Roman Sevast started programming at 13, led a dev team at 18, and raised 3M for his startup in a Ukrainian bomb shelter at 25. Now, growing it from Silicon Valley.

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Guest Resources

Roman Sevast LinkedIn – Connect to Roman on LinkedIn.

Roman Sevast X – Follow Roman on X.

Awesomic Website – Watch Roman’s podcast interviews.

Awesomic YouTube Channel – Subscribe to Awesomic’s YouTube Channel.

3 Value Bombs

1) The speed in decision making matters because mistakes are inevitable. It is better to fail fast and make fast decisions as soon as possible.

2) Intuition is a very powerful instrument, you just feel what is right and you just do it.

3) Speed of execution is basically the most predetermined factor of success. Speed matters, even if you are not the smartest person but you executed fast, you will definitely reach success.

Sponsor

HubSpot: Starting a business doesn’t have to be so hard. Go to ClickHubSpot.com/ent to download HubSpot’s Entrepreneurship Kit for free right now!

Show Notes

**Click the time stamp to jump directly to that point in the episode.

Today’s Audio MASTERCLASS: Warzone Lessons for Silicon Valley Success

[1:33] – Roman shares something that he believes about becoming successful that most people disagree with.

Most people believe in following their passion but he believes what people should focus on is doing a good work. Success is not a predetermined past for any person but more on crafting yourself to do a good job in what area you have chosen.

[2:49] – Roman shares his story of scaling his startup in a very challenging environment and the skills he developed in order to thrive.

He launched his company when the pandemic started and 2 years after that, the war in Ukraine began.
The first skill that help him go through the obstacles is contingency planning or thinking what will happen in every scenario and prepare in advance for it. One of his best decision that time was to relocate his people living close to the Russian border 3-4 days before the war broke.
The second skill is to never give up and keep on going. He believes start ups shut down when founders give up. Find someway to rest and recharge but never give up.
Third is to develop and improve an entrepreneurship skill and in his case , he learned financial planning which is a skill in handling cash flow. Having cash is very important because it can solve many things and will help your business survive.

[6:43] – Roman shares how his approach to strategic decision-making changed.

The speed in decision making matters because mistakes are inevitable. It is better to fail fast and make fast decisions as soon as possible.

[7:14] – Roman shares the key ingredients of his company’s success.

When the war started in Ukraine, they also started their start up immediately and begin to hire from other countries. They spend 6 months there during the war and moved to another place after fixing their operation in Ukraine. They made sure that all the necessities are provide and his team are safe and secure and are able to work in any circumstances.
They hired highly adaptive people who can handle high level of pressure and he takes care of them such as providing unlimited days off, trips and cash allowances when they need.

[10:27] – A timeout to thank our sponsor!

HubSpot: Starting a business doesn’t have to be so hard. Go to ClickHubSpot.com/ent to download HubSpot’s Entrepreneurship Kit for free right now!

[14:03] – Roman talks about how he navigated uncertainty to keep his business on track.

When you live in warzones, you can survive based on your professionalism and luck. Keep on learning and improving yourself.
He used more of his intuition, he dose what he feels is the right thing to do. Intuition is a very powerful instrument, you just feel what is right and you just do it.

[16:14] – Roman shares how to stay positive and manage anxiety.

Its more about how you manage yourself. Focus on a healthy lifestyle, sleep and eat well. He takes care of his health by doing regular blood tests to know what supplements he needs to have because it will dramatically improve his internal feeling.
He finds time to relax and recharge when he feels burn out.
He does Vipassana, a meditation technique which is about mental exercise that help rebuild his thinking process.

[19:48] – Roman shares what he would take back to the beginning and what he would do differently if given a chance.

He doesn’t regret anything but if he will have his mind now in his younger body, he will do everything the same but faster. Speed of execution is basically the most predetermined factor of success. Speed matters, even if you are not the smartest person but you executed fast, you will definitely reach success.

[20:54] – Roman gives his one key takeaway.

Never give up, iterate as fast as possible and if you haven’t launched anything yet, just do it. Start from day one and do it step by step and you will get to success.

[21:30] – Call to action.

Roman Sevast LinkedIn – Connect to Roman on LinkedIn.
Roman Sevast X – Follow Roman on X.
Awesomic Website – Watch Roman’s podcast interviews.
Awesomic YouTube Channel – Subscribe to Awesomic’s YouTube Channel.

[20:27] – Thank you to our Sponsor!

HubSpot: Starting a business doesn’t have to be so hard. Go to ClickHubSpot.com/ent to download HubSpot’s Entrepreneurship Kit for free right now!

Killer Resources!

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