My name is Pawel Hytry. I’m the CEO & Co-Founder of Spacelift. I’m based in Poland, but I spend a significant amount of time in the US.

At Spacelift, we provide a platform that helps engineers make Infrastructure as Code deployments faster and more secure. As of January 2024, we raised $31.3M in funding and employ 80 people. Spacelift operates globally, with the US being the biggest market.

I previously co-founded FitPass, acquired by French holding Groupe Up. The company operated in Serbia, Bosnia, Italy, Turkey, and Georgia. It has expanded since acquisition and now encompasses even more countries. I’m a Wharton graduate with stints at McKinsey and Rocket Internet (Foodpanda). At Foodpanda, I was originally responsible for expansion in CEE, so I spent a lot of time in Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Croatia.

Who is this blog for? This knowledge is predominantly for technical folks thinking of starting their own business. It’s likely that non-technical aspiring entrepreneurs will also find it insightful.

Why did I start this blog? In the past few years, I’ve seen engineers misguided and even plainly taken advantage of when they started their own businesses. I also see a big knowledge gap, so I want to help.