The Pattern That Wouldn’t Go Away

Some startups begin with a wild idea. Others begin with a pattern - a quiet, stubborn signal that repeats itself across conversations, industries, and roles.

For Katya Stoycheva, co-founder and CTO of Equitshare, the signal was unmistakable.

“Even in the very beginning, when my co-founders and I were talking to people from different businesses, from different industries, we kept hearing the same thing: it’s hard to keep great people. Retention is the pain point.”

That moment wasn’t just the beginning of a product. It was the beginning of a hunch becoming a company.

Katya remembers the early days vividly - not just the product brainstorms, but the place that held them.

“Campus X was our first office. It’s where Equitshare was born. For us, it’s a very warm, very meaningful place.”

The Equitshare team didn’t come in with all the answers. Like many early-stage teams, they were still learning the language of fundraising, of structuring deals, of navigating the startup maze. But they did have clarity on one thing: if they could find a better way to reward loyalty - on employees’ terms - they might unlock something big.

“Meeting with eleven different funds was a key moment for us. Especially our conversation with Svetozar Georgiev. He helped us structure our thinking around those first steps - around the things we didn’t even know we didn’t know.”

It’s easy to romanticize origin stories. But more often than not, they’re made up of hallway learnings, mismatched assumptions, coffee-fueled sprints, and the patient shaping of something small that refuses to be ignored.

Equitshare was shaped by that kind of patience - and by the ambition to give companies a tool that fits modern teams, not just legacy systems.

Their platform is framed as a modern ESOP alternative - a flexible, self-serve loyalty toolkit where companies can create customizable internal currencies and reward systems. Employees can earn points or tokens over time and trade them for things that matter, such as parking spots, vacations, gift cards, or even cash. All without the legal overhead of traditional equity plans.

It’s not just about perks. It’s about building a new kind of commitment between people and the teams they help grow.

Katya wouldn’t say this out loud - but her story is one many builders will recognize. It’s the moment when you stop asking “can we build this?” and start asking “what if we don’t?”

Because when the pattern shows up everywhere, maybe it’s not noise. Maybe it’s a signal.

And at Campus X, we’ve learned to trust the ones who follow the signal all the way through.

Filmed in the heart of Campus X — Mute Madness Studio — this conversation with Katya Stoycheva dives into how patterns turn into startups.

Written by  Visibilio.ai