My journey in startups began 10 years ago, and I've launched 18 startups, most of which failed. Briefly on why they failed: 1. Contract Online my first startup in 2015, which was supposed to be an online service for remote signing of contracts for any transactions between individuals. A kind of analogue of a secure transaction. For this startup, I even managed to attract a business angel who invested $16,500.
Reason for failure: I had two lawyers on my team who discovered in the process that the legal framework at the time could not provide reliable grounds for protecting our users in remote transactions. The contracts would not have been considered legally signed. 2. Natural Products In 2015-2018, I became very passionate about healthy eating, but in the process, I discovered that products in all chain stores are full of chemicals, and stores with truly natural products are inaccessible to the majority. Hence, the idea emerged to create my own online platform where you could order natural products directly from farmers at affordable prices.
Reason for failure: For several years, I tried to launch this project, even trained as a baker of natural bread and tried to create my own farm, but in the process, I found that few people are willing to pay for truly natural products, even if these products were only 20-30% more expensive than market prices, and not 2-3 times more, as in premium stores. Hence, the market was so small that all my attempts were doomed.
We launched Meet-Ting on Gmail to move fast. It got us out there, but we quickly built up technical debt and a heavy reliance on Google's APIs.
This was a problem. Our most valuable potential users (the "meeting-heavy" pros) all use Outlook.
After months of focused work to improve core reliability, it was time to expand our ecosystem. We call it our "Ting everywhere" strategy. Our native Outlook integration is live.
I ve spent the last few years working closely with sales teams, and one thing never changes, we often start talking too soon.
A potential customer shares one small detail, and we immediately jump into explaining, pitching, or convincing. But the truth is: most people don t need more information, they just need to feel understood. When we slow down and listen really listen the conversation changes completely. They open up. They tell you what s actually holding them back. And suddenly, closing the deal isn t about persuasion anymore, it s about alignment.
