The Startup That Made Me Become a Solo Founder
For those who read my previous post about my journey from rebuilding software projects as a kid to building VIDI today:
There is one chapter of that story I only briefly mentioned.
Looking back, it's probably the main reason I became a solo founder.
A few years ago, I was building an EdTech startup called BYTE-MOBILE.
At the time, I was only 16–17 years old.
At its peak, I was leading a group of around 30 people across development, design, operations, partnerships, and student contributors.
We weren't just building a prototype.
We were participating in startup competitions, presenting our product publicly, working with universities, and gaining real traction.
At one point, 7 universities had already signed agreements to use our platform.
People in our ecosystem were starting to view BYTE-MOBILE as a potential alternative to a much larger competitor.
For a young founder, it felt like everything was finally coming together.
What makes this experience memorable isn't that the startup failed.
Startups fail every day.
What makes it memorable is that we already had momentum.
We had a growing team.
We had signed university agreements.
We had product development moving forward.
We had external validation.
From the outside, we looked like one of the more promising student startups in our ecosystem.
Then something happened that I wasn't prepared for.
Two people who had access to the product and code decided they no longer wanted to continue under my leadership.
The problem wasn't that they left.
People leave startups all the time.
The problem was what happened next.
BYTE-MOBILE wasn't built by two people.
It was the result of contributions from developers, designers, student builders, partnership teams, and many others who spent countless hours helping move the project forward.
When the split happened, work that had been created collectively was increasingly presented as if it belonged to only a small number of people.
For me, that was one of the hardest parts of the experience.
Not because of the code itself.
But because it felt like the efforts of many contributors were being reduced and overlooked.
The timing couldn't have been worse.
Right before an important product presentation, part of the team was pulled in a different direction.
People suddenly had to choose sides.
A startup that had taken years to build started moving in two different directions almost overnight.
Some people stayed with me.
Others followed them.
The hardest part wasn't losing people.
The hardest part was watching momentum disappear when the opportunity was right in front of us.
At the time, I thought the biggest startup risks were:
Funding
Competitors
Product development
Market adoption
I was wrong.
The biggest risk turned out to be alignment.
When a startup starts gaining momentum, people often begin wanting different things.
Ambition changes.
Expectations change.
Egos get involved.
And suddenly a team that looked unified can start pulling in different directions.
Despite everything that happened, we kept moving forward.
The people who stayed didn't quit.
We continued building with the team, product, and resources we still had.
A few months later, we participated in Digital Bridge 2023, one of the largest technology and startup events in Kazakhstan.
We arrived with two projects.
One project was presented at an exhibition booth.
The second was BYTE-MOBILE, which I presented during Astana Hub Battle 2023 as part of the startup competition.
That experience taught me something important.
Even when a startup takes a major hit, the people who stay often reveal the true resilience of the company.
Looking back, I learned several lessons:
Finding talented people is difficult.
Keeping everyone aligned is even harder.
Skills matter.
Ownership matters.
Recognition matters.
Incentives matter.
Leadership matters most when things start going wrong.
That experience completely changed how I think about startups.
Today I'm building VIDI as a solo founder.
Not because I believe solo founders are better.
And not because teams can't build incredible companies.
Some of the greatest companies in the world were built by teams.
But after seeing how quickly alignment can disappear once opportunity appears, I wanted complete accountability.
If customers don't respond, that's on me.
If the product isn't good enough, that's on me.
If I make a mistake, that's on me.
If the company succeeds, that's on me too.
Building alone isn't easier.
In many ways, it's harder.
But it's also simpler.
There is no confusion about ownership.
No confusion about direction.
No confusion about responsibility.
And after leading a 30-person startup at 16–17 years old and watching it split apart at a critical moment, that's something I no longer take for granted.
Has anyone else had a startup experience that completely changed how they think about co-founders, leadership, incentives, or building teams?
Amazing
Thank you, appreciate it.
Powerful insight on alignment being the real startup risk ⚙️
The way momentum can shift even after real progress is something a lot of founders underestimate.
Do you think there were early warning signs before the split?
Honestly, not really.
Looking back, I can identify lessons from the experience, but at the time there weren't any obvious signs that a split was coming.
Interesting that you chose the solo path after leading a bigger team. I imagine the trade-off between speed and having different perspectives must be very different.
This is a really interesting part of the story. People usually focus on the product and the market, but the human side can completely change the direction of a business.
Interesting how one experience can change the way you look at people. I think trust and alignment become much more important when something starts growing. Did this experience change your approach to choosing people around you?
From my experience, alignment between people is often harder to maintain than the original idea itself. Everyone can start with the same goal, but priorities can change over time.
From my experience, alignment between people is often harder to maintain than the original idea itself. Everyone can start with the same goal, but priorities can change over time.
It definitely changed how I think about alignment. Growth tends to amplify both strengths and weaknesses that aren't always visible early on.
This is a really interesting part of the story. People usually focus on the product and the market, but the human side can completely change the direction of a business.
Very different. You lose some perspectives, but you gain a lot of clarity and speed. At this stage, that trade-off works well for me.
VIDI:
https://vidicontract.tech/