Aleksandr helped one person hire an engineer. A few years later, it's turned into a $16 million, largely bootstrapped business.
📚 1,800 Pitch Decks (Free) → deck-database.carrd.co
Follow Aleksandr’s journey:
🐦 X → x.com/volodarik
💼 LinkedIn → linkedin.com/in/volodarik
🚀 Startup → lemon.io
Follow us:
🔔 Subscribe → youtube.com/@callmehouck?sub_confirmation=1
📝 Newsletter → join.foundingjourney.com
📈 Founder Membership → upgrade.foundingjourney.com
💼 LinkedIn → linkedin.com/in/michael-houck
In this conversation we discuss:
Founder Mode
- (00:00) — Intro
- (01:07) — Lemon.io founding story
- (04:15) — How Aleksandr knew Lemon.io was a big opportunity
- (06:15) — Lemon.io's differentiator
- (07:49) — Why founders miss opportunities right in front of them
- (42:00) — Aleksandr’s first 2 businesses
Rebranding & Growth
- (09:49) — Intentional rebranding efforts
- (14:42) — Tactically executing a rebrand
- (16:25) — Building in public in 2025
- (18:48) — 2025 social media plan
- (22:19) — Building in public's impact early on
- (23:58) — Using Quora as a growth channel
- (24:22) — 2025's growth channel opportunity
- (26:34) — Utilizing the podcast growth channel
- (31:06) — Going all in with early-stage advertising
Hiring
- (34:31) — Making first sales hire
- (43:50) — The benefit of paid work trials
- (46:11) — What founders should evaluate when hiring
- (47:06) — How non-technical founders can evaluate technical talent
- (48:50) — Laying off employees while growing
Investment
- (35:54) — The wrong way to take on venture investment
- (39:38) — Buying out existing investors
- (40:07) — Why there’s no need to raise more for Lemon.io
Rapid Fire
- (52:58) — Who is one investor you’d recommend?
- (53:58) — One thing you'd change about startups?
- (54:41) — Advice for first-time founders?
- (55:36) — Something you believe that most disagree with?
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