Dmytro Dubrovskyi

From taxi software developer to Uklon co-founder

My name is Dmytro Dubrovskyi. I am a co-founder of Uklon - a company that we spent more than 15 years developing from a small technology project into one of the leaders in Ukraine’s urban mobility market.

My story began with programming. After university, I worked on software for taxi companies. This experience allowed me to see the industry from the inside: its weaknesses, inefficient processes, and opportunities for technological change. After I left my job, former clients began contacting me directly to maintain the software I had created. That is how Evos was founded in 2006 to develop solutions for dispatch services.

A few years later, we realized that we could create a much bigger product. In 2010, together with our partners, we invested $10 000 of our own money and launched Uklon. At first, it was just a side project alongside our main business, but gradually it became our primary focus.

The following years were a constant struggle for the market. We competed first with traditional taxi companies, and then with international companies - Uber, Bolt, and «Yandex». That was when a principle that became the foundation of all our management decisions em’erged in the company: «You can't improve what you don't measure». We began building the company around data, experiments, and clear metrics.

In 2020, Uklon weathered the COVID-19 pandemic, and in 2022, the full-scale invasion, continuing to operate even during the most difficult periods. Over the years, the company grew into one of the leaders in Ukraine’s urban mobility market, and in 2025, Uklon was acquired by Kyivstar for $155 млн. After that, I stepped away from day-to-day operations and joined the supervisory board. This allowed me to focus on developing new projects - a startup studio, DS Finance Group, and the Nezlamni fund.

Taxi industry experience and the desire to change the market - the two factors that gave rise to Uklon

How did the business idea come about?

I never looked for the perfect business idea. I simply worked in a field I knew well. I saw problems others overlooked and realized how they could be solved with technology.

I often advise entrepreneurs not to come up with business ideas at random. It is best to start where you already have experience. If someone has worked in a particular industry for many years, they can see its weaknesses and understand what product or service could create additional value. If they lack that experience, I would first work in the field as an employee. This makes it possible to understand the processes from the inside, assess the market potential, and only then start a business of your own.

Another important criterion is market size. It is worth building a business where there is sufficiently strong demand. Even the best idea will not grow into a large company if the market itself is too small.

Technical thinking, data, and a strong team 

What key skills helped you launch your business?

• Technical thinking. I started out as a programmer, so I always try to find the root cause of a problem, not just its symptoms. It is important to me not only to fix an error, but to make sure it never happens again. This approach helped us create a product that works reliably even under heavy load.
• Data-driven management. I don't like making decisions based on intuition. In business, you can always find metrics that explain why a company is growing or, conversely, losing ground. We worked systematically with metrics - from retention and churn to LTV, CAC, cohort analysis, and product funnels. Data helps identify weaknesses faster and test hypotheses without letting emotions get in the way.
• Working with people. Over time, I realized that a company's quality is determined not only by its product, but above all by its team. Honest communication, high hiring standards, and strong leaders capable of taking responsibility for their areas have always been important to me. Great businesses are built not by individual talented people, but by a strong team working as a unified system.

Smartphones, an international launch, and moving away from dispatchers

What were the 3 most difficult challenges you faced in the early years?

• The first challenge was convincing the market to use a new service. When Uklon first launched, smartphones were not yet widespread, so many people did not understand why they should order a taxi through an app.
• The second challenge was our first international launch. We entered the Georgian market, but the product was not technically ready enough. This experience taught me that even a minimum viable product must work reliably and provide users with a positive experience.
• The third important decision was moving from working through dispatch services to working directly with drivers. It was a risky transformation of our business model, but it laid the foundation for Uklon's subsequent growth.

COVID, full-scale war, and competition 

What crises has your business faced, and how did you overcome them?

The pandemic was the company's first serious test. The urban mobility market changed dramatically, but we decided not to scale back development. While some competitors reduced investment, we continued investing in the product and strengthening our position. This period helped Uklon strengthen its position in the market.

The full-scale war was the most difficult challenge. At the beginning of March 2022, the number of orders fell by almost 90%, and the company's valuation dropped nearly fourfold. We quickly shifted into crisis-management mode: we gave up our office, cut marketing expenses, and temporarily reduced salaries by 20%.

At that moment, honest communication with the team was most important. We openly explained why we were making these decisions and agreed that as soon as the situation improved, restoring people's full salaries would be our first priority. And that is exactly what happened just a few months later.

At the same time, we restructured our management approach. Instead of long-term plans, we began working in short cycles, held regular board meetings, and made decisions quickly as the situation evolved. 

Uklon kept operating. We launched projects to evacuate people, supported volunteer initiatives, and raised funds for drones and air defense systems. It was important to me that the company remain useful to the country even when the business was going through one of the most difficult periods in its history.

Strong leaders, data-driven decisions, and founders stepping away from operations

Which decisions proved most effective in growing the company?

• Building a strong team. We changed leaders in key positions in time when we realized that the company had outgrown them. At critical moments, I would temporarily get involved in specific areas myself to help the team establish the right processes.
• Moving from the approach of «creating a quality product» to balancing product, marketing, and brand. Even the best product won't grow if nobody knows about it.

Hiring mistakes cost more than you think

Which of your mistakes do you now consider your most valuable learning experience?

One of my most valuable lessons was about team building. From my own experience, I learned that compromises in hiring almost always lead to greater losses than they seem to at first. 

That is why today we pay much more attention to references, carefully check candidates' previous experience, and assess not only their professional skills, but also how they interact with others. It is better to spend more time finding a strong specialist than to spend months correcting the consequences of a bad decision.

From building a management team to scaling a business 

I can support entrepreneurs in three areas:

First, building a strong management team. I can share my experience hiring executives, assessing competencies, gathering references, dealing with toxic people, and building a corporate culture. I can also share my experience communicating openly with the team during crises in a way that helps maintain trust and retain people.

Second, data-driven management. Over the years of growing Uklon, we built a system of key business metrics that helped inform decisions at the CEO and board level. This includes experience working with health metrics, funnels, cohorts, and experiments that make it possible to manage a business based on numbers rather than intuition.

Third, crisis management and competitive strategy. I can share practical experience working in conditions of high uncertainty: how to cut costs without losing the team, set the right priorities, resume investment, and use a crisis as an opportunity to grow the business.

2-3 key metrics instead of dozens — the foundation of systematic management

Your experience: how do you systematize a business?

For me, systematizing a business starts with the right metrics. Every department can track dozens of indicators, but at the CEO level, only 2-3 key metrics from each function should remain, together providing a complete picture of what is happening in the company.

It is also important to analyze these indicators regularly, identify what is holding back the business, and test new hypotheses. This is how a business becomes more manageable, and decisions are made based on data rather than intuition.

One example of this was at Uklon. When the service started operating unreliably in the rain, we made uptime the key metric for the entire company. If the metric fell below the set threshold, the team could not receive high ratings, regardless of its other results. Focusing on one key metric helped us completely resolve the problem in just half a year.

First, remove the main constraint — and the company will start growing

Your experience: how do you grow 2x in a year?

In my view, growth starts with a strong team. If a company stops developing, it is worth honestly assessing whether its key executives are suited to the business's new stage of development. Sometimes changing the management team is what gives further growth a boost.

It is just as important to learn to manage a business through data. In my work, I follow a simple principle: first identify what is holding the business back, solve that problem, and then move on to the next one. Consistent effort gives a company the opportunity to grow steadily.