From zero to $380M in 2 years | How Nikita Shamgunov built Neon
Nikita Shamgunov is a serial entrepreneur who’s shaped the world of databases for the last decade. His recent company, Neon, has reached a $380M valuation in only two years offering a fully-managed database service for the #1 open-source database, Postgres. His story is inspiring and pragmatic for builders.
In this episode, we discuss:
-Neon’s path to success
-How to succeed as an engineer-turned-CEO
-Using an “idea maze” to identify business opportunities
-How Neon got their first 1000 customers
-Staying in the AI learning curve
You can find Nikita on:
-Twitter/X: @nikitabase
-LinkedIn:
-Find more about Neon at
Mentions:
-YC Stanford Lecture 14: How to Operate (Keith Rabois)
-Marc Andreessen: Future of the Internet, Technology, and AI | Lex Fridman Podcast #386
In this episode, we cover:
(00:13) Nikita’s background (founding Neon, SingleStore)
(01:24) Importance of the “nerd mindset”
(03:03) Feedback loops in software development vs. real world
(05:42) How to transition from engineer to CEO
(09:29) The “everything is important” mentality
(09:55) Where to focus your time as CEO
(10:52) Neon’s founding story
(12:39) Identifying the market opportunity for Neon
(15:52) De-risking business ideas with an “idea maze”
(19:54) How MongoDB found traction as a database product
(22:24) Finding Neon’s first customers
(25:42) The 2 big sins in the world of databases
(27:05) The strategy behind Neon’s free tier
(28:25) Identifying Neon’s opportunities in AI
(29:41) Why you can’t ignore the AI paradigm shift
(36:53) Why you should never have more than 2 priorities
(37:42) Growing people vs. buying expertise
(40:05) How to cold email your future mentor
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