097: Entrepreneur from Ukraine brings Tech to Construction – Sergey Sundukovskiy

Background on Sergey Sundukovskiy of Raken:

Sergey Sundukovskiy is currently the Co-Founder and CTO of Raken, a project software management for the construction industry. Sergey has over 20 years of experience serving in capacities of Chief Technology Officer, Chief Information Officer and Chief Product Officer. He specializes in implementation of subscription based high volume SaaS platforms, with strong emphasis on early stage product development and market deployment. His specific areas of expertise include A/B Testing, Big Data, Video Management, eCommerce, RTB platforms, and Cloud Computing.

Sergey took up B.A. in Computer Science from the University of California, San Diego, and an M.S. in Information Technology from the University of Liverpool. He has a Ph.D. in Information Technology Management from the School of Business and Technology, Capella University.

Time-Stamped Show Notes:

[1:53] Sergey Sundukovskiy is the co-founder and CTO of Raken, which is a project software management for construction industry.
[3:20] Sergey was born in Ukraine and came to the US when he was 18. He had an electrical engineering degree, which he got in Ukraine and he was hoping to be a radar engineer.
[7:07] Sergey and his family came to the United States as refugees. They’ve always wanted to immigrate to another country and they chose the US.
[11:27] Sergey tells a story of how he and his family experienced anti-semitism and harassment in Ukraine because they were Jews.
[15:38] When he moved to the US, Sergey decided to go to a community college and, at the same time, worked for a hydraulics company.
[16:22] He worked for several companies such as Palm Computing, Encyclopedia Britannica and Direct TV, and he rose through the ranks from junior engineer to CTO.
[21:40] Sergey thinks that most immigrants can be described as ready-made entrepreneurs.
[25:50] When asked if Sergey had mentors, he said that some of the books like Great By Choice by Jim Collins was a huge influence.
[28:00] In 2008, Sergey started his own company. He had this idea about creating a video conferencing tech, which was not common at that time.
[31:39] He advises people that starting a company and launching a product will typically cost you from $80,000 to $150,000.
[32:51] Sergey emphasizes the importance of the support of your family when starting a business.
[38:05] According to Sergey, raising too much money can also be a problem when running a company.
[40:05] Another key mistake that you can do as a startup company is to buy out and merge with multiple companies to get more people.
[48:37] Sergey joined Raken as a technical and product co-founder. He covers mostly product technology and marketing.
[51:37] He advises aspiring entrepreneurs to 1. Just jump right into the business 2. Look for true problems that you are passionate about 3. Build a culture within the company.

Fabulous 4 Questions:

📖 📚 Favorite Book(s)? Great by Choice by Jim Collins & Morten T. Hansen
🙌😎 Favorite Amazon.com purchase? Book, David vs. Goliath
🌱💸 Favorite Tool that's GROWN your Business? Confluence/JIRA
💭💡 BIGGEST Challenge keeping your Business from GROWING? Hiring

Key Point from the Interview:

“The worst thing you can do, as a startup or as a company, is to become unfocused”

Resources Mentioned:

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