He Bootstrapped Wrike to $10M ARR—then exited for $2.2B. | Andrew Filev, Founder of Wrike & Zencoder

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3d ago 1:08:13

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Andrew bootstrapped Wrike and grew it from 0 to a $2.2B exit by doing the exact opposite of what every startup book tells you. No pivots. No talking to customers before launch. No narrow niche. Just 17 years of relentless focus on one problem while everyone else was pivoting every 18 months.

In this episode, he breaks down exactly why bootstrapping saved his company (and why VC would have killed it), why he ignored customer development and just built in a bunker, and how manning the support phones himself became his secret product development weapon.

Now building Zencoder (AI coding agents), he shares why the future isn't about replacing developers but making every human "superhuman" at their job. This is mandatory listening for any founder questioning conventional startup wisdom.

Why You Should Listen:

Grew to $2.2B with no pivots for 17 years while competitors kept "failing fast"
How he doubled revenue every year from $0 to $100M+ ARR
Why manning support phones himself was better than any customer development process
Why copycats helped Wrike grow faster
The future of AI agents

Keywords:

Wrike, Andrew Filev, bootstrapping, 2 billion exit, product market fit, SaaS, Zencoder, AI coding agents, no pivot strategy, collaboration software

00:00:00 Intro

00:03:30 Moving to Silicon Valley from Russia to build for millions

00:10:06 Going all-in after previous side projects failed

00:11:27 Why he never pivoted once in 17 years

00:18:47 Launching without talking to customers first

00:24:12 Manning support phones and discovering the real roadmap

00:29:01 When Microsoft Project, Basecamp, and Jira were the competition

00:34:31 The only job definition—double the business every year

00:54:16 Why Developers won't be replaced, and become superhuman

01:01:57 The $2.2B exit and making employees' dreams come true

01:04:36 Finding product-market fit at Zencoder vs Wrike

01:06:55 Focus on people—everything traces back to them

Send me a message to let me know what you think!

Chapters

1. Intro (00:00:00)

2. Moving to Silicon Valley from Russia to build for millions (00:03:30)

3. Going all-in after previous side projects failed (00:10:06)

4. Why he never pivoted once in 17 years (00:11:27)

5. Launching without talking to customers first (00:18:47)

6. Manning support phones and discovering the real roadmap (00:24:12)

7. When Microsoft Project, Basecamp, and Jira were the competition (00:29:01)

8. The only job definition—double the business every year (00:34:31)

9. Why Developers won't be replaced, and become superhuman (00:54:16)

10. The $2.2B exit and making employees' dreams come true (01:01:57)

11. Finding product-market fit at Zencoder vs Wrike (01:04:36)

12. Focus on people—everything traces back to them (01:06:55)

216 episodes

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