Hey everyone!. I'm organising a design festival for our Russian-speaking community, The Grill, happening on August 30 in Belgrade!. Location: Impact Hub Belgrade.Time: from 2 PM to 6 PM. More details in the thread:

Join us at The Grill Design Festival in Belgrade on August 30!. Venue: Impact Hub Belgrade .Time: 14:00 - 18:00.Language: Russian.Tickets:

Here's more information about Seryozha. With more than 10 years of experience in brand platforms, he is also:.- a graduate of the Master Type Design program at ECAL (Switzerland).- a Type Directors Club Ascenders awardee.- The creator of the annual Peaceful Lights concert series.

Welcoming our first speaker in the Branding & Graphic Design section - Seryozha Rasskazov!. Seryozha - a creative lead and type designer - will be giving a talk and hosting a hands-on logo workshop.

The festival's venue: Impact Hub Belgrade. 3 parallel tracks:.- Product Design & UX/UI.- CG & Game Design.- Branding & Graphic Design . Come and join - Special price till Aug 10!.

Hey everyone!. Kicking off the announcement of Product Design & UX/UI track. Nikita Konovalov, Design Lead at PLATA - a Mexican digital bank, is joining us in Belgrade on Aug 30. He is going to talk about cultural differences, or rather, the lack of them. #thegrill2025

Get your tickets today:

Festival headliners:.- Nikita Konovalov, design lead, PLATA, México.- Kristina Misko, art director at Ivi.- Leonid Rastorguev, game director, OwlCat Games.- Sergey Ulankin, head of publishing, HeroCraft PC.- Seryozha Rasskazov, legendary type designer and creative .and more.

We've got 3 parallel tracks:.1. Product Design & UX/UI - future of UX, secret talk from PLATA, award-winning design.2. CG & Game Design - game UX, references, entering indie dev.3. Branding & Graphic Design - logo workshop, AI & emotional design.

Many founders aren't building startups. They're trying to escape something else. They want freedom. And that's okay. Be honest with yourself.

So, what should u do?. First, get honest. Do I want 7 years of chaos. or a healthy, calm income?. Choose your path accordingly:.- Want independence? → Freelancing, services, MicroSaaS.- Want scale? → Go VC, but eyes open.

Ask yourself:.Is your startup venture-backable?. VCs want 10x - 100x returns. That means:.- Giant markets.- High risk, high speed.- Clear scalability . Got a $10M niche? Great business. Just not for VC.

Even investors are shifting. Some LatAm funds back MicroSaaS:.- $10K - $50K checks.- No pressure to scale.- No exit expectations .- Revenue → Dividends. Think of it as "small factory bootcamps," not VC machines.

Enter MicroSaaS. Small, focused tools. Built by solo or tiny teams. No unicorn dreams - just sustainable income. $5K - $20K/month.Built on the side.

But instead, we chase borrowed dreams:.- $3M pre-seed.- Billion-dollar TAM.- Y Combinator.- "The next Revolut". But. Why?. You don't have to go big to win.

Let's be real:. 🚫 A startup ≠ freedom . What most people want is:.✅ Control .✅ Independence .✅ Meaningful work.

Early-stage founders often hit a harsh but honest filter:."This isn't a venture-scale idea. Thanks, but no.". Sounds brutal. But Denis reframes it:. "97% of people don't want to build startups. They just haven't admitted it yet.".

I help organize Ask VC events in Belgrade. At our latest meetup, Denis Kalyshkin (Principal @ I2BF, Ask VC founder) shared a bold truth:. "A VC-backed startup isn't the only valid startup path.".

Why a VC fund won't give u money - and why that's okay. A thread for founders who want freedom, not fantasy.

RT @BeaversBrothers: We did it!. On July 19, in Novi Sad, we had a great time teaming up with MyBridge and Dizajn Zajednica and organizing….