Martin Villig is a Co-Founder of Bolt, one of the most widely known Estonian unicorns valued at $4.75 Bn during the last investment round. Martin has been an entrepreneur for more than 20 years and is an integral part of the Estonian startup community. In recent years, he has been especially active in social impact projects with such initiatives as coding school kood/Johvi and the Good Deed Education Fund for solving acute problems in the education sector.In this episode we talk about Martin’s entrepreneurship journey including its biggest highlight - Bolt - from origins to philosophy and culture to strategic decisions, scaling and attracting investments. We also discuss what role philanthropy and social impact plays in Martin’s life and why and when other people should engage in such activities. Finally we talk about the Estonian tight-knit startup founders community and how it propels the next unicorn formation. The topics covered in this episode with Timestamps[01:15] - MARTIN’s BUSINESS JOURNEY BEFORE BOLTStarting up in the ninetiesThe Skype touchTesting co-founders for vision, work ethic and risk tolerance[04:35] - ON THE ORIGINS OF BOLTStarting a company with your brotherLaunching in a space with big established playersInnovating in an age old industryRetaining the team[12:10] - ON DOING MORE WITH LESS & CULTURE OF FRUGALITYStruggling for investments early onDecision to expand in the Baltics before other countries abroadThe upside of not raising a lot initially - frugal cultureFrugal culture even post raising several hundred million[18:15] - ON UNDERESTIMATED CHALLENGES OF SCALINGIt’s a marathon not a sprintOn the quality of hiring and peopleRemaining customer-centricKeeping the product simple[21:50] - ON THE DIDI INVESTMENTThe benefits of a strategic investorWorking with a Chinese investor[25:00] - ON THE SUPER APP QUESTSeparating Bolt FoodProbability of Bolt becoming a super-app[29:00] - ON SOCIAL ENGAGEMENTS & KOOD/JOHVIThe right time to start Projects Martin is involved inOn the mission of coding school kood/JohviHow soon you can learn coding and make an impact[40:40] – ON THE VALUE OF THE ESTONIAN STARTUP COMMUNITYWhat went right initiallyImpact of the Founders societyHiring from abroad vs. poaching from other founders[47:00] - ADVICE TO YOUNGER SELFA few pieces of practical advice for young foundersImportance of bringing value to BalticsJoining the Founders pledgeTo reach out to Martin use:Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/waldec/ Website: https://martinvillig.com/ Find out more on https://www.pursuitofscrappiness.co/ Support for this episode comes from Nexpay > https://paynexpay.com/Support for this episode comes from Venetor > https://www.venetor.co/ ===See the video content exclusively on Linkedin > https://www.linkedin.com/company/pursuit-of-scrappiness/ Questions/suggestions? Join our Telegram group > https://t.me/pursuitofscrappiness The full interview with Martin is available NOW on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts Support the show

Ask this episode

“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

Transcript

Related