I Accidentally Created a $16 MILLION Business

Aleksandr helped one person hire an engineer. A few years later, it's turned into a $16 million, largely bootstrapped business.

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🐦 X → https://x.com/volodarik
💼 LinkedIn →   / volodarik  
🚀 Startup → https://lemon.io

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In this conversation we discuss:

(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
(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
(34:31) — Making first sales hire
(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
(42:00) — Aleksandr’s first 2 businesses
(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
(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?