The Boy Who Lived... in the cupboard under the stairs, to make his wildest dreams a reality! It's truly incredible to see what the team at Modash have accomplished in the years since leaving the nest, which is why their Wall of Fame ceremony was an especially heartfelt one. From showing the fresh-faced Mo-dashers (yes? no?) the meeting rooms where their first VC calls took place and the hidden nap nook to re-enacting a photo taken more than 6 years ago, it felt as if they had never left. Now the next question - when 🦄?
I used to sleep in a closet 20 meters from the altar of the startup gods. Or as LIFT99 calls it, The Estonian Mafia Wall of Fame. I moved to Estonia on a mission to learn what it meant to build a startup. I did the academic world a favour and spent my time outside of the classroom. 😃 I started a Live Podcast. We crammed as many people as we could fit in front of this wall and I interviewed Startup Legends. Ragnar Sass, Jevgeni Kabanov, Kaarel Kotkas, Allan Martinson, Martin & Markus Villig and many others gave their time to sit and talk with me about their journeys. As the Estonian community does, they supported the naive kid who wanted to join the unicorn party. 🦄 All of those founders had a plaque inscribed with their company's name on this wall. It marks the place of the most successful startups in the country. Your spot must be earned with blood, sweat and annual recurring revenue growth. When I wasn't doing the show, you might have found me sleeping in a (nicely furnished) closet nearby. I maxed out my credit card and lived off of stolen "community" sandwiches. And I had accomplices. LIFT99 is where I met and planted the seeds of Modash with some of the most important people in my life. Matthias, Renata, and I spent every day there working for endless hours on a dream that only a group of crazy people could possibly think would become a reality. It’s where I told Hendry “Having a salary is overrated, I swear! Quit your job!”. And where our first angel investors told us “we’re investing because we’re pretty sure you guys read each other's minds”. It’s where we met Kaarel, one of the most kind hearted, humble and talented people I know and a critical first Modash engineer. (He was still in high school, but already working on his investor backed startups when we met). It’s where I met Rait, who believed in us enough to lead our Seed round in Modash. I’ve learned so much from the #EstonianMafia. The Modash team grew it's roots next to this wall. From now on, we’ll forever haunt whoever is sleeping in the nearby closet. To homeless founder wondering if they might someday get to put their own plaque on the Wall of Fame - yes you will. And on the day you do you’ll have a familiar feeling: We’re just getting started. -- PS: The most important aspect missing from these photo is the amazing team building Modash. You are the *only* reason that any of this is possible and that never slips from my head or heart for even a second. ❤️ PPS: Thank you to the great and powerful Maarja for the photos.