125. CEO Olya Caliujnaia's Diary: Start Your Company From 'Who', Then 'What'

Rise and Play Podcast

In this episode, we interview Olya Caliujnaia, the CEO and co-founder at Sanlo.io, on a mission to help game businesses thrive revenues. Olya shares her entrepreneurial journey, from growing up in a family of resilient entrepreneurs, to eventually founding her own company in the gaming industry. Before Sanlo, Olya managed product and growth at Playfish, EA, Getty Images, SigFig, Wells Fargo and worked with early-stage companies as an entrepreneur-in-residence at XYZ Venture Capital.

Olya shares her process, trial and error of finding the right co-founder, the early stages of customer discovery, and the importance of building a committed and complementary co-founder team. Olya also talks about the products Sanlo offers, including web shops and capital financing for gaming companies, and emphasizes the importance of financial health and sustainable monetization, as vital components of a game business.

More on Sanlo.io: https://www.sanlo.io/

01:33 CEO Olya Caliujnaia's Journey: From Product Leader to Gaming Entrepreneur

02:12 The Entrepreneurial Path: Olya's Journey to Founding Sanlo.io

09:41 The Co-Founder Search: Lessons Learned and Finding the Right Match

12:40 Customer Discovery and Product Development Insights, Pivoting to PMF

18:01 Building a Team and Overcoming Challenges in the Gaming Startup World

24:36 SanloToday: Products, Vision, and the Future

29:08 Closing Thoughts and Future Directions

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