Share the risks
Before you scale, test the model
(Lean Startup)
Testing didn't work out🙈
My first request to Artem was this:
I wanted to build an MVP, as usual😊 but in the real world)
For several months I tried to find an entry point for investing. Artem sent me options — villas, small hotels, YouTube links — and explained how deals work, how money gets brought into the country, what a condominium is, Sri Lankan style. I studied, asked questions, looked at the numbers. And it dawned on me that, no matter what, a very long time would pass before the first sales. Converting into a condominium takes 9–15 months
My idea stopped looking quite so attractive to me😄😜🙈
And then I decided to pivot💫.
Right at the very beginning, Artem had sent me a link to Boris's channel t.me/WelichkoB Borya was filming and writing about his construction. Just the channel of a guy building a small hotel on the beach in Ahangama.
I suggested he turn the hotel into a condominium and build a development company on the back of his project. Gradually the full picture emerged: Borya rents out lots of villas along the coast, and the owner of the land under this particular project is one of his clients — a respected Sri Lankan who rents out his own villas and brings in other local owners who rent theirs out too.
It all looked logical: we set up a joint company, the Sri Lankan contributes the property, I contribute money and sales, Borya handles operations. We register it as a condominium, sell units to investors, launch the next project.
Borya and I agreed fairly quickly on who does what and who gets what.
At first I only talked to the Sri Lankan through Borya. We met in person only once I'd flown to the island. By then he had already consulted his lawyers and Borya — and broadly understood the structure of the deal.
I had Kostya – an old buddy of mine who successfully handles criminal and commercial arbitration cases; experienced, in short😉 We prepared a draft shareholders' agreement.
It took several weeks to agree on. Edits, comments, clarifications — the standard process. But overall things were moving. And I flew out to sign.
I wanted to share the risks. But nobody wanted to share them😂
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I want to bring about a hundred villas within a 10–20 km radius under management, with our own services — delivery, excursions, loyalty programmes. To test the model: buy one villa with 4–5 bedrooms, split it into units, find a sales partner, set up the financial and legal framework, find a management company.
I wanted to build an MVP, as usual😊 but in the real world)
For several months I tried to find an entry point for investing. Artem sent me options — villas, small hotels, YouTube links — and explained how deals work, how money gets brought into the country, what a condominium is, Sri Lankan style. I studied, asked questions, looked at the numbers. And it dawned on me that, no matter what, a very long time would pass before the first sales. Converting into a condominium takes 9–15 months
My idea stopped looking quite so attractive to me😄😜🙈
And then I decided to pivot💫.
Right at the very beginning, Artem had sent me a link to Boris's channel t.me/WelichkoB Borya was filming and writing about his construction. Just the channel of a guy building a small hotel on the beach in Ahangama.
I suggested he turn the hotel into a condominium and build a development company on the back of his project. Gradually the full picture emerged: Borya rents out lots of villas along the coast, and the owner of the land under this particular project is one of his clients — a respected Sri Lankan who rents out his own villas and brings in other local owners who rent theirs out too.
It all looked logical: we set up a joint company, the Sri Lankan contributes the property, I contribute money and sales, Borya handles operations. We register it as a condominium, sell units to investors, launch the next project.
Borya and I agreed fairly quickly on who does what and who gets what.
At first I only talked to the Sri Lankan through Borya. We met in person only once I'd flown to the island. By then he had already consulted his lawyers and Borya — and broadly understood the structure of the deal.
I had Kostya – an old buddy of mine who successfully handles criminal and commercial arbitration cases; experienced, in short😉 We prepared a draft shareholders' agreement.
It took several weeks to agree on. Edits, comments, clarifications — the standard process. But overall things were moving. And I flew out to sign.
I wanted to share the risks. But nobody wanted to share them😂