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Alex Sazonov

Co-founder @ Competera | Tech investor

Sasha Sazonov has a diverse background with experience in helping young entrepreneurs connect with investors to identify groundbreaking business ideas.

He co-founded Competera in 2014, a company focused on revolutionizing retail through price optimization solutions.

At Competera, Sasha and his team bring a goal-driven approach to modern category management using a machine learning-powered solution.

Their solution aids retail businesses in enhancing price perception, assortment management, and marketing strategies through advanced analytics.

Competera has successfully assisted over 120 retailers in 28 countries, including Staples, Mothercare, Watsons, Media Markt, and FMAG, in optimizing prices to attract customers and excel in the market.

Highlights

May 23 · linkedin

You can turn a problem you truly believe in into millions.

I once watched an interview with Joshua Browder, founder of DoNotPay His startup tackles a problem everyone faces in the modern world — micropayments and bureaucracy. And solves it with AI.

What started as a way to help Joshua’s uni friends is now serving 250K paying users with a solid retention rate. And has a $230M valuation with only 7 full-time employees on the team.

Here’s what I picked up from the interview:

— DoNotPay turned their personal anger and frustration with consumer rights into startup features. “It’s like an insurance for anger”, they say.

— It’s working greatly, because everyone on his small team breathes the “DoNotPay lifestyle,” which is a different, kinda nerdy mindset. “I’m looking for someone who can be online at 2 a.m. on Reddit, searching for ways to save money”.

— The most successful companies tap into people’s emotions. Dating apps tap into lust, money-making apps — into greed, and apps like DoNotPay — into anger. You have to look into core human emotions to succeed.

— In Silicon Valley, investors might initially refuse you, but once someone shows interest, others flock in.

— To ensure their AI doesn’t use hallucinated facts to win a user’s case, the startup employs a bunch of agents to keep the AI honest.

— Joshua believes entrepreneurs should be more in touch with what ordinary people need — which is to save time and money in their daily lives (and I agree)

I’ll leave the link to the full video in the comments. It’s cool to see a team driven by their passion and genuine traits.

You can turn a problem you truly believe in into millions.

I once watched an interview with Joshua
Alex Sazonov
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Location

London, England, United Kingdom