Accepting that the only constant is change ⌛
When founding a business, we quickly find that pivots and Plan Bs are just a part of life.
And while some of the initial growing pains ease with time and we iron out the kinks…
Sticking with it for the long run will always present new challenges–ones we may not have even realized at the start.
So what do we do? We shift, we adapt, and we grow.
That’s the approach Vadim Tkachenko, Co-Founder and Technology Fellow of Percona, took, and continues to take, after 20 years in business.
And it’s his deeply-instilled drive for independence that’s kept him going for so long.
Setting up the path to success
“In our entrepreneurship classes, the professor was always preaching, ‘The time to do it is either when you're young and you have nothing to really lose, or you're older, you've made all your money, and now you have time to try stuff out.”
Vadim’s teenage years were a pivotal time in his life. Along with navigating political turmoil in his home country, he was also exploring something new: computers.
From the first time he was exposed to this new technology, he was hooked. His parents, seeing how passionate he was around learning everything there was to know, decided to get him a computer of his own.
That was just the beginning.
He went on to get a degree in computer science and his first job after college was related to computers and software engineering.
During this time, he started to explore how he could take all this knowledge, and the drive to be his own boss, and turn it into a new opportunity.
Knowing he valued collaboration, he sought out a partner and together, they started brainstorming what to do.
Running the business on his terms
“It was the golden age of the internet. Facebook, Amazon, Twitter–all these kinds of websites started to appear, and there was a lot of demand for database expertise. So, it kind of just took off from there.”
Identifying a market need and customer interest, Vadim and his partner, Peter, jumped right in.
And while everything went according to their expectations, more or less, Vadim couldn’t quite say it went according to plan.
Over a period of time, they met with various consultants to put a more typical plan in place: create a 5-year goal, scale it down to create a 3-year plan, and from there, decide a 1-year action plan.
They tried it, and decided to scrap the idea altogether.
Of course, they have goals and plans for growth, but getting rid of the pressure to meet certain conditions by a deadline gave them more flexibility to shift when it made sense to.
This idea of embracing flexibility also found its way into daily work life–with Percona being a remote company from its inception.
While this has allowed them to hire the best of the best no matter where they’re located, it’s also made it increasingly important that those on the team know how to balance work and home life.
“Working remotely has to come with self-discipline. Not all people have this, and I think I’m actually one of them. Early in my career, I was faced with this saying, ‘When you work from home, you either work all the time, or you don't work at all.’ For me, especially in the initial years, it was ‘work all the time.’ My work-life balance was very heavily skewed.”
After 20 years, that work has paid off. Now, with an entire team to handle all the day-to-day business, Vadim can step in as needed in more of an advisory or strategic role.
But getting to this point didn’t come without its challenges.
First fears, then doubts, now challenges
Like many people who pursue entrepreneurship, Vadim felt a bit of fear around taking that first step into the unknown.
But he and his partner also had created some pretty high stakes for the business.
Percona was a completely self-funded company. No eternal money, no loans, no venture capital–essentially, their safety net was zero.
Adding to the pressure, Vadim had a family to provide for–his smallest child only a year old at the time.
But it didn’t stop them from giving it their all. And eventually, the company grew. And kept growing.
And this is when doubt started to creep in. Not in the company itself, but in the new role Vadim found himself in.
“I had a team of about 70 people directly or indirectly reporting to me. That management skill is a completely different kind of skill and is not at all related to computer science and data management. I had doubts around if I was managing people properly, because now there’s personal skills, motivational skills, psychological skills… And that caused discomfort for me because I didn’t feel I was in my area of expertise.”
But with growth comes the ability to hire people to do the things you don’t want to do! Now, with managers under him, he can stick to the areas in which he’s most passionate.
Which is great, because that’s where the newest challenge has presented itself. And it’s a very current issue.
“There’s always new challenges, and I think that’s what keeps me going. The market isn’t stable, it constantly changes. Some databases have become more popular and now we see this AI movement, which is a threat, but it’s also an opportunity.”
Because staying flexible and open to pivots has been part of their business all along, Vadim can look at potential issues and see the opportunities that may be hiding inside.
While AI may try to displace some of the expertise they provide to the market, it also comes with its own problems with data processing–an issue Vadim and Percona can tackle head on.
The rewards that come after 20 years
“When there are big companies–very big, billion-dollar businesses–that trust your database solution to run their business, that's absolutely rewarding to me.”
Though his teenage years are in the past, Vadim still finds himself very passionate about all things computers, technology, and databases.
That means whenever something new is developed, he’s inherently motivated to learn more and educate himself about how it works… Even seeing how he can then use new technology to better build his business or serve his customers.
This drive to continuously improve has led to expansion within the company, being able to offer customers various solutions all under roof.
And this doesn’t go unnoticed.
With faster, more responsive databases, Vadim has seen how over the past few years, more customers have begun using their technology.
When some notable names turn to you to ensure their websites run smoothly and their data is backed up securely, not only does that give real-world feedback to all the employees that help make it happen…
But it continues to validate that he’s doing a great job at the very thing he set out to accomplish decades earlier.
Key takeaways from the journey
Sometimes, being in it for so long means you can cut through the fluff and truly understand what it takes as a founder.
For Vadim, the key takeaways are quite simple:
🌱 Be willing to learn and grow
“I think the most important thing is to stay curious. Be willing to learn new things and be ready to adapt to all kinds of changes you will face along the way.”
You get plenty of advice. What you rarely get is a pause. Each month, we’ll share a simple prompt to help you step out of execution mode and consider what “founding well” looks like in your world right now.
When you’re busy building, it’s easy to focus only on what’s urgent or measurable. But often, the most honest clues about what matters to us appear quietly–in moments that feel light, interesting, or unexpectedly energizing. This is a pause to notice those moments, without needing to turn them into a decision or a plan.
Feel free to pull out old fashioned pen and paper, or create a new doc just for journaling, and spend a few focused moments thinking about the following:
- When did I feel a small surge of energy or curiosity this week?
- What did I enjoy that I almost dismissed as unimportant?
- What did I keep thinking about afterward, even when I moved on?
- If I followed this spark just 5% further, what might that look like?
- What would it mean to treat this moment as a clue rather than a distraction?
There’s no right or wrong answer. If nothing comes up, that’s okay too! Use this as space to notice what is real for you today. A few messy lines are enough.
If you're comfortable sharing your insights with us, let us know at foundingwell@vallelegal.com.
