“Technology is the closest thing to magic that I’ve ever seen,” shares Deyan Georgiev, a Co-Founder, and CEO of the fast-growing startup NitroPack.
Tapping into the magical powers of technology, Deyan and Ivailo Hristov (Co-Founder and CTO of NitroPack) set out on a mission to boost speed and reduce load times for 86,000+ websites.
We’re incredibly happy to have NitroPack as part of the Campus X coworking community. Today we meet Deyan, who tells us more about what challenges and inspires him every day.
Let’s get started.
1. Take us back to the time when NitroPack was launched?
NitroPack was born all the way back in 2013 to solve existing e-commerce customers’ pain point - store caching.
With time we saw a great response from our customers and it was evident that demand for site speed optimization was growing fast.
Web performance is a problem across the board - WordPress, WooCommerce, Shopify, Joomla, custom sites, etc.
That’s why we set out to design a SaaS solution that would work across platforms and launched the cloud product in the summer of 2019.
Two years later the decision seems to be paying off!
NitroPack’s software currently provides more than 85,000 active websites with 24/7 automated speed optimizations.
1. Tell us a bit about yourself and your role at the company. What do you love the most about your job?
My name is Deyan, I am an entrepreneur. Founded a biotech startup and a sustainable food company prior to committing 100% to the amazing challenge that’s NitroPack. I love technology. When it works well, it is the closest thing to magic that I’ve ever seen.
What I love most about my job, as a co-founder and CEO? Two things:
1) The challenge.
We solve a global problem in a completely new way. This requires everyone in the company to think big and be ambitious, and we’ve been fortunate to have great traction with the market so far.
2) Our team.
I feel privileged to work with fantastic people. It is only through the hard work, creativity, and dedication of everyone in NitroPack that we may achieve any success. I love our teams and couldn’t wish for more inspiring people to work alongside.
2. What challenges do you solve for your clients? What’s the secret to NitroPack’s fast growth and success?
Put simply, NitroPack makes websites fast. Optimizing website speed is typically a complex process that requires precious resources like time, money, and engineering hours. At the same time, having a fast website is a must. Users prefer to browse, read and buy fast websites. Search engines (especially Google) also prioritize fast pages over slow ones.
So, the benefit we provide is world-class website performance achieved effortlessly. Our clients create an account and connect their site. After that, NitroPack takes care of the entire speed optimization process.
As far as our growth goes, it's hard to list just one factor or reveal a single "secret".
On the one hand, we offer a unique product that solves a challenging problem in a user-friendly way.
Before NitroPack, the solutions to the speed issue weren't very practical, as they were too time-consuming, expensive, or ineffective. Offering a new type of product helped show our users that there's a better way to approach site speed.
On the other hand, there were a few external factors that helped along the way.
Last year, Google introduced the Core Web Vitals, which are three performance metrics. Google made these metrics a part of their ranking algorithm, meaning they now affect how high a page ranks. As a result, a big part of the SEO community got interested in page speed and NitroPack.
Of course, last year's events also played a significant role. With COVID-19 shutting down physical locations, it became much more important to have an online presence. The battle for users' attention got tougher, and naturally, having a fast website became essential.
3. If you could share with us one leadership lesson that you’ve learned over the years, what’d it be?
Deyan: To quote Ryan Holiday:
“Ego is the enemy. The obstacle is the way.”
These two sentences sum up the most precious lesson I’ve learned.
You have got to work with your ego and master it. It only makes sense that you accept your challenges as vectors for growth.
4. Why did you join Campus X?
We loved the attitude and the ability to accommodate growth with time. The facilities are top-notch and we were excited to be next to some of the best companies in Sofia.
The business benefits were definitely felt through the flexible pricing model, the high levels of safety measures that make our offices more attractive to current and potential colleagues, and the fantastic location of the Campus.
5. What's next for NitroPack?
We started 2020 as a 5-person company. As of today, we’re 42, in two countries, and we’re opening up a lot of new positions in the coming weeks!
We’re working very hard to ensure our customers get more value each week and hopefully, this will help us keep the fantastic growth we’ve seen recently.
Want to become part of our tight-knit community of innovative tech companies? Take a look at our flexible offices and join us now.
