The past year was about enjoying the fruits of my hard work and finally resting, relaxing, and crying. The past year was slower and less intense than other years, though it hasn’t made this year less important.
This year, I realized I felt too much pain from following others. Being alone is scary but much less painful than relying on someone else and being disappointed. This is true when it comes to business or even personal life.
Business
In 2024, there were no significant events or unspeakable results in any of my businesses. I made it to 2025 a little richer than I was in 2024, but nothing life-changing. The amount of business lessons I learned this year is astonishing, though.
Fractional CTO
Do you know Gordon Ramsey? Gordon Ramsey is the fractional CTO, but it is for IT. He joins the team and ensures that things are done right and people are in the right seats. That's a great metaphor, isn’t it?
In 2023, I didn’t feel confident in the new role of Fractional CTO. However, in 2024, I realized that there are not many good Fractional CTOs in this world, and I am far from being the worst. Now, I can confidently call myself FCTO and help companies of any size to make their tech better.
Scrimmage Update
I left Scrimmage as a full-time CTO this year. We ended on good terms, and Scrimmage got an excellent replacement for the position.
This year, we had an opportunity to reach $100k in YRR with only one client. However, the deal didn’t go through, so we returned to the drawing board to find leads.
For the next year, I decided to launch and manage Google Ads myself to generate leads. Scrimmage has potential, but it needs to change how things are done. Investing in a product doesn’t make sense without customer input.
Next year, I see that Scrimmage will be able to build a leads pipeline that generates 2-3 leads per day. I also see how Scrimmage started paying more attention to analytics and AI.
Voopty Update
This was the first full year when our team was working on Voopty. This year, we changed 3 CTOs, got 50k revenue, and were accepted into the accelerator. At the end of the year, we got to profitability, which allowed us to grow by re-investing money we already earned.
I am concerned that our product lacks something unique. Voopty is currently like a pizza with just a base. Now, we need to add flavor. I see potential in AI Agents when applied to Voopty. Imagine a bot with access to all your company data and can improve your company daily. Developing something like that won’t take much time, assuming our existing infrastructure, but with it, we will get a competitive edge in all markets.
We won’t repeat the mistakes of overhiring, and we will re-invest everything in marketing. If everything goes as planned, we should be able to get 300 clients, while 30% of them are from outside of Ukraine.
QuestEd
When I was 19, I developed a vision of a decentralized education system (DES). My life circled, and I returned to this idea. During these years, I gained the necessary experience, and technologies matured.
Imagine a world where learning is not just “available”, but also something that people do. I would argue that education has been “available” to everyone for a while. The real problem is the quality of education and motivation. That is something QuestEd is addressing. We are building a gamified learning platform where AI agents work hand in hand with tutors to provide the best possible education for an affordable price.
This is my $100 mil bet and something I am ready to work on for the next 10 years. This idea is inspiring, and I am finally unafraid to discuss it.
Gamification
My two main learning subjects this year are gamification and Google ADS. If starting Google ADS, I started only in the last quarter; I learned a lot about gamification this year.
Octalysis Framework
Apparently, there is not much information about gamification on the Internet. Octalysis Framework and its island are the most popular sources of gamification experiences on the Internet. I took their advanced course to learn everything they had.
Gelios Platform
I got a chance to design and supervise the development of a gamified learning platform. Both Scrimmage and Voopty have been used to create this platform, and in the end, we got something exceptional for a low price. I believe that this type of gamified school is the future.
Gamified planner
One of the most life-changing things that happened to me was Notion and planning my life there. During the planning I use a lot of gamified elements to make planning easier.
For example, instead of asking myself my goals for 2025, I ask what my levels, quests, and achievements are. This helps me separate important things from nice-to-have things.
I was trying to build this framework up and design my yearly planner. Apperently, launching physical products is complicated and expensive, so I will return to it later.
Flower
I got a chance to join a yearly stage startup in person in Bali and help them design the MVP. The founder had no money, so I was helping them for free (which I would never do in the future).
I was a Fractional CTO there, and I left the project after 3 months of assisting, and the company closed right after. Not every idea will shine at the end.
Personal
In 2024, I rediscovered myself. The past 3 years with Scrimmage and Hanisha felt like a dream. This year, I woke up, and they were all gone. Only ashes of memories are left.
The sad part is that I let it go myself. I needed to free up space for what was coming. At first, it was very painful, but then I realized that I had already felt it multiple times and that letting things go is almost my superpower.
I first experienced this when I was 15. Since birth, I have lived in a single place and attended a single school. Well, all that life is gone now; you go to a new city and new institution - college.
The second time, I decided to accept a full-time job while still in college at 18. Even though my job was still in the same city, I lost connection with college and again started from scratch.
For the third time, after two years of working for a company, I decided to leave. That time, I moved to Kyiv and again completely changed my environment.
It is the fourth time I have experienced complete withdrawal from my current environment with the ability to build my character from scratch. Every time I make this leap, it feels really scary and sad. However, it allows me to insert new beliefs and behavior patterns in my brain.
Bali
On Hanisha's birthday, we visited Bali for a silent retreat. It was a 3 day of meditation, yoga, and self-reflection. It was my first time in Bali, and I was positively impressed. In my opinion, some places in Thailand are still better than Bali, but overall, it is a great place for digital nomads.
At the same time, my friend was in Bali, and he invited me to join live with him in Villa for a week and help him with a project. I went there, and I never came back to Thailand. I started thinking I was cursed because it was not my first time leaving the country spontaneously. I had around 5 lease agreements and haven’t finished any of them, lol.
Break Up
After dating Hanisha for over three years and almost getting married, we decided to break up. Although it was a painful decision, we agreed that it would be better for us to stay separate.
From this relationship, I realized that it would be tough for me to find a wife. My career orientation and high standards for a partner make it very difficult to find a match. At the same time, I realized that I felt comfortable alone and that I was still young, so there was no rush to solve this issue.
I am CEO
The most important conclusion of 2024 is that I must stop being afraid of responsibilities and become CEO. When I realized this, it felt like a stone fell from me. For years, I had always asked someone for approval, permission, or an opinion. I value others' opinions more than mine, so my ideas always have to be less loud.
Well, it changed, and now my ideas will be as loud as everyone else’s. Most CTOs don’t use social media, and for them, it is more of a nice-to-have. However, for a CEO (and founder), it is important to put the idea outside and challenge it in the real world. Now, I accept publicity as a part of my job rather than a nice-to-have treat.
This will be my 2025.