Стас Юрасов Hot News 22 September 2026, 09:02

A digital copy of yourself and the dream of "doing nothing." A great interview with Artem Borodatyuk about life and business

Imagine a boy who buys firecrackers at the legendary 7th kilometer in school, prints business cards “Artem, student of grade 5-B” on an old printer, and sincerely believes that business is when you have your own business card and an office with a study. Then this boy grows up, works without sleep for weeks until his nose bleeds, accidentally creates one of the most famous IT empires in the country… and at some point realizes that his main dream is to simply do nothing.

Sounds like the plot for a teenage bestseller about growing up? But this is the true story of Artem Borodatyuk, founder of Netpeak Group and Fractal.

In the first major video interview for dev.ua in a long time, we decided to strip away all the corporate gloss from the business and talk about what's really going on in the founder's head.

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A digital copy of yourself and the dream of "doing nothing." A great interview with Artem Borodatyuk about life and business

Imagine a boy who buys firecrackers at the legendary 7th kilometer in school, prints business cards “Artem, student of grade 5-B” on an old printer, and sincerely believes that business is when you have your own business card and an office with a study. Then this boy grows up, works without sleep for weeks until his nose bleeds, accidentally creates one of the most famous IT empires in the country… and at some point realizes that his main dream is to simply do nothing.

Sounds like the plot for a teenage bestseller about growing up? But this is the true story of Artem Borodatyuk, founder of Netpeak Group and Fractal.

In the first major video interview for dev.ua in a long time, we decided to strip away all the corporate gloss from the business and talk about what's really going on in the founder's head.

The "Anxiety Gene" and the Illusion of Control. What's it like to be a die-hard control freak, but learn to let go of the wheel and give freedom to others?

Tattoos with logos and nicknames from Counter-Strike. Why does the team call itself "the pack", has nicknames like in the game, and where did real sectarian chips appear in the IT company?

Your own avatar and bots in 5 minutes. How Artem builds a digital copy of himself, catches up on English with phrases from Claude, and why artificial intelligence brought back his childhood passion for entrepreneurship.

Crisis, music and "self". About that very turning point in life when you finally allow yourself to ignore other people's opinions, DJ until the morning, listen to electronic music and search for your own "self".

But the main question: how to influence the country's economy without going into politics, and is it realistic to build a system that works on its own while you enjoy life?

This is a very sincere, sometimes funny, and sometimes deep conversation about mistakes, growing up, finding yourself, and turning your own "bugs" into superpowers.

Turn on the new release on dev.ua, like and share in the comments: what is your main dream?

Timecodes

00:00 — Introduction: first big interview after a 4-year hiatus

02:05 — Fractal vs Netpeak Group: understanding the names

03:09 — Childhood in Odessa: Kotovsky, Tairov and neighborhood fights

05:32 — The first business "on the fly": from organizing flash mobs to printing business cards

08:28 — “I was a fool”: how the first employees fooled Artem and why the office had to be rented

14:27 — Website promotion in LiveJournal, music blog Relax Music and Civilization

19:46 — Creating a Wannabiz business incubator: why this model doesn't work

24:32 — A strict investment rule: why do they only give money at $30k MRR

29:37 — How the Fractal startup studio works and why the founder scheme is no longer popular

36:50 — Fractal 2: the dream of Serial Acquire and buying ready-made businesses

39:19 — How a control freak with an “anxiety gene” enables decentralization

42:04 — Why Netpeak/Fractal is called a sect: tattoos, bonuses for quitting smoking, and Counter-Strike

45:17 — Where did the nickname Ice Cream come from and how is it going with intelligence?

49:37 — The values of the “flock” and why fractal businesses are sometimes “too not about money”

53:05 — Geography of profits: which companies and products make money abroad

58:21 — AI threat to SaaS products and mobile applications: how to survive?

1:01:46 — “Collecting data about myself”: Garmin, Whoop, 8sleep and food photos

1:03:37 — Digital copy of Artem Borodatyuk: how a bot helps people pass castings

1:04:38 — Main goal in life: influence on the economy of Ukraine without politics

1:07:00 — The dream of “doing nothing” and how AI brought the excitement back to entrepreneurship

1:08:32 — Bot for learning English from Claude in 5 minutes

1:12:33 — Midlife crisis, Hollis' book "The Pass" and DJing

1:19:52 — Why did he write a three-volume book on management and why "everyone was screwed"

1:23:34 — The future of Ukraine's economy, the cost of war and risks for investors

1:29:25 — On searches, inspections, and the vision of a super-digitalized state

1:34:02 — Why society doesn't trust entrepreneurs and why Artem isn't running for office

1:37:39 — How AI is changing company staffing and reducing the need for assistants

1:39:22 — Dependence on AI giants from the US and China: will Open-Weight models save us?

1:43:10 — First non-digital production: Select Form merch and our own sewing factory

1:48:18 — The future of SEO in the era of artificial intelligence and LLM search engines

1:49:53 — Media development in Ukraine: boarding at Speka.ua and the problem of UGC content

1:54:32 — Cooperation with Telegram: reseller, gambling advertising and Superhumans

1:56:47 — Do anonymous Telegram channels need to be regulated in Ukraine?

1:59:28 — Taboo businesses: where Borodatyuk will never invest

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