From $100M CTO Exit to a complete failure. Here is what I learned. 🔥
Behind every startup story — win or lose — is a team that gave it everything.
After my Playtika exit, I had that team, that dream — and we still failed. This is a story of a company that I tried building BEFORE DIVE (my current company) and it didn’t work out.
I saw an opportunity: game studios were struggling with backend infrastructure. So I built a strong team and set out to create a backend-as-a-service platform.
Here’s the catch: when a CTO becomes a founder, the temptation is to focus too much on tech. That’s exactly what we did.
We made one big, dangerous decision: go 100% bootstrapped.
On paper it sounded smart — raise later, keep more equity.
In reality, it nearly guaranteed failure.
We had world-class people and world-class tech — but we lacked one critical thing: a real product leader. After more than a year of building, we burned through our cash. We tried to pivot, expanded the team, and only burned more. In the end, we had to shut the company down.
What I learned (the hard way):
- Choose your partners wisely.
- Traction is priority #1. Always.
- Keep things lean — stretch every dollar.
- Know your audience: B2C and B2B are completely different games.
- Even at the very beginning, having a few angel investors matters — not just for capital, but for validation, credibility, and momentum when raising the next round.
That failure was painful — but it was also tuition. Today, every decision I make as a CTO and founder is shaped by those lessons, and it’s how I help CEOs avoid the same mistakes.
Share your story with me here: https://lnkd.in/dBZ8xjEa
And even more important. As a result of this failure I’ve started Dive – bootstrapped from 0 to processing data every month for 100 million active users. So never give up 💪🏻
#Startups #Leadership #Entrepreneurship #FractionalCTO #Founders
📸 Here’s the team that gave it everything. The dream ended too soon — but the lessons live on.