To discuss the tech revolution and entrepreneurship over a cup of coffee, the co-founder and CTO of AiSDR, Oleg Zaremba, visited the cohort of the Mission Possible venture-building program. Such breakfasts provide the cohort with networking opportunities and a deeper understanding of the startup ecosystem from successful entrepreneurs, investors, and industry experts.

Professional Path

Before becoming an entrepreneur, Oleg studied applied mathematics and physics extensively in Ukraine, Italy, and Poland. After his studies, he gained work experience at SoftServe in Lviv and as an IT consultant in Gdansk, where he gained important experience for starting companies.

Later, he moved to Amsterdam and started working at Booking.com. Simultaneously in 2017, Oleg and Yuriy started building AXDRAFT.

“For the first time, I worked part-time, closed one computer and opened another and continued to work on AXDRAFT”

In 2019, the brothers first made it to Y Combinator, which greatly accelerated the development of their startup.

Advice 1: It’s important to have a clear one-liner that explains the company’s activities, understandable even to grandma or grandpa

Oleg recommends honing this skill to ensure a clear understanding of what the company does. This is the first sentence you have, and usually, the question arises after it, how do you do this? And now you already have a second sentence.

“You must understand about all your companies and your projects firmly and hone every day. Without pompous words, without terrible terminology, but with an understanding of what you are doing.”

Having successfully developed a company that works with companies like DTEK, MHP, Glovo, and Bridge American Tobacco — AXDRAFT was sold to Onit Inc. in 2020. After the sale, the brothers worked another 2 years as local managers and later founded AISDR and immediately applied to Y Combinator.

Advice 2: Use every opportunity to accelerate the development of your project.

“If we hadn’t made it into YC, this idea would have been slightly postponed and would have moved at its own pace.”

Preparation for the Y Combinator interview was intense. There were difficulties with the possibility of coming to San Francisco, which cast doubt on their participation in the program, but despite all obstacles, they received an offer without having a developed product or prototype, just an idea. This demonstrates a high estimate of their idea and potential.

AISDR provides integration with Gmail for sending personalized emails, simplifying the work of sales specialists.

Since its founding in July 2023, the company has raised $3 million in investments with a valuation of $20 million.

Y Combinator greatly contributes to expanding the network for startups, opens doors for knowledge exchange and attracting resources necessary for rapid growth and scaling of the company.

Read our previous blog with tips on how Ukrainian startups can get into YC. Insights from Ukrainian entrepreneurs — YC Alumni where one of the speakers was Yuriy Zaremba:

How to get into YC: Insights from Mission Possible

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