092: Building a Software Company from Belarus – Mikita Mikado of PandaDoc 🐼

Background on Mikita Mikado of PandaDoc:

Mikita Mikado is an entrepreneur, executive, and former engineer. He is currently the CEO of PandaDoc, a Series-A funded SaaS business in San Francisco. His main interests are SaaS, sales automation, documents, metrics, startups, surfing, programming, and new technologies.

PandaDoc was launched in 2011 by Co-Founders Mikita Mikado and Sergey Barysiuk, with a mission to improve the ways organizations approach document management. The company’s cloud-based platform was built to optimize the creation, accuracy, and full lifecycle management of contracts, quotes, sales proposals, and other documentation essential to closing deals. Mikita and the PandaDoc team are committed to helping SMBs and enterprise-level businesses automate workflows and convert more customers with easy-to-use, SaaS document management solutions.

Time-Stamped Show Notes:

[1:25] Mikita Mikado was born in Belarus and moved for the first time to the US when he was 19 years old. He has spent most of his life in Belarus.
[3:47] Mikita believes that countries such as Belarus, Romania, Ukraine, Russia, India, and Argentina has many great software engineers.
[8:55] Mikita’s entrepreneurial side first started when he sold berries to the farmer’s market.
[11:40] At 18 years old, Mikita wanted to create a business and make more money, which encouraged him to join a student exchange program that will bring him to the US.
[14:45] When he was in Hawaii, his first job was flipping burgers. He then created several small businesses, and then moved on to SEO, web design, and software engineering.
[16:20] After 2 years in Hawaii, Mikita started a software business, and then he decided to move back to Belarus to continue the business. He hired his former classmates to work with him.
[20:08] After moving back to Belarus, Mikita rented a 1 bedroom apartment, which also served as his business office. He eventually moved into a 3 bedroom apartment.
[24:42] Mikita decided that it is time to move on to bigger challenges, which means a major transition in the company. They were inspired by a company called 37 Signals, which gave them the idea to create new software that they can control.
[27:48] Mikita shares some lessons he learned from hiring a CEO for the company. If the CEO is not familiar with the business, this will require some guidance. You also have to check the track record of the person being hired.
[31:08] After establishing PandaDoc, Mikita thought that the customers would come to them, which is their first big mistake.
[34:41] When PandaDoc was gradually increasing their revenue every month and they knew that this business has the potential to really succeed, Mikita decided to move back to the US.
[37:46] Mikita admits that he is sometimes difficult to work with because he is too passionate and emotional.
[38:32] When working with someone remotely or dealing with virtual business partners or virtual assistants, Mikita suggests to “overcommunicate.” You also have to be positive.
[40:00] Having employees in both the US and Belarus, Mikita makes it work by helping his employees understand the culture of each country.
[47:51] Mikita recommends a book entitled Peak Performance, which touches on how to work hard effectively. Some people may work harder, but they can’t seem to make things work out for them.

Fabulous 4 Questions:

📖📚 Favorite Book(s)? Quiet Leadership by David Rock, Shoe Dog by Phil Knight, Pitch Anything by Oren Klaff, The Cartel by Don Winslow
🙌😎 Favorite Amazon.com purchase? SWAGTRON Swagger – cut my commute by at least 15 minutes.
🌱💸 Favorite Tool that's GROWN your Business? Slack gets #1, Google Docs get #2
💭💡 BIGGEST Challenge keeping your Business from GROWING? Communication

Key Point from the Interview:

“The best part is that the bigger this company gets, the more I learn and the more impact it has on the world, on our clients, and our employees, and as a result the more fun it becomes”

Resources Mentioned:

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