ENTREPRETwo Years of Meetings. Still No Fund. Then Everything Changed.
Two years of meetings, and still no venture fund. SuperWorld co-founder and CEO Hrish Lotlikar shares how an events business in Kyiv helped him build the relationships behind Eastlabs.
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About this episode
In the first episode of ENTREPREHARDSHIP, Josef Holm talks with Hrish Lotlikar about leaving New York, building a network from scratch, and staying with an idea when progress is hard to measure.
They follow the route from Cocktails and Connections to Eastlabs, then through Toptal and Rogue Initiative to SuperWorld, with practical lessons on taking risks, making useful introductions and building a business that fits your life.
Disclosure: Josef's fund invested in SuperWorld.
What you’ll take away
- Why a calendar full of meetings can make progress hard to judge.
- How creating events helped Hrish build relationships in a new city.
- What makes an introduction useful to everyone involved.
- How to keep a clear goal while changing the route towards it.
- Why a small first step can matter more than waiting to feel ready.
In this conversation
- Two years of meetings, still no fund
- Meet Hrish Lotlikar
- Leaving New York for Kyiv
- Why walk away from a promising career?
- Risk and the option to go back
- Building a network from scratch
- The events business he never planned
- Why the party photos brought people back
- The reunion that opened a door
- What two years of meetings actually built
- What Eastlabs became
- From venture capital to SuperWorld
- Feeling afraid while believing in the decision
- Conviction, stubbornness and making money
- Starting with the resources you have
- Why Josef started this show
- Rapid-fire: business advice to unlearn
- The question to ask before a big risk
- Meeting people in a new city
- What progress looks like
- How to ask for an introduction
- The least glamorous part of building Eastlabs
- What starting over costs
- Protecting family and health
- Waiting to feel ready
- The lesson Josef is taking away