Story
1992 – Born in Łódź, Poland
I was born in Łódź, the third largest city in Poland with rich industrial history. Shortly after the free-market transformation of the country, everyone was adapting to the new economic reality. In the midst of it I was starting my life journey…
2003/4 – Programming Discovered
My childhood friend showed me a website he was working on. I was excited and remembered only one phrase he said: “font size”. After the summer break, my father bought me my first PC and I immediately started looking for books and online courses about web development. At the age of 12, I self-taught myself HTML, CSS, PHP and JavaScript.
2009 – First eCommerce Website Released and Open Source Discovered
During my high school years, I built my first online store for my mom Sylwia and her sister Justyna (hence the name: Sylius) and quickly discovered that other businesses are willing to pay me for such a service!
In the process, I’ve discovered the wonderful world of Open Source thanks to the Symfony project. A vast ecosystem of passionates who create and share with others. I decided to join this movement. This is how the Sylius project was born a year later! I wanted to create a state-of-the-art eCommerce platform enjoyed by developers worldwide.
2012 – Landed a Dream Job and Dropped out of University
I had a lot of pressure to be the first educated member of my family but school always felt like a distraction from things that were really interesting to me. I sent a long application email to one of the top software houses in France, who specialized in Open Source, and landed my first and last full-time job with top European developers!
If you are reading this, thank you Latetita and Matthieu!
2014 – Started Lakion, My First Company
After quitting the agency, I did a year of freelancing but quickly discovered that I needed a team to grow myself and the project. I came up with a software house brand and co-founded my first company!
We rented an office and the same day we received the keys, we also got a call from the customer who was supposed to be the source of the first revenue… They went bankrupt and were not able to pay for recent work. It was a rough start but we managed to find another customer, build first projects and hire our friends from school as first engineers!
2017 – Sylius Company Founded, Sylius v1.0.0 Released
The software house grew from 2 to 12 people but the development services and management issues constantly distracted us from the product. I decided to set up a separate product company fully dedicated to Sylius.
This is how Sylius company was founded, with several people from the software house joining me. A few months later, we managed to reach an exciting milestone – the first stable release of the platform on the 14th of September. #SyliusOneZero
2018 – Zdrowe jest Czadowe Business Started
My amazing wife started her own business from her passion – healthy and tasty food. I help her develop and maintain the website, attracting nearly 100k unique users during peak months! I also created the graphic designs of her recipe e-books, which sold in thousands of copies.
2018 – 2022 – Experiments with Self-Management
During 2018-2022 years at Sylius, we heavily experimented with self-management practices with great successes and major challenges. It has been a catalytic experience and shaped both the company and the people who participated. At the right time, I hope to share more lessons learned from that part of the journey.
2019 – Wedding During a Cashflow Storm
We have doubled our revenues despite significant investment into our culture and systems. But then in 2019, we faced the challenge of every self-funded and Open Source project – relying on services and sponsorships does not scale well and we very soon ran into cashflow problems.
We introduced multiple products and services to the market in a year to solve that. Pivoted several times. The fight took many months and in the midst of it, I got married to my amazing and supportive wife.
2020 – Accelerated with Enterprise Open Source
One of the products, Sylius Plus, resonated with the market and helped us become profitable and grow again. We managed to sign many top European eCommerce brands and software agencies, grow the team and thrive through the COVID pandemic with over 100% year-to-year growth.
2021 – Wiktor is Born, 1 M Installations Milestone Passed
The highlight of this year was the birth of my son, Wiktor. It has been the greatest moment of my life and the most transformative! The same year, Sylius has reached over 1M installations with several thousand stores live.
2022 – Revenues Doubled, First SyliusCon Organised and Personal Crisis Endured
It was an intense year full of challenges and victories. The company’s revenues doubled and we organized our first international conference for over 200 people from all over the world. But after years of neglect of my mental and physical health, I faced a wall and needed a break.
2023 – My First Partial Exit and Gap Year
I’ve been working commercially and as a volunteer without major breaks and adequate holidays since I was 16. I decided to sell a majority stake in the company and take a break to rest, reflect, and envision what is next for me. I’ve traveled and enjoyed the freedom with my family.
2024 – Helping Developers Grow Thanks to Open Source
My new mission is to help developers and IT professionals grow their careers thanks to Open Source. I coach, mentor and invest in promising individuals and companies who make the world a better place with Open Source technology.
What is next? We will see, let the life unfold and enjoy the journey!
Want to know more?
I am happy to share my story and experience during events and as a guest of your podcast or channel. Let’s talk!