Co-Founder @ Stan | building a $BN company 🚀

Hi, I’m Vitalii 👋🏻

Over the past 3 years, I’ve built a $30M ARR business with 30 people.

A $1M/employee company.

Now, we’re building a category-defining brand—with $100M ARR in sight.

To do that, I focus on Culture, People, and Product.

Everything that got me here is self-taught.

Born and raised in Russia, I started working at 13—packing parachutes and skydiving. 🪂
By 18, I had 800+ jumps and enough saved to pay for my first year of college.

Jumping out of planes redefined my relationship with fear.
Once you commit, you act. Without hesitation.

I learned English in one year to study abroad—still the hardest thing I’ve done.
That brought me to Canada, where I earned a degree in Chemical Engineering.

I never used it.

My side projects opened doors for me—first to Deloitte, then to eBay.
But the real work happened outside the job.

I made time to build:
9–5 for the paycheck,
5–9 (both morning and night) for what I actually cared about.

That’s where I proved to myself—nothing is impossible.

In 2021, I met my cofounder. We went all-in and started building Stan.

On my LinkedIn, I write about:

→ Founder war stories (unfiltered)
→ Building a $1M/employee startup
→ Creating top 1% culture

🎧 Follow me here if you're building—or want to build—something great.

People I work with would describe me as:

→ I make things happen
→ Zero tolerance for mediocrity
→ I build and run top 1% talent-density teams

🫂 DM me on LinkedIn if you'd like to work at Stan.

But know—it’s likely to be the hardest thing you’ve ever done.
And worth it. For the right person.

—

On LinkedIn, I share stories for founders building what’s next—
The ones who care about People, Culture, and Redefining what's possible.

If that’s you,
Follow me. Drop a comment. Or just say hi 👋🏻

Vitalii Dodonov

I've just hired Emily Talas to make Stan the #1 place to work in Toronto 🇨🇦

A day later: "You're so lucky to have her."

I got 7 texts like this following the announcement ^^. Must be doing something right 😅

Here's a stat I feel vulnerable to share:

50% of our candidates from traditional channels don't work out by month 3.

At the same time, 
90% of employee referrals stay indefinitely and create disproportionate value.

There's signal in that.

And we're acting on it ✅

Starting now, we’re going 90% community-based hiring.

When I met Emily, I knew almost instantly she'd be the one:

Born to a family of entrepreneurs. Working since 14. Found her ikigai in Community x Tech (how rare is that!?). People I respect texted me about her.

I bet on Emily because the talent I'm after doesn't talk to recruiters: 
"The best people are never unemployed."

But on occasion, they hang out with other cool people. 
Emily's mission is to create the occasion.

In 2026, Emily's likely to drive 90% of our hiring in Toronto.

Think hackathons, hacker houses, private dinners, collaborations, and special events giving unknown talent a chance to meet us.

🇨🇦 Toronto — what's one event you wish existed here? We're painting a blank canvas, share some ideas!

My first bet of 2026: $20,000 on builders in Canada 🇨🇦

Build with AI? On Jan 23 👇

I’m inviting 60 builders to embark on a weekend-long sprint to create something new at the edge of AI.

Details:
🛠 Participants: 60 builders
⏰ Duration: 2 days 
🎯 Theme: AI × Voice × Video
👥 Team: Solo, with friends, or AI teammates

Each participant/team gets a $200 tech credit and competes for:

$20,000 cash
30-min 1:1 with me (ask anything you want)

To help spread the word, please repost this and tag anyone who should see it!

This is an invite-only event.

📩 To apply, leave a comment describing the most impressive thing you’ve built in one line.

CRA paid me $750K for building in Canada 🇨🇦

And now I'm giving it back - starting with $20K on Jan 23. 

In 2021, we established our office in Canada.

3 years later: $30M ARR. 30 people. One of the fastest-growing startups in the country.

My vision was to build a $1B company with 10 engineers - I'm evolving that now.

Since then, our Toronto office expanded far beyond engineering and has become HQ for 20+ brilliant people building at the edge of technology and entrepreneurship.

There are 2 major tech hubs in the world — SF and Toronto.

And while SF has access to capital and a developed VC ecosystem, California seems to be working against its own interest.

I mean… who wants to become a billionaire in California now? 👎

Anyway — Canada paid me $750K last year for building here.

And I'm paying it back to Canadian builders.

January 23. Hackathon in Toronto. 60 builders. $20,000 grand prize.

Come join us — and let the prize be the seed funding for your company (or use the opportunity to interview at Stan — whatever your ambition is).

Invite-only (curating a high calibre room!)

📩 To apply, drop your proudest project in one sentence in the comments. I'll reach out with an invite if it resonates.

Traditional recruiting is dead. That's why I'm paying $20,000 to a stranger in January.

I've hired 40+ people.

Together, we've built a $30M ARR startup. Profitably.

One thing in common among my best hires:

I wouldn't call them if all I saw was their resume. Take a look:

Esther, now my EA, has a fashion management degree. She got the job by walking into a machine shop and producing a mechanical drawing — before we even met 💅🛠️

Jason (JSON) won a hackathon last year he couldn't legally join because he was 17. I hired him on the spot (with his parents' approval) and he's built a $1.4M product with me in 9 months 🧑🏻‍💻

Ricky, now Head of Engineering, came from a company I'd never heard of. Did fine in the interview (on his birthday! 🎂). Then called me at 10 PM with a better solution he couldn't stop thinking about. 

Resumes can only tell you so much — unreliable signal.

So instead of reading resumes, I host hackathons. Give builders a reason to come. 

Then watch.

So here we are 👇

January 23. Toronto. 2-day hackathon on the edge of AI.

Win $20,000 — and (or!) a job building a $1B company. Invite-only. 

📩 To apply: tell me a story of what you've built that you're most proud of in the comments.

I'm paying $20,000 for 2 days of someone's work on Jan 23.

Early in my career, 

I was making $8,000/mo writing code for a big company, while hacking away on side projects. I always wanted to work for myself.

One day, I was in a room with an entrepreneur who was upset about fees he was paying for software. So I asked:

V: How much are you paying?
M: 10%.

V: And how much money is that?
M: $50K/year.

My mind goes: no wonder he's upset. I bet I could do a simple Stripe integration with 3.4% fees. I already did something similar for my side project.

V: If I could get your fees down to 5%, how much would that be worth to you?
M: I'd pay $10K without even thinking.

V: I'm gonna do it for you for $10K.

It took me a weekend — 3 days (nights included), mostly repackaging code I already had across other projects.

I gave him a demo on Monday, and by Friday, $10,000 landed in my PayPal.

That weekend I learned: the right room + the right skills = life-changing opportunity. 

And now, I want to put you in that room 👇

January 23. Hackathon in Toronto. 60 builders. $20,000 grand prize. 
Invite-only. 

📩 To apply, drop your most impactful build story in the comments — I'll personally reach out to the builders I want in the room.

I hired my Executive Assistant because of her napkin drawing 📜

Her name is Esther.

A year ago, I was looking for an Executive Assistant. 

Looking for the top 1%, I needed a way to test problem-solving and initiative.

So I gave candidates a creative test:

I was building a frame for a flying car as a passion project at the time.

How many ppl know anything about flying cars anyway? 🤷‍♂️

I wrote down an abstract description of a few parts I needed.

The assignment was to research machine shops and find a way to manufacture them 

When I reviewed Esther's submission, she had a picture of this drawing inside (see the image).

I invited her to my office:

V: "Do you know anything about manufacturing?"
E: "No… I study business and fashion"
V: "How did you get this image?"
E: "They drew it for me at the machine shop"
V: "You went to the machine shop?"

(I reviewed a few dozen submissions by then. All candidates just called).

E: "I called first but what they were saying didn't quite fit what you were looking for"

E: "I figured it'd be easier if I just go there to figure it out. "
E: "So I just walked over." 

V: "That must've taken hours. Why invest that time?"

E: "Umm... I didn't really think about it. I wasn't getting what I needed. So I did what I had to do."

Having heard this I knew the interview was over.

Anyone who thinks like that will succeed in anything they do.

She got the job.

And since then, Esther was behind a number of very unique experiences we created at Stan:

Like making the big $750K CRA cheques, organizing Hacker Houses in SF and hosting AI Hackathons on Toronto. 

Congratulations on your 1 year at Stan, Esther!

undefined undefined

Executive Assistant @ Stan

Stan

HackAI 2.0 starting tonight. It’s time to build 😤

New Show: Emily in 𝙿̶𝚊̶𝚛̶𝚒̶𝚜̶ Stan (or "How to get a Founder to hire you")

A story in screenshots 👇

Hiring - Emily in Stan

I'm paying $20,000 in January to the winner of my hackathon. But the real prize isn't the $20K.

The room matters more than the prize.

When I was 13, my dad gave me a gift — working alongside him.

He's a professional skydiver. Extreme sport, expensive hobby. His clients are top-tier business people (natural selection — the sport isn't cheap) 🪂

So in between sessions when we went out for saunas and dinners, I got to sit in and listen to them. War stories, betrayals, deals, schemes, mental models, what made them successful.

I absorbed it all, without even realizing it.

Looking back, I realize — those were the building blocks that led me to a $30M ARR startup, running at $1M/employee before AI.

And that's the opportunity I'm giving you.

Join Stan on January 23 to build for 2 days alongside my team and 59 other builders competing for a grand prize of $20,000.

→ Meet me, my team, and Toronto's best builders.
→ Maybe your future co-founder — or I offer you a job. (It happened last year.)

The $20K is nice. The room might change your life.

January 23. Toronto. Invite-only.

Grab your spot with the link in comments!

I asked a seasoned exec about his worst business decision.

He didn't miss a beat: "Cancelling the 9am."

For 10 years, he ran it daily.
The 2 years he stopped were his worst.

Without that anchor, people drifted in at 9:30.
Add coffee and "how was your weekend" — real work started at 11.

Half the day, gone.

The meetings weren't about updates.
They set the rhythm.

Remove that, and people rebuild discipline from scratch.
Exhausting.

At Stan, when we skip our morning sync, everything drags.

We don't miss the information.
We miss the rhythm.

Humans need structure.
It gives them permission to just start.

What’s your version of the 9am?

Someone asked me what I hope never changes about Stan in 5 years.

Me in 5 seconds: 

"Our commitment to talent density."

I'm building a company where having worked here is the ultimate badge of honor on a resume.

Where any other employer would be fighting to get our alumni on board. 
(If they ever want to work for another company, that is.)

I fundamentally believe the reason we win is this: We attract top 1% talent.

And we put them in an environment where their ability can be utilized to its absolute maximum potential.

With ownership, autonomy, and a set of large, cutting-edge problems they can tackle.

Everything else can change. 
The market, the product, our size.

But for me, it will always be about the talent.

Founders Q: What's the one thing you hope never changes about your company?

One of my favourite Years in Review on LinkedIn. Keep going Alexia - it's okay not to know what's coming. The path unfolds as you start walking.

Putting Humans Back at the Heart of Business | Certified L&D Professional | Soft Skills Expert | Heedership® & Bring Your Asha! Founder | ICF Coach

"It is never too late to be what you might have been." 💜
George Eliot wrote these words centuries ago. I understood them at 43.

𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓.
Merci pour les rencontres qui sont devenues des amitiés.
Merci pour les doutes qui sont devenus des certitudes.
Merci pour chaque "oui" qui m'a rapprochée de qui je suis vraiment.

This year, I finally found where I belong. Coaching. Delivering Trainings. Learning & Development. Toastmasters: Human Connection.

And as I look at this visual, thank you for the idea Stanley (Your Content Coach) and Vitalii Dodonov, I see my entire "purple" year captured in one image. Learn. Grow. Repeat. The infinity loop between Heedership and Leadership. The three pillars. The magic.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐰? 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔.
I don't know exactly what's coming. And that's the most exciting part.

What I do know: I'm ready. Curious. Open.

It is never too late to become who you might have been.
And it's never too early to dream about who you're still becoming.

Pure magic. 💜

𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤-𝐢𝐧: What are you curious about for 2026?

Inboundly

Building founder & exec brands that close deals before the first call.

Founder

The Uprising

Raised $40k and ran a wild Web3 experiment that taught me how to ship fast and build community.

Howdy Interactive

Hired and led fulfillment teams and grew revenue 1,000% in 2 months by building systems that scaled.

Interim Director of Operations

I've been building personal brands since I was 15.



It started with managing Minecraft servers, where I learned that building credibility in online forums could turn a simple username into a reputation. That reputation landed me paid gigs before I could legally drive.

There wasn’t a fancy strategy, just an understanding of one thing: Your personal brand is your ability to be trusted by people you've never met.

Today, I help entrepreneurs, leaders, and teams build brands that people genuinely connect with - the kind that create real relationships beyond vanity metrics.

After growing to 2,000+ followers by being unapologetically myself - sharing failures, victories, and everything in between - I discovered what actually works:

People don't buy from brands. They buy from humans they trust.

My approach is simple:
→ Find your real voice (hint: it's probably the one you're hiding)
→ Share your actual story (especially the parts you think disqualify you)
→ Build genuine connections (not fabricated conversations)
→ Let your personality be your differentiator (because your credentials aren't)

The result is simple: A personal brand that attracts the right opportunities without feeling like you're constantly selling.

I work with: Entrepreneurs, executives, and forward-thinking companies who understand that authentic employee voices are their greatest untapped asset. From solo founders to enterprise teams - anyone tired of sounding like everyone else.

My belief: When people feel who you really are, selling becomes irrelevant. Connection does the work for you.

If you're ready to build a brand people feel, start with your real story.

Mason Johnston

Working from 6pm-12pm (yes, 18 hours overnight). Every single day. For 2 years. Meet Sachee Katre.

I don't know if I've ever casually stumbled on a more creative person then Sachee. She is a wizard when it comes to personalized outbound (her videos will blow your socks off) and has acquired clients like Zapier and Demandbase from it.

ALL on her own at 20 years old. Her work is the most impressive display of creativity I've seen in the sales world in a longgg time. 

If I could convince her to join our team, I absolutely would (that's if she wanted to and I could afford her haha).

Sachee's goal is to move from India to SF in 60 days and join a startup. Her goal then is to prove that she can take a startup from 0-1 using her sales strategies. 

There's no doubt in my mind this will happen.

If you're a startup in SF and you have an eye on some prospects that feel hard to reach... hire Sachee and you'll need to look no further.

Sachee, congrats to everything you've accomplished so far, and cheers to much much more growth in 2026 🥂

I help you build relationships with your dream clients | Founder @ Inboundly

These bad boys came in today. The Diary Of A CEO is a swimming pool of gold, and it all started with these questions.

This deck of cards is filled with questions that Steven Bartlett's asked his podcast guests over the years. All of them share one purpose:

To spark an intelligent thought that teaches someone something new.

If that's not the key to life, I don't know what it is. Stoked to dive into these and start using them daily. 

I'm looking forward to using these in 3 ways:
- Conversation with other humans
- Self reflection
- Content ideation

How else should I use these?

A prospect told me on our first call: "I've been following you for 3 months. I love your stuff." (It's not hard for this to happen to you, for real)

During that call, I wasn't selling. I was just making sure we were a mutual fit and walking him through our offer.

The sale was simple.

Meanwhile:

Most people in sales are starting every call from zero with no recognition and no credibility. Which is just a stranger asking another stranger for time and trust.

That's trying to build in 30 minutes what could've been built over 30 days before the call ever happened.

That's cold outbound without the relationship. That's selling from zero.

Selling from zero feels pushy. Selling with recognition feels amazing. So what's the fix?

The fix is brand-led selling (selling through your personal brand).

For a sales team, that looks like:
- Reps posting insights from the field 2-3x/week
- Engaging with prospects' content before reaching out
- Focusing on building genuine relationships vs. being salesy

It's not complicated. It just takes consistency in the right places.

90 days of this and your sales team are no longer strangers to your prospects.
 
They become familiar names. And familiar names get callbacks (trust me).

Are you still selling from zero? How come?

My stepmom has journaled every single day for over 3000 days. Left-handed. That's almost 10 years.

1. She's right-handed
2. 3000 days
3. The point 👇

She took an interest in learning, writing, and self-exploration almost a decade ago and hasn't looked back since.

Over 8 years of intentionally working that muscle, every SINGLE day.

What does that level of consistency do to you?

She's calmer in hard conversations. She doesn't react to things, she responds to them. She knows herself very well.

That's what consistency does. And I think about that when I show up here every day...

LinkedIn is tough. It's tough to get into a rhythm. It's tough to write the posts. It's tough to build the relationships.

But when you take the right consistent actions:

- You will book meetings that turn into clients
- You will build a vast network of advocates
- You will change your life

P.S. If you want help building this kind of consistency for your sales team, reach out.

Life gets really good when you figure out you can do whatever you decide to do.

Athletes are starting to actively post on LinkedIn. If this isn't a signal to get your butt posting on LinkedIn, I don't know what is.

Kellen Mond's been posting for a few months now and I had the pleasure of stumbling across his profile a week ago.

As an NFL player, he competes at the top .1% in his field - and therefore has a very unique ability to achieve greatness.

He's now channeling that energy towards business, using LinkedIn as a great way to gain exposure and distribution.

You don't have to be an athlete to post on LinkedIn. Your stories and insights are valuable too. And those stories, once shared, will lead to you developing relationships with people you never thought possible.

This is 2026. This is the future. Start building your brand.

Be like Kellen.

If I only had 1 hour a day on LinkedIn and I wanted to close clients, this is exactly what I'd do. (I do this everyday)

15 minutes: Posting
45 minutes: Commenting + DMing

That's it. Simple breakdown, but most people get it wrong. They spend 45 minutes perfecting a post and 15 minutes engaging. That's backwards.

Here's how I'd spend each block:

𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 (𝟭𝟱 𝗺𝗶𝗻)
- Write about what you're learning, building, or seeing in your industry
- Keep it simple. Don't overthink it.
- One post per day. Done.

𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 (𝟮𝟱 𝗺𝗶𝗻)
- Find 10-15 posts from prospects or people in your space
- Leave real comments, not "Great post!" but actual thoughts
- This is how you get on people's radar before you ever DM them

𝗗𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗴 (𝟮𝟬 𝗺𝗶𝗻)
- Reach out to people who engaged with your content
- Follow up with people who's content you've been commenting on
- Don't pitch. Be a real human.

The goal isn't to hard sell in the DMs. The goal is to start relationships that turn into calls.

Inbound comes from posting consistently. Outbound comes from commenting and DMing strategically. Both work. Together, they compound.

1 hour a day. That's 5 hours a week. 20 hours a month.

If you can't find 1 hour a day to build pipeline for free, you're leaving money on the table.

What's stopping you from trying this for 30 days?

P.S. before you mention the gaping hole in my pie chart... yes. There's a gaping hole. I thought it added character (aka AI was not playing along).

My friend texted me yesterday after I showed him a spot on LinkedIn profiles I check before every message I send. His actual response:

Here's what I do to 5x the odds of getting a client on LinkedIn:

When you're on someone's LinkedIn profile, look at the right side of the screen. There's a section called "More profiles for you."

It shows other people at the same company. Usually decision-makers.

So instead of building a relationship with 1 person, you can build genuine relationships with 5 people at the same company.

Same account. 5x the touchpoints. 5x the likelihood you actually do business with them.

But this is VERY important:

DO NOT:
blast all 5 people with the same cold message. that will get you nowhere.

DO:
genuinely engage with each of them. comment on their posts, add real value, and build actual relationships over time.

When 5 decision-makers at the same company all recognize your name, your chances of getting a call go way up. You're no longer a stranger. You're someone they've seen around.

Next time you're researching a prospect, check the right side of the screen. You might find 4-5 more people worth building a relationship with.

Are you doing this already?

P.S. I put an example of this in the comments so you can see what I'm talking about

You can generate revenue from LinkedIn in just 1 hour per day. If you're in sales in any capacity, tune in.

This is my hypothesis: 1-2 hours of focused time on this platform every day results in new clients.

This is net new business, completely for free. Zero CAC aside from your time.

I'm posting a lot about how to do this. Just follow me so you get notified when I post something new. 

Workshops, events, and 1:1s coming soon too for folks that I'm not actively working with.

This platform is powerful if you pour into it. If you don't, it won't pour into you.

P.S. 

If you're a sales leader (you manage a team) who:
1. wants to learn how to build pipeline on LinkedIn,
2. is actively trying to build pipeline on LinkedIn, OR 
3. refuses to build pipeline on LinkedIn

I'd love to speak with you. Comment or DM me!

If you're a sales leader and haven't used Sales Navigator before, I want to give you a 2-month free trial. Who wants it?

Criteria:
- You lead a 5+ person sales team
- You use or are thinking of using LinkedIn in your sales process
- Willing to jump on a 15minute call and answer some Q's

In 2026, I have one goal: 

Enable dozens of sales teams to build their personal brands on LinkedIn.

Why?

Because if your ICP is on LinkedIn, your sales team is an organic, cost-free way to get right in front of them. It's a cheat code, really.

Anyways, reach out if you'd like the free Sales Navigator - I have 15 of them.

Your dream client has a shortlist. You're either on it or you're invisible. Hate to break it to you, there's no in between.

Most people already have their shortlist of vendors BEFORE they start the buying process.

By the time someone is "in market" and actively looking for a solution, they've already decided who they're going to talk to.

So if you're not on that list... you're not even in the game.

This is why I'm obsessed with visibility and relationship-building BEFORE people need you.

Here's what that looks like in practice:

1. Show up consistently
Post content that makes people think. Share your perspective. Be present in their feed so when the time comes, your name is already familiar.

2. Engage genuinely
Comment on their posts. Add real value that actually contributes to the conversation. Real value can be a relevant insight, or it can be humor. Humor holds real value when used correctly.

3. Build relationships with multiple people at the same company
I talked about this recently. Don't just connect with one decision-maker. Connect with 3-5 people at the same account. When multiple people recognize your name, you're no longer a stranger.

4. Focus on the long game
Most people won't need your service today. But they might in 6 months. The question is: will they remember you when they do?

The sale doesn't start when someone first talks to you. It starts the first time they see your name.

Are you showing up before people are looking?

Every sales motion has 3 layers. Most teams only focus on 1. Let's break it down:

1. Visibility - Can your prospects even find you?
2. Credibility - When they do, do they trust you?
3. Outreach - Are you reaching out with context or cold?

Most sales teams pour everything into outreach. More emails, more calls, and more automation.

The issue is this: if nobody knows who you are, and nobody trusts you yet, you're just another stranger in their inbox.

That's why content matters for sales. It does the first 30% of the sale before you ever get on a call.

When content builds visibility and credibility first:
- Fewer objections on calls
- Faster rapport (they already feel like they know you)
- Better conversations from the jump

If your team is grinding outreach but ignoring visibility and credibility, you're making things much harder for yourselves.

Fix the foundation first and the calls get easier.

Which layer is your team weakest on right now?

taplio

The Battle

Vitalii Dodonov

Mason Johnston

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taplio

The Battle

Vitalii Dodonov

Mason Johnston

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Vitalii Dodonov's LinkedIn Performance

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