 00:11:54.460 extraordinary technical background. He has full 00:11:54.460 --> 00:11:58.799 stack experience. He as one person can take any 00:11:58.799 --> 00:12:01.659 project, whether it's a SaaS tool, mobile application, 00:12:02.279 --> 00:12:06.159 AI enabled platform delivered from A to Z on 00:12:06.159 --> 00:12:10.059 his own. So two of us, at that time we were competing 00:12:10.059 --> 00:12:13.799 against you know other service providers with 00:12:13.799 --> 00:12:18.320 tens or even hundreds of people and staff so 00:12:18.320 --> 00:12:23.299 and we're competing for these same projects with 00:12:23.299 --> 00:12:26.600 them and some we managed to win some some didn't 00:12:26.600 --> 00:12:29.740 but yeah that was that was interesting this this 00:12:29.740 --> 00:12:32.940 first year and yeah very challenging and to be 00:12:32.940 --> 00:12:35.379 honest yeah your surroundings your family is 00:12:35.379 --> 00:12:38.580 the biggest supporter i clearly remember how 00:12:38.580 --> 00:12:41.299 like at one time at the beginning when this you 00:12:41.299 --> 00:12:44.240 know hard pill came to realization that you're 00:12:44.240 --> 00:12:48.259 on your own i was trying i was small step by 00:12:48.259 --> 00:12:50.980 step just losing momentum and my wife gave me 00:12:50.980 --> 00:12:53.600 the best let's say motivation so instead of you 00:12:53.600 --> 00:12:59.120 know feeling sorry about me or you know uh trying 00:12:59.120 --> 00:13:03.850 you know just to you know hard to explain anyway 00:13:03.850 --> 00:13:09.230 so she just said me the absolute you know brutal 00:13:09.230 --> 00:13:13.370 truth like why are you whining like get your 00:13:13.370 --> 00:13:16.009 sorry for my french shit together and and do 00:13:16.009 --> 00:13:18.409 your job you can do that i know that you're doing 00:13:18.409 --> 00:13:21.629 that before you'll do it do it again so and yeah 00:13:21.629 --> 00:13:25.029 that was a really strong motivation like just 00:13:25.029 --> 00:13:27.549 get get everything together and keep keep moving 00:13:28.519 --> 00:13:30.899 A little bit of tough love, but much needed. 00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:35.659 Yeah. Okay. I think the first person to actually 00:13:35.659 --> 00:13:37.179 say that, that you got a little bit of tough 00:13:37.179 --> 00:13:39.480 love from someone else and that actually pushed 00:13:39.480 --> 00:13:42.759 you forward. What was the hardest? Yep. I mean, 00:13:42.759 --> 00:13:44.639 but it's a good motivator, especially if it's 00:13:44.639 --> 00:13:46.419 coming from someone you love and trust, right? 00:13:47.460 --> 00:13:49.580 What was the hardest moment in that first year? 00:13:49.820 --> 00:13:52.059 What was the moment you said, oh my, I want to 00:13:52.059 --> 00:13:53.679 quit. What was that moment you said, you know, 00:13:53.679 --> 00:13:56.539 it's not turning out okay. We got a lot of nos. 00:13:56.799 --> 00:14:03.220 How was that like? Yeah I don't think at this 00:14:03.220 --> 00:14:07.519 first year we ever had this moment to really 00:14:07.519 --> 00:14:11.639 think about quitting like Andrew and I we haven't 00:14:11.639 --> 00:14:16.519 considered that as an option. So when we When 00:14:16.519 --> 00:14:19.159 we left the previous company and and started 00:14:19.159 --> 00:14:21.919 impressive so everyone was asking like where 00:14:21.919 --> 00:14:23.779 are you going? What's your next company? Everyone 00:14:23.779 --> 00:14:28.269 was super was very Surprised to hear that we 00:14:28.269 --> 00:14:31.870 were actually starting something our own So so 00:14:31.870 --> 00:14:37.129 yeah, and you know this motivation of not Just 00:14:37.129 --> 00:14:42.110 not going back. No, you know not a lot of people 00:14:42.110 --> 00:14:45.190 who had some doubts whether we'll succeed or 00:14:45.190 --> 00:14:49.350 not to Make them, you know feel that they were 00:14:49.350 --> 00:14:53.789 right. So we had didn't have any thoughts like 00:14:53.789 --> 00:14:56.710 that The hardest moment was actually sometime 00:14:56.710 --> 00:15:00.070 later. So after this first year we managed to 00:15:00.070 --> 00:15:03.669 land our let's say first significant enterprise 00:15:03.669 --> 00:15:06.570 project because all of all the projects before 00:15:06.570 --> 00:15:10.929 that were more like smaller MVPs smaller like 00:15:10.929 --> 00:15:19.509 proof concepts for startups and in December 2019 00:15:19.509 --> 00:15:23.940 2019 yes in December 2019 we started working 00:15:23.940 --> 00:15:27.539 with one of the fastest growing internet providers 00:15:27.539 --> 00:15:31.340 in London called G -Network. So we joined as 00:15:31.340 --> 00:15:35.840 their key technology partner and we were fully 00:15:35.840 --> 00:15:38.539 covering all of their internal software development 00:15:38.539 --> 00:15:43.539 needs. So for business automation needs, for 00:15:43.539 --> 00:15:47.639 custom buildings, custom portals and so on. And 00:15:47.639 --> 00:15:51.919 then the, let's say, the dynamic really went 00:15:51.919 --> 00:15:55.919 up. We started actively hiring our team. So before 00:15:55.919 --> 00:15:58.980 working with them, we were mainly a team of about 00:15:58.980 --> 00:16:04.639 six or seven people. So six months from then, 00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:08.320 we were already a team of almost 20. So it was 00:16:08.320 --> 00:16:14.639 really fast growth. And that's when COVID started. 00:16:15.279 --> 00:16:19.059 So that's obviously another interesting chapter 00:16:19.059 --> 00:16:27.679 in our history. Let me reframe that. I'm always 00:16:27.679 --> 00:16:29.600 curious because you build all these software 00:16:29.600 --> 00:16:32.019 for these many companies and some of them are 00:16:32.019 --> 00:16:34.919 actually startups. Do you ever tell them and 00:16:34.919 --> 00:16:37.379 say this is the wrong way to go? Like, I can 00:16:37.379 --> 00:16:39.200 build you this, but this is not what you should 00:16:39.200 --> 00:16:41.600 do. You should actually do something else. Does 00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:43.940 that actually ever happen or you just build them 00:16:43.940 --> 00:16:47.759 whatever they want? Yeah, that's a really good 00:16:47.759 --> 00:16:51.200 question. And that's, let's say, a hard decision 00:16:51.200 --> 00:16:57.039 to make as a business owner, as a service provider, 00:16:57.519 --> 00:17:00.000 because obviously you're open to possibility 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:03.190 for additional risk of losing the deal. because 00:17:03.190 --> 00:17:07.210 you're honest, fully honest with the startup 00:17:07.210 --> 00:17:09.809 founders, with pretty much your partners, because 00:17:09.809 --> 00:17:14.269 you're joining in the same boat. And we are always 00:17:14.269 --> 00:17:18.529 looking to the, you know, in the broader picture. 00:17:18.950 --> 00:17:21.930 So we are not interested, you know, in lending 00:17:21.930 --> 00:17:26.309 a lot of these small short -term deals. We are 00:17:26.309 --> 00:17:31.180 interested in building a long partnership. And 00:17:31.180 --> 00:17:34.599 if we see that some of the decisions that the 00:17:34.599 --> 00:17:38.299 founders are planning to do or making right now 00:17:38.299 --> 00:17:41.799 are likely to affect their likelihood of growing 00:17:41.799 --> 00:17:46.700 and succeeding, we always openly say about that 00:17:46.700 --> 00:17:51.059 and we'll share all of our experience in order 00:17:51.059 --> 00:17:54.079 to help them succeed. That's by the way how we 00:17:54.079 --> 00:17:57.599 eventually Build up a portfolio of solutions 00:17:57.599 --> 00:18:00.259 now that we use to fast -track the development 00:18:00.259 --> 00:18:03.000 of new products We'll get to that later. So but 00:18:03.000 --> 00:18:06.619 pretty much we share our technology with startups 00:18:06.619 --> 00:18:10.799 in order to set them for success so that's that's 00:18:10.799 --> 00:18:13.900 you know, it takes a lot of courage and To do 00:18:13.900 --> 00:18:16.500 that because you understand that well, they might 00:18:16.500 --> 00:18:20.420 like let's say take it that well So they will 00:18:20.420 --> 00:18:24.099 might go in, you know in a more comparable direction 00:18:24.099 --> 00:18:28.089 for them but we believe in shared values and 00:18:28.089 --> 00:18:30.789 we believe that those who will actually appreciate 00:18:30.789 --> 00:18:34.089 our openness and willingness to share our experience 00:18:34.089 --> 00:18:38.349 as an advantage, as a sign of a true partnership, 00:18:38.970 --> 00:18:41.910 and we want to work with those kind of startup 00:18:41.910 --> 00:18:49.940 founders. You had a couple of interesting events 00:18:49.940 --> 00:18:52.359 happening in since you started the company because 00:18:52.359 --> 00:18:54.599 you did have covid right and that impacted the 00:18:54.599 --> 00:18:59.039 company a lot but then unlike most people that 00:18:59.039 --> 00:19:00.700 launch a company you also have something else 00:19:00.700 --> 00:19:02.980 you also had an invasion in your country is actually 00:19:02.980 --> 00:19:06.220 at war at this moment so how do you manage all 00:19:06.220 --> 00:19:08.539 this stress because it's a lot of i can imagine 00:19:08.539 --> 00:19:10.400 being extremely stressful like you don't know 00:19:10.400 --> 00:19:12.559 what's gonna happen so how do you manage that 00:19:13.000 --> 00:19:17.740 Yeah, well, it's indeed challenging and I was 00:19:17.740 --> 00:19:20.160 thinking about this the other day and realized 00:19:20.160 --> 00:19:23.940 that we pretty much worked in normal conditions, 00:19:24.559 --> 00:19:28.720 maybe about a year. And then COVID happened and 00:19:28.720 --> 00:19:31.059 we didn't even manage to recover from COVID. 00:19:31.319 --> 00:19:35.079 when Russia invaded Ukraine, and that obviously 00:19:35.079 --> 00:19:39.119 changed the whole world. Not only the lives of 00:19:39.119 --> 00:19:43.799 us, but it has a huge effect on the whole world, 00:19:45.119 --> 00:19:50.200 even despite whether people realize that or not. 00:19:50.839 --> 00:19:56.619 So coming back to COVID, probably there was a 00:19:56.619 --> 00:20:02.140 mix of luck and hard work, because the main projects 00:20:02.140 --> 00:20:05.319 that we were working on at that time were not 00:20:05.319 --> 00:20:08.359 that heavily affected by COVID. Some actually 00:20:08.359 --> 00:20:14.500 got even some, let's say, advantage out of it, 00:20:14.799 --> 00:20:17.660 how, let's say, strange it might sound. But, 00:20:17.700 --> 00:20:20.660 for example, with GNetwork, due to the lockdown, 00:20:21.279 --> 00:20:25.180 they had the possibility to accelerate their... 00:20:27.219 --> 00:20:30.319 development of their network because suddenly 00:20:30.319 --> 00:20:32.940 the whole London was empty. There were no one 00:20:32.940 --> 00:20:36.799 on the streets and the city officials became 00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:40.480 much more open to granting permissions to do 00:20:40.480 --> 00:20:45.380 the groundworks and lay the networks on streets. 00:20:45.799 --> 00:20:48.900 So that accelerated and our relationship with 00:20:48.900 --> 00:20:53.019 G -Network carried on and we grew throughout 00:20:53.019 --> 00:20:56.730 that period. we also worked quite a lot in health 00:20:56.730 --> 00:21:00.450 tech and obviously health tech in general obviously 00:21:00.450 --> 00:21:05.849 had a significant influx of financing as well 00:21:05.849 --> 00:21:08.069 due to development of the vaccine but also like 00:21:08.069 --> 00:21:12.950 in generally the attention of the business was 00:21:12.950 --> 00:21:16.630 focused on the on the healthcare industry significantly 00:21:16.630 --> 00:21:19.910 and yeah and carries on from from there so yeah 00:21:19.910 --> 00:21:25.230 so we got pretty much COVID hadn't affected us 00:21:25.230 --> 00:21:29.670 that much. In terms of our internal process, 00:21:29.730 --> 00:21:33.410 how we worked, we were, let's say, flexible even 00:21:33.410 --> 00:21:36.049 before COVID. Working in a hybrid environment 00:21:36.049 --> 00:21:38.789 wasn't something new to us. Since, you know, 00:21:39.529 --> 00:21:41.950 just the start of impressive, we just set a rule 00:21:41.950 --> 00:21:45.329 that will provide all of our teammates with MacBooks. 00:21:45.609 --> 00:21:51.839 We are quite, let's say, comfortable with Apple 00:21:51.839 --> 00:21:55.619 ecosystem, so I'd say we even are Apple evangelists. 00:21:58.099 --> 00:22:03.299 It was quite an easy transition for us and since 00:22:03.299 --> 00:22:09.119 we worked with our clients based in US and UK 00:22:09.119 --> 00:22:13.539 all the time, so it didn't that much change our 00:22:13.539 --> 00:22:18.079 relationship with them. So yeah, COVID was more 00:22:18.079 --> 00:22:20.660 or less fine. And I know that not all were as 00:22:20.660 --> 00:22:24.799 lucky as we are. We were. But then the war happened. 00:22:25.119 --> 00:22:30.380 So obviously, February 24th was a shock to everyone. 00:22:30.700 --> 00:22:35.720 I mean, February 24th, 2022. Well, I don't know 00:22:35.720 --> 00:22:38.599 whether it was the right decision of, let's say, 00:22:38.839 --> 00:22:42.799 of our local authorities and government to, you 00:22:42.799 --> 00:22:47.940 know, to not emphasize on the likelihood of the 00:22:47.940 --> 00:22:52.599 invasion so yeah the whole let's say the narrative 00:22:52.599 --> 00:22:55.539 which was shared here was like well calm down 00:22:55.539 --> 00:22:58.380 Russia was flexing their muscles even before 00:22:58.380 --> 00:23:01.900 we don't think they they will invade well actually 00:23:01.900 --> 00:23:06.720 the military knew that that the invasion is preparing 00:23:06.720 --> 00:23:09.759 and I think they were already preparing how we 00:23:09.759 --> 00:23:14.849 will respond to that we as a company we were 00:23:14.849 --> 00:23:18.789 as well quite lucky to be based in western part 00:23:18.789 --> 00:23:21.369 of Ukraine so we are headquartered in Lviv which 00:23:21.369 --> 00:23:24.730 is in the very western part of Ukraine just 60 00:23:24.730 --> 00:23:28.349 or 70 kilometers from the Polish border we had 00:23:28.349 --> 00:23:31.130 a couple of remote team members in other cities 00:23:31.130 --> 00:23:33.670 but again mainly in the western region we just 00:23:33.670 --> 00:23:38.450 had our first team member based in Kiev who was 00:23:38.450 --> 00:23:44.319 starting on March 1st So he was a senior DevOps 00:23:44.319 --> 00:23:48.380 engineer, still works with us. And yeah, so he 00:23:48.380 --> 00:23:52.680 was about to start. So yeah, so on February 24th, 00:23:52.700 --> 00:23:56.240 when in the morning we woke up from the news 00:23:56.240 --> 00:23:59.900 and well, sounds of air raid alarms, that was 00:23:59.900 --> 00:24:02.440 obviously a shock. And first and foremost, we 00:24:02.440 --> 00:24:04.940 thought about our loved ones and our close ones. 00:24:05.299 --> 00:24:09.880 So my first decision were just to reach out to 00:24:09.880 --> 00:24:13.089 my co -founder, our HR manager, going to coordinate 00:24:13.089 --> 00:24:15.509 with them, just send out the message to everyone 00:24:15.509 --> 00:24:19.450 that today we're focused on helping our loved 00:24:19.450 --> 00:24:21.730 ones, making sure that everyone's safe. Because 00:24:21.730 --> 00:24:24.150 for me, for example, most of my family is base 00:24:24.150 --> 00:24:27.230 year, but we had team members who moved to Lviv 00:24:27.230 --> 00:24:31.430 from other Ukraine, regions of Ukraine, and they 00:24:31.430 --> 00:24:34.569 had to take care of their families. So yes, February 00:24:34.569 --> 00:24:38.990 24th obviously was, let's say, a day off for 00:24:38.990 --> 00:24:47.450 us. We're very stressful and strange. They focus 00:24:47.450 --> 00:24:51.109 on just taking care of our families and coordinating. 00:24:51.509 --> 00:24:57.930 We immediately helped arrange accommodation for 00:24:57.930 --> 00:25:00.829 our team member from Kiev and encouraged him 00:25:00.829 --> 00:25:04.450 to move with his family to Lviv. And fortunately, 00:25:04.809 --> 00:25:09.859 he did that because the next day, it was really 00:25:09.859 --> 00:25:13.920 unsafe leaving Kiev at least like directly on 00:25:13.920 --> 00:25:17.900 the main highway going from Kiev to Lviv so people 00:25:17.900 --> 00:25:21.440 had to take much longer routes so because Russia 00:25:21.440 --> 00:25:27.039 got to that highway and was killing civilians 00:25:27.039 --> 00:25:31.819 just like that so I'm pretty sure everyone knows 00:25:31.819 --> 00:25:34.220 and remembers the atrocities that they did in 00:25:34.220 --> 00:25:37.750 Russia and European outside of Kiev and Unfortunately, 00:25:37.829 --> 00:25:40.230 it still continues now and there are many many 00:25:40.230 --> 00:25:43.150 more these tragic stories like that Coming back 00:25:43.150 --> 00:25:45.349 like from you know, how business responded to 00:25:45.349 --> 00:25:49.009 that to be honest It was it was happening very 00:25:49.009 --> 00:25:53.069 organically. So I think at that point everyone 00:25:53.069 --> 00:25:58.809 just realized Nathan like, you know naturally 00:25:58.809 --> 00:26:02.650 Realized what they should do me as a leader. 00:26:02.650 --> 00:26:08.490 I obviously Realized that I need to be very close 00:26:08.490 --> 00:26:12.230 to my team, meaning that frequent communication 00:26:12.230 --> 00:26:16.049 was absolutely important so that no one is left 00:26:16.049 --> 00:26:19.769 behind. Everyone feels that they have someone 00:26:19.769 --> 00:26:26.009 besides them and can always ask for help. I was 00:26:26.009 --> 00:26:31.009 very fortunate to read before that a book called 00:26:31.009 --> 00:26:37.900 Extreme Ownership. Jocko Williams and an odd 00:26:37.900 --> 00:26:44.680 author. So they are ex -Navy SEALs and they set 00:26:44.680 --> 00:26:49.599 up a consultancy sharing the principles that 00:26:49.599 --> 00:26:54.200 US Navy SEALs use in warfare and how these principles 00:26:54.200 --> 00:26:57.859 can be adopted in business in order to make businesses 00:26:57.859 --> 00:27:01.329 more resilient and more efficient. And one of 00:27:01.329 --> 00:27:04.349 the main principles I clearly remember is distributed 00:27:04.349 --> 00:27:07.710 command. So instead of trying to keep everything 00:27:07.710 --> 00:27:10.890 very, let's say, under my control, I just distributed 00:27:10.890 --> 00:27:14.509 the management of the projects that we were working 00:27:14.509 --> 00:27:18.410 on, on different initiatives to my team as much 00:27:18.410 --> 00:27:23.829 as possible, and just clearly emphasize on their 00:27:23.829 --> 00:27:27.359 accountability, on their, let's say, On their 00:27:27.359 --> 00:27:31.420 then the importance of their role. So Yeah, I 00:27:31.420 --> 00:27:35.700 think at that moment we were the most organized 00:27:35.700 --> 00:27:39.599 software development company in the world So 00:27:39.599 --> 00:27:42.720 everyone was very responsive. Everyone was giving 00:27:42.720 --> 00:27:45.940 daily updates on how it's going on on the on 00:27:45.940 --> 00:27:49.700 their projects I was doing daily emails across 00:27:49.700 --> 00:27:53.519 of the whole client sharing the updates on what's 00:27:53.519 --> 00:27:55.740 going on the ground in Ukraine how we're responding 00:27:55.740 --> 00:27:59.960 how the team is feeling so that our clients are 00:27:59.960 --> 00:28:03.579 fully aware of what's happening because we then 00:28:03.579 --> 00:28:07.940 realized that there are pretty much three main 00:28:07.940 --> 00:28:13.259 duties that everyone has is to provide for their 00:28:13.259 --> 00:28:15.900 families make sure that they they're safe take 00:28:15.900 --> 00:28:19.519 care of them contribute to Ukraine in every way 00:28:19.519 --> 00:28:24.099 possible on our let's say in our roles and then 00:28:24.099 --> 00:28:26.299 well the best value that we can also bring to 00:28:26.299 --> 00:28:29.579 Ukraine is to continue working to have the resources 00:28:29.579 --> 00:28:33.579 to then channel to all of the important initiatives 00:28:33.579 --> 00:28:36.519 that there were at that time helping buy ammunition 00:28:36.519 --> 00:28:40.200 for for soldiers helping evacuate people from 00:28:40.200 --> 00:28:47.700 from affected areas buying humanitarian support 00:28:47.700 --> 00:28:52.859 for those displaced people who just were surviving 00:28:52.859 --> 00:28:55.980 in thousands to live in other cities and obviously 00:28:55.980 --> 00:28:59.559 they had some needs for the basic, let's say, 00:28:59.819 --> 00:29:08.160 day -to -day needs. So yeah, so that was three 00:29:08.160 --> 00:29:13.109 goals, three missions that everyone we had. So 00:29:13.109 --> 00:29:19.390 we pretty much worked. And if we didn't work, 00:29:19.529 --> 00:29:22.130 then we did something for Ukraine, some volunteering 00:29:22.130 --> 00:29:26.970 and so on. There was no other way to spend time. 00:29:28.750 --> 00:29:30.910 And none of our clients, none of the projects 00:29:30.910 --> 00:29:36.029 we worked on had, let's say, any bad, negative 00:29:36.029 --> 00:29:39.869 effects. From that, we carried on 100 % service 00:29:39.869 --> 00:29:43.250 delivery throughout the whole of the time. Later, 00:29:43.549 --> 00:29:46.950 there were blackouts because Russia was targeting 00:29:46.950 --> 00:29:53.430 Ukrainian energy system. But we found solutions 00:29:53.430 --> 00:29:56.230 for that, made our office fully autonomous with 00:29:56.230 --> 00:29:59.309 power. uh batteries with our generator we have 00:29:59.309 --> 00:30:02.690 starlink on our office so yeah and and besides 00:30:02.690 --> 00:30:06.329 that two more internet uh lines so yes so we 00:30:06.329 --> 00:30:09.690 came over all the challenges because we we clearly 00:30:09.690 --> 00:30:12.170 realized that well that's that's our duty to 00:30:12.170 --> 00:30:16.990 keep the uh to support ukrainian economy at the 00:30:16.990 --> 00:30:20.809 level that we can considering our science i'm 00:30:20.809 --> 00:30:23.299 just thinking because this You know you told 00:30:23.299 --> 00:30:25.359 your story and you make it sound super easy, 00:30:25.700 --> 00:30:27.859 but I can't imagine it was not even remotely 00:30:27.859 --> 00:30:32.160 easy or close to being easy so Because you know 00:30:32.160 --> 00:30:34.220 most entrepreneurs face a lot of challenges and 00:30:34.220 --> 00:30:37.059 stuff like that but none face That being of a 00:30:37.059 --> 00:30:39.299 challenge like you just did right where you have 00:30:39.299 --> 00:30:41.980 your country being invaded People are you know 00:30:41.980 --> 00:30:43.700 trying to fight for their lives and trying to 00:30:43.700 --> 00:30:44.920 survive and you don't know what's gonna happen 00:30:44.920 --> 00:30:46.829 the next day, right? Because there was a moment 00:30:46.829 --> 00:30:49.670 in the war where we didn't know how far the Russians 00:30:49.670 --> 00:30:51.509 would go. Thankfully, they didn't go that far, 00:30:51.569 --> 00:30:54.630 but you had no idea what was happening. So as 00:30:54.630 --> 00:30:56.990 a leader, what do you say to yourself in those 00:30:56.990 --> 00:31:00.170 moments? What's that message that comes across? 00:31:00.990 --> 00:31:03.490 What is that? How do you keep yourself sharp 00:31:03.490 --> 00:31:06.390 and able to deliver all the stuff you've done? 00:31:07.390 --> 00:31:11.990 How does that look like? Yeah. To be fair, you 00:31:11.990 --> 00:31:14.210 don't think too much in these situations. You 00:31:14.210 --> 00:31:19.990 just act. You don't think whether to feel bad 00:31:19.990 --> 00:31:23.890 about yourself or just go and do the things that 00:31:23.890 --> 00:31:30.990 you have to. Adrenaline definitely does its job. 00:31:31.650 --> 00:31:35.289 You have less fear to do some things that you 00:31:35.289 --> 00:31:40.710 are not that comfortable with. I started doing 00:31:40.710 --> 00:31:43.690 more videos sharing bandwidth with our clients, 00:31:43.910 --> 00:31:48.609 with our team to keep them informed and again 00:31:48.609 --> 00:31:53.309 keep that feeling of closeness as much as possible. 00:31:53.410 --> 00:31:59.150 Before that I was quite shy of filming myself. 00:32:00.150 --> 00:32:04.579 So the barrier just... gets significantly lower 00:32:04.579 --> 00:32:07.480 to the things that you were not very comfortable 00:32:07.480 --> 00:32:12.759 doing before and And yeah, and well what what 00:32:12.759 --> 00:32:17.660 to lose like you either Work it out or not. So 00:32:17.660 --> 00:32:20.680 the choices become very simple. It's just one 00:32:20.680 --> 00:32:26.460 choice and no other other options So yeah, so 00:32:26.460 --> 00:32:29.880 I, at that time, and still now, I made a clear 00:32:29.880 --> 00:32:33.640 decision that I will dedicate myself to growing 00:32:33.640 --> 00:32:37.759 Impressor, innovating and bringing, let's say, 00:32:37.880 --> 00:32:40.119 new opportunities. And we'll get to that as well, 00:32:40.279 --> 00:32:43.420 because besides Impressor, we have launched our 00:32:43.420 --> 00:32:45.720 own AI product. And that's also an interesting 00:32:45.720 --> 00:32:50.799 topic how... in the circumstances of a full -scale 00:32:50.799 --> 00:32:55.259 war, which the European continent didn't experience 00:32:55.259 --> 00:33:00.099 since World War II. So how founders are launching 00:33:00.099 --> 00:33:04.339 new products, because I think now the activity 00:33:04.339 --> 00:33:07.059 of the startup ecosystem in Ukraine is higher 00:33:07.059 --> 00:33:12.019 than ever before. A lot of that is also driven 00:33:12.019 --> 00:33:15.660 by the demands of our country. So that means 00:33:15.660 --> 00:33:21.240 a lot of military tech, startups, a lot of alternative 00:33:21.240 --> 00:33:25.900 energy sources being developed and so on. So 00:33:25.900 --> 00:33:28.259 the needs of our country drive for innovation 00:33:28.259 --> 00:33:35.559 because obviously we are in a significantly disadvantaged 00:33:35.559 --> 00:33:38.920 position compared to Russia. Russia has more 00:33:38.920 --> 00:33:44.089 of every possible resource. more human resources, 00:33:44.609 --> 00:33:47.569 more financial resources, more natural resources. 00:33:47.769 --> 00:33:51.789 We have fewer of everything and we need to find 00:33:51.789 --> 00:33:57.390 ways how to be more efficient with less of the 00:33:57.390 --> 00:34:00.670 resources that we have. And that obviously creates 00:34:00.670 --> 00:34:05.150 an environment for innovation. So I would encourage 00:34:05.150 --> 00:34:09.610 all investors, all accelerators to pay a special 00:34:09.610 --> 00:34:14.380 attention to start us from Ukraine. because if 00:34:14.380 --> 00:34:18.599 well those founders they're creating new services 00:34:18.599 --> 00:34:22.380 new products and the environment which is hardly 00:34:22.380 --> 00:34:25.239 which is really hard to find anywhere else in 00:34:25.239 --> 00:34:29.320 the world right now with well with constant with 00:34:29.320 --> 00:34:32.659 almost daily aid rate alarms depending on the 00:34:32.659 --> 00:34:36.300 region again we're in leviv we are sort of in 00:34:36.300 --> 00:34:41.750 the let's say ukrainian resort we can say because 00:34:41.750 --> 00:34:45.489 we have air raid alarms maybe you know a couple 00:34:45.489 --> 00:34:49.510 of times a week sometimes even fewer and actual 00:34:49.510 --> 00:34:52.010 let's say missile and drone strikes are happening 00:34:52.010 --> 00:34:56.030 not that frequent and most of the targets are 00:34:56.030 --> 00:34:59.110 being taken down because well any missiles any 00:34:59.110 --> 00:35:01.849 drone has to travel almost across the whole of 00:35:01.849 --> 00:35:05.469 the country so it's very likely that they were 00:35:05.469 --> 00:35:11.250 taken down whilst Kiev, other central, central 00:35:11.250 --> 00:35:14.929 Ukrainian cities like Dnipro, Cyprus. Kharkiv 00:35:14.929 --> 00:35:17.469 is a completely different story because they're 00:35:17.469 --> 00:35:20.030 30 or 40 kilometers from Russian borders. Pretty 00:35:20.030 --> 00:35:28.030 much any weapon, any mid -range or long -range 00:35:28.030 --> 00:35:33.010 weapon is reaching them. But still, Kiev is obviously 00:35:33.010 --> 00:35:35.190 targeted more frequently. And there are a lot 00:35:35.190 --> 00:35:39.070 of startups like there. So and I think that given 00:35:39.070 --> 00:35:41.909 that those founders get, let's say, the conditions 00:35:41.909 --> 00:35:45.710 of their peers in London or in the US, they can 00:35:45.710 --> 00:35:51.110 achieve way, way more. I think if you were to 00:35:51.110 --> 00:35:53.309 do a pitch deck and you put in the founding team 00:35:53.309 --> 00:35:55.869 and you just told, oh yeah, we've just been surviving 00:35:55.869 --> 00:35:57.309 in the worst scenario for the last two years. 00:35:57.489 --> 00:35:59.489 Oh, okay. Yeah, definitely. They have what it 00:35:59.489 --> 00:36:01.590 takes, right? They can deal with anything. We 00:36:01.590 --> 00:36:04.769 need to add unstoppable, let's say unstoppable 00:36:04.769 --> 00:36:08.010 startups or, you know, waterproof startups as 00:36:08.010 --> 00:36:11.369 let's say as strange as it sounds, but you know 00:36:11.369 --> 00:36:14.869 that and same for service providers actually 00:36:14.869 --> 00:36:19.090 right now. We are onboarding a new client and 00:36:19.090 --> 00:36:24.369 they were looking for a service provider out 00:36:24.369 --> 00:36:29.949 of Ukraine for purpose because they shared the 00:36:29.949 --> 00:36:34.690 same vision and same thinking that people who 00:36:34.690 --> 00:36:38.949 are delivering great results maintain professional 00:36:38.949 --> 00:36:43.329 service in these circumstances. They nothing 00:36:43.329 --> 00:36:48.920 can... stop them so and be they understand that 00:36:48.920 --> 00:36:52.519 that's the way how you can actually support Ukraine 00:36:52.519 --> 00:36:56.460 in the very direct very effective manner because 00:36:56.460 --> 00:36:59.639 here pretty much with your projects you're creating 00:36:59.639 --> 00:37:04.739 additional job opportunities in Ukrainian market 00:37:05.070 --> 00:37:09.010 all of the hundred percent of your spending will 00:37:09.010 --> 00:37:11.710 go into Ukrainian economy because people obviously 00:37:11.710 --> 00:37:14.030 the company will make some profit pay tax out 00:37:14.030 --> 00:37:18.650 of that team the professionals will make their 00:37:18.650 --> 00:37:20.989 salaries pay tax from there but they will also 00:37:20.989 --> 00:37:24.889 spend in Ukraine donate in Ukraine and so pretty 00:37:24.889 --> 00:37:28.909 much hundred percent of that will go into really 00:37:28.909 --> 00:37:35.630 available valuable So yeah, I encourage to think 00:37:35.630 --> 00:37:37.849 about from that perspective as well. And a lot 00:37:37.849 --> 00:37:40.289 of startups, to be honest, are open to that. 00:37:40.590 --> 00:37:43.809 Enterprises are a bit more reserved. So yeah, 00:37:43.949 --> 00:37:48.550 I would love to see more enterprise leaders sharing 00:37:48.550 --> 00:37:51.550 that vision and being courageous to fight, let's 00:37:51.550 --> 00:37:57.909 say, their internal, let's say, discussions. 00:37:58.269 --> 00:38:02.849 and make their teams consider working with Ukraine. 00:38:03.570 --> 00:38:05.510 I was just wondering, you mentioned that you 00:38:05.510 --> 00:38:09.809 launched a new AI product. Can you tell us a 00:38:09.809 --> 00:38:13.630 bit more about that? Sure, absolutely. So the 00:38:13.630 --> 00:38:17.369 product is called AssistMe AI, and it does what 00:38:17.369 --> 00:38:22.170 the name says, so it assists professionals in 00:38:22.170 --> 00:38:25.519 their work. So it's an AI -based tool that helps 00:38:25.519 --> 00:38:30.380 automate workflows in larger organizations. So 00:38:30.380 --> 00:38:35.719 our target audience right now are customer support 00:38:35.719 --> 00:38:41.320 companies who are providing either voice or text 00:38:41.320 --> 00:38:45.780 customer support, and we provide the possibility 00:38:45.780 --> 00:38:48.889 for their quality assurance teams. to validate 00:38:48.889 --> 00:38:52.590 how effective their customer support agents are. 00:38:52.969 --> 00:38:56.429 Let's say how closely are they following their 00:38:56.429 --> 00:39:00.369 principles, their playbooks. So conventional 00:39:00.369 --> 00:39:04.269 way is that a customer support company has their 00:39:04.269 --> 00:39:07.789 own QA team who are manually looking through 00:39:07.789 --> 00:39:10.750 the conversations of their customer support agents 00:39:10.750 --> 00:39:13.929 and validating whether they follow the best practices 00:39:13.929 --> 00:39:18.150 or not. And that's the ideal use case to be automated 00:39:18.150 --> 00:39:22.590 by AI. So what our platform does, it screens, 00:39:22.590 --> 00:39:25.750 it listens to all of the conversations or analyzes 00:39:25.750 --> 00:39:29.510 all of the text, chat conversations of customer 00:39:29.510 --> 00:39:35.929 support. And by combining, by just we train the 00:39:35.929 --> 00:39:38.510 model with all of the documentation that the 00:39:38.510 --> 00:39:41.750 customer support company provides us with. So 00:39:41.750 --> 00:39:46.000 it invalidates those conversations against all 00:39:46.000 --> 00:39:50.300 of the rules, all the principles they have to 00:39:50.300 --> 00:39:54.599 follow. So the expected improvement of efficiency 00:39:54.599 --> 00:39:58.559 of their QA team is at least five times. So we 00:39:58.559 --> 00:40:02.000 are running a trial with the first paying customer 00:40:02.000 --> 00:40:05.199 right now. So we'll have all of the data on the 00:40:05.199 --> 00:40:09.460 results of their usage of our platform and then 00:40:09.460 --> 00:40:13.960 we'll go out to other uh similar companies already 00:40:13.960 --> 00:40:17.599 showing them what the value assist me ai provides 00:40:17.599 --> 00:40:20.920 there you go this that's uh it's an impressive 00:40:20.920 --> 00:40:22.539 story isn't it when you think about all these 00:40:22.539 --> 00:40:24.820 diversity you faced and you see launching your 00:40:24.820 --> 00:40:27.760 products you still creating new things um if 00:40:27.760 --> 00:40:29.860 people want to reach out to you how can you do 00:40:29.860 --> 00:40:34.239 so all these amazing things you're doing i'm 00:40:34.239 --> 00:40:36.699 pretty accessible on linkedin and funny enough 00:40:36.699 --> 00:40:41.300 i'm the only ramon zamker on linkedin as of So 00:40:41.300 --> 00:40:46.179 latest data so I should be fairly easy To find 00:40:46.179 --> 00:40:48.880 there and yeah, I'm very responsive there. I 00:40:48.880 --> 00:40:51.679 try to post quite frequently So the best way 00:40:51.679 --> 00:40:53.980 to reach out would be through it through LinkedIn 00:40:53.980 --> 00:40:56.019 Wonderful. Come on. Thank you so much for your 00:40:56.019 --> 00:40:58.280 time. It's been an absolute pleasure Thank You, 00:40:58.340 --> 00:41:02.219 Ricardo. Thanks for having me This podcast is 00:41:02.219 --> 00:41:06.219 also sponsored by startupnetworks .co .uk. Startup 00:41:06.219 --> 00:41:08.480 Networks, it's an online forum where you can 00:41:08.480 --> 00:41:10.659 find all the resources you need to run your startup. 00:41:11.179 --> 00:41:13.599 From grants to investors to tips and tricks on 00:41:13.599 --> 00:41:16.079 how to be successful in your startup. This podcast 00:41:16.079 --> 00:41:19.199 is sponsored by openexperts .com. 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