Daniil Shcherbakov
The mistakes founders make on the way to success are more or less the same. As Tolstoy said, all families are happy in the same way and unhappy in a different way.
25 November 2024 • 10 minute read
Life in the fast lane
Name: Daniil Shcherbakov
Business: TonTon Games
Critical success factor: A love of sharing knowledge
After more than a decade launching Eastern European startups into the UK and US, Daniil Shcherbakov wanted to understand more about how to turn a startup into a sustainable enterprise. So, he joined the MBA programme at the University of Cambridge’s Judge Business School, which he completed in 2022.
Today he’s co-founder of a game publisher for Telegram apps, and a mentor for Barclays Eagle Labs. “A year ago, this industry of games for Telegram didn’t exist. TonTon Games, although its less than half a year old, is considered by the industry as the OG, which is totally unexpected and serves as an indication of how rapidly the industry is evolving and how many new players are entering the Telegram mini-apps market.”
He says that being at the start of a new journey as a founder helps him in his mentoring and lecturing. “I have been lecturing and mentoring since 2016, because I love sharing knowledge,” he says. “It’s my main hobby and passion. It helps that I’m sharing hands-on experience, because I’m in trenches right now.”
But, as someone on his own founder journey, he says it can be a choice to be lonely. “People get too attached to their product. Less experienced entrepreneurs especially think their idea is this precious thing that no-one understands. The market doesn’t get them, so they keep pouring hard-earned money into it.”
In other words, they are scared to test it with other people, to iterate and build through connecting with others. He adds that a lot of mentees are in too much of a rush. “It’s an eye-opener when I tell them that in the US the average age of a unicorn founder is 42. They are not college dropouts. They are grown-up people who have seen some stuff. This is a radical mindset shift for them. They start to see they have time to iterate and learn.”
The mistakes founders make on the way to success are more or less the same. As Tolstoy said, all families are happy in the same way and unhappy in a different way.
Why do founders want to help?
He says the desire of founders to help others comes from a mix of ego, plugging gaps they have experienced and a desire to keep up to date. “I mean ego in the sense that it’s pleasing when someone wants to listen to you. It’s great to be recognised as a mentor. My motivation is also trying to offer something I never had. In my early days I made so many mistakes and unintentionally wasted a lot of investors’ money, which I wouldn’t have if I’d had someone to ask. I’m trying to give back and give an opportunity to people who are seeking advice.”
His third reason is an “elephant in the room” and it stands as much for lecturing as mentoring. “When you do either, part of the reason is because it keeps your knowledge fresh on specific topics.”
Different markets
Shcherbakov has noticed the UK has a special culture. He says the accessibility of mentoring programmes is higher here, compared to Eastern Europe. Part of this, he thinks, is due to a cultural tendency for people to be shy about asking for help. “People here think when they ask for help they are admitting defeat. In previous markets I worked in, people were proactive. They would pay for a consultation as a shortcut to success. The attitude was ‘let me pay some money, so you can tell me what not to do’.”
Another thing about the UK he likes is the amount of support and help for founders available for free. He cites the Barclays Eagle Labs Academy and mentoring as examples of powerful resources available at no cost to founders.
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