

He Bootstrapped Wrike to $10M ARR—then exited for $2.2B. | Andrew Filev, Founder of Wrike & Zencoder
11 snips Aug 25, 2025
Andrew Filev, founder of Wrike and Zencoder, shares his remarkable journey of bootstrapping Wrike to a $2.2B exit without pivots or customer pre-launch feedback. He reveals how relentless focus on one problem and manning support calls fueled product innovation. Andrew discusses the pitfalls of conventional startup wisdom and how copycats accelerated growth. Now, with Zencoder, he envisions AI not as a replacement for developers but as a tool to make everyone more effective. A must-listen for any founder looking to break the mold!
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Commit Fully Or Fail Slowly
- Go all-in on a product if past side projects failed from lack of focus.
- Treat the startup as your main job and allocate your time and energy accordingly.
Relocating To Chase Scale
- Andrew moved from Russia to Silicon Valley to build products used by millions.
- He joined the Valley to learn how high-scale consumer and SaaS products are built.
Compounding Beats Constant Pivoting
- Compounding domain knowledge beats frequent pivots for many founders.
- Deepening customer and market understanding yields more reliable long-term advantage.