Podcast Summary

Episode Overview

Podcast: SaaS Interviews with CEOs, Startups, Founders
Host: Nathan Latka
Guest: Vlad Malonen, MD, PhD, CTO & Co-founder of SpeedSize
Episode: Bootstrapping Through War to $6M ARR: A SaaS Founder Story
Date: December 17, 2025
Theme:
This episode features Vlad Malonen’s journey as co-founder of SpeedSize, an AI-driven media optimization SaaS company. Vlad shares the company’s origins during wartime struggles in Ukraine and Israel, their approach to bootstrapping and prudent fundraising, their focus on enterprise customers, as well as the technical and operational lessons behind scaling to $6M ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue). The episode is packed with insights on tough decision-making, resilience, and navigating growth without heavy VC dependency.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The SpeedSize Story and Product Focus

• What SpeedSize Does

  • SpeedSize offers AI-powered media compression and optimization for enterprises, enabling rich media (images, video, 360° objects) to load faster on e-commerce and other websites. (01:12)

  • Core differentiator: They maintain original image/video quality while reducing data size, opening the door for richer, conversion-boosting digital experiences.

    “Every other solution makes [images] worse. The idea of SpeedSize is not to enhance the images. The idea is to make sure that the original colors, details, their original clarity and quality of the images remains the same.”
    —Vlad, (20:42)

Customer Base and Use Cases

• Focus on Enterprise and Larger Mid-Market

  • Over 200 customers, predominantly from fashion, apparel, jewelry, travel, and marketplaces.
    (02:31, 05:25)
  • Example: The Israeli division of Crocs (WeShoes). SpeedSize powers their optimized images and videos, critical for rich, interactive product experiences.
    (03:21)

• Contracts & Pricing

  • Customers pay for bandwidth (GB transferred) and number of unique assets (SKUs).
    (05:25)
  • Average contract values:
    • Low-tier: $10,000–$20,000/year
    • Mid-market: $50,000–$100,000/year
    • Enterprise: Low seven figures ($1,000,000+)
      (06:43–07:12)
  • Several customers pay $100,000+ annually; at least one pays >$1M/year.
    (07:27)

Team Composition and Operations

• Lean, Highly Technical Team

  • Downscaled from 50 to 20–25 FTEs; now ~70% are engineers.
    (04:30)
  • Use contractors as needed; focus is heavily on tech and product.

• Founders’ Resilience

  • Both founders stopped taking salaries during cash crunches, prioritizing survival and team continuity.
    (00:04, 23:12)

    “The first decision we made is even before that happens, we stopped all the salaries to both of the founders... It like enables your built in mechanism of survival.”
    —Vlad, (23:12)

Sales Channels & Growth Strategies

• Shift from Direct Sales to Partnerships

  • Early focus transitioned from direct sales to partnerships with cloud platforms (AWS, IBM Cloud) and digital agencies.
    (09:42–11:01)

  • SpeedSize is a premium AWS partner, and being onboarded by IBM Cloud as they expand their CDN.
    (11:01)

    “Our idea is that we want to be in the places in the cloud suppliers who lack the native image and video compression and delivery.”
    —Vlad, (11:01)

• Successful Partnership Execution

  • Partnership agreements with large cloud providers are slow but impactful; “It took us almost two years to fully enroll the proper partnerships with AWS.”
    (19:18)

• Go-to-Market and Customer Growth

  • Customers often expand usage after onboarding; e.g., brands that previously couldn’t use video due to platform technical limitations now can, thanks to SpeedSize.
    (07:33–08:41)

Financial Milestones & Fundraising

• ARR Growth Trajectory

  • Launched in 2022 with $400,000 first-year sales.
  • 2023: $1.5M ARR.
  • 2024: $3M ARR.
  • 2025 (now): $6M ARR.
    (13:49–15:36)

• Funding History

  • Total raised: ~$5M (pre-seed, seed; last big round in 2023, $2M that year). Both founders retain 70% equity.
    (16:13–16:27, 17:40)

  • Bootstrapped mindset despite fundraising; never pressured to “chase growth at all costs.”
    (13:49–14:29, 16:45)

    “What we learned the hard way is that VCs are always less active in our case... than they claim to be.”
    —Vlad, (16:45)

• Cash Flow & Runway Management

  • Company reached less than two months’ runway (~$300,000 left) during 2023, when war affected both Ukrainian R&D and the Israeli sales team. Cut founder salaries and expenses.
    (00:04, 22:16, 23:00)

Market Perspective and Exit Considerations

• Valuation Mindset

  • Would not accept a 4x revenue valuation ($24M cash offer); believes the business is “worth way more than that,” given technology and growth trajectory.
    (00:30, 21:34)

    “Just like an advice for that kind of technologist, this is like a very poor multiplier even today. But also that we see the potential, we see how the traction goes, how we grow the customers and everything.”
    —Vlad, (21:34)

• Market Differentiation: Quality Preservation

  • Refuses to compromise on image/video quality, unlike most competitors.
  • Strong promise to brands: unlock richer on-site experience without speed or quality sacrifices.
    (08:41, 20:42)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On survival during war and crisis:

  “We were less than two months of the runaway. Some people were drafted to the army. There was the ongoing war in Ukraine where our RD stays. So we were panicking.”
  —Vlad, (00:04)

• On refusing mediocre exit multiples:

  “Not exactly. Worth way more than that.”
  —Vlad, when asked if he’d accept $24M for SpeedSize (00:38)

• On partnership focus:

  “It pays off 100%. It took us almost two years to fully enroll the proper partnerships with AWS.”
  —Vlad, (19:18)

• On quality and technical philosophy:

  “Every other solution makes them worse... We make sure the original colors, details, their original clarity and quality of the images remains the same.”
  —Vlad, (20:42)

• On managing via founder sacrifice:

  “We stopped all the salaries to both of the founders... enables your built in mechanism of survival.”
  —Vlad, (23:12)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Introduction to SpeedSize and founder’s background – 01:07
• What SpeedSize does in plain language – 01:12–02:12
• Customer profile, verticals, and use case with Crocs/WeShoes – 02:31–04:23
• Team structure: size and engineering focus – 04:23–05:10
• Pricing model and contract values – 05:25–07:12
• Largest customer and expansion stories – 07:12–08:41
• Sales strategy: move to partnerships & AWS integration – 09:42–11:01
• IBM Cloud partnership and differentiating from legacy CDN providers – 11:01–11:57
• Revenue growth trajectory, annual numbers – 12:16–15:36
• Funding history and lessons from VCs – 15:43–17:40
• Managing cash flow, hitting two months’ runway – 22:00–23:12
• Quality vs. compression philosophy – 20:42
• Personal background (age, location, family) – 23:50–24:14

About Vlad Malonen

• Age: 35 (23:50)
• Background: Ukrainian-born, PhD in neuroscience, CTO, ex-surgeon turned AI entrepreneur.
• Current location: New York, with roots in Odessa, Ukraine. (24:03)
• Family: Married, two young children. (23:54)
• Contact: Best via LinkedIn or SpeedSize blog. (24:20)

Conclusion

Vlad Malonen’s journey with SpeedSize is a testament to technical focus, operational discipline, and founder resilience—even when facing existential threats like war. With a lean and highly technical team, thoughtful fundraising, and a strong partnership-led go-to-market strategy, SpeedSize has scaled to 200+ enterprise customers and $6M ARR in just a few years—emphasizing quality and customer value over hyper-aggressive VC-driven blitz-scaling.

For more: Visit speedsize.com or connect with Vlad on LinkedIn.