Vladimir Danila developed the idea for Linearity's graphic design platform, formerly called Vectornator, when he was just 17. Frustrated with the intricacies of Adobe Illustrator and other design platforms, Danila created a mobile-first app--after enough people asked where they could buy it, too--and it blew up overnight, he says. With no marketing, the app made $40,000 in sales almost immediately. He knew the product was worth something, but Danila says his lack of experience, at 17, made the beginnings complicated. "If you founded a company later on [in your career], you've seen at least how another organization looks from the inside," he says. "And if you're completely blank, then it's a lot of figuring out and asking people for advice." Now, with a range of graphic design tools aiming to make branding campaigns quick and easy to draw up, Linearity competes with Figma and claims to count staff from Apple, Disney and Microsoft among its 7 million users. Originally from Bucharest and educated in Duesseldorf, Danila leads a remote team of over 50 across 19 countries. Backed by leading venture capitalists like EQT Ventures and HV Capital, Linearity has raised over $35 million to develop its technology across mobile, desktop and web.
Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1
Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:
https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript
Stay Connected
Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com
Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.
Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1
Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:
https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript
Stay Connected
Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com
Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00 Vlad, so good to be here with you today.
00:02 Thank you for having me.
00:03 Of course.
00:04 So let's start by you telling me exactly what your company does
00:07 in the simplest of terms.
00:09 Basically, we create a design animation software
00:11 that enables everyone from designers to non-designers,
00:14 big brands, to create either amazing creative assets
00:19 or generate just illustrations, performance marketing assets,
00:23 like all the kind of visuals that we know and love
00:26 everywhere in the world.
00:27 Very cool.
00:28 Can you give me some examples of use cases
00:30 that our audience might know or see from your product?
00:34 Yeah, so for example, in Disneyland Paris,
00:36 they have some marketing illustrations
00:39 and different notaries that was created with Linearity Curve.
00:42 Very cool.
00:43 So I want you to take me back to your founding story.
00:47 How did this all begin for you?
00:50 So basically, I was 10, creating small illustrations
00:55 with Microsoft Paint.
00:56 And then over time, when the iPhone 4
00:58 came out with the retina display,
01:00 everything became blurry on my blog.
01:02 So I was like, well, there must be
01:03 a way to actually create those designs
01:06 without having the blurriness or resolution dependence.
01:09 Came across Adobe Illustrator, found that one very frustrating
01:12 to use.
01:13 And it was like, well, why not just create
01:15 the next generation?
01:16 It's mobile first, easy to use, and really empowers people
01:21 that don't have a design background to become a designer
01:24 and create the assets that they want.
01:25 What made you think, OK, I am ready to take
01:29 the dive into entrepreneurship at such a young age?
01:32 I guess it just happened.
01:33 I always was inspired by the typical names like Steve Jobs
01:36 and all the founding stories.
01:39 But generally, yeah, started coding,
01:43 enjoyed it quite a lot during high school, basically.
01:46 And then a couple years later, in 2017, a lot of people
01:49 noticed or hear about Vector and Vectornator.
01:53 And were like, where can we buy it?
01:55 And I was like, well, if you want to buy it, sure.
01:56 Let's just put it on the App Store.
01:58 And then we basically put it there with no marketing
02:00 and exploded overnight, which was kind of exciting journey.
02:04 And when you say it exploded overnight,
02:05 can you talk to me about that growth
02:07 and how that compares to what you're seeing now?
02:09 Yeah.
02:10 So for a very immature product back then,
02:13 we did like $40,000 in revenue overnight with no marketing,
02:15 pretty much, while I was still in high school.
02:17 So basically, my parents were a bit confused what happened.
02:22 And at the same time, it was kind of like a kickstart
02:24 to really notice that there's a huge market for basic design
02:28 software and that everything out there
02:30 is not quite what people love or want to love.
02:34 And that got the ball rolling, basically.
02:36 Now, I think it's incredible that you
02:38 were in high school when you started this company.
02:41 How did your parents feel, seeing all this money coming
02:44 into you so young and then you saying, you know what?
02:46 I'm going to definitely go all in and be an entrepreneur.
02:49 So long story, but basically, in Germany, you have to be 18,
02:54 probably, in most countries to found a company.
02:56 And my mom was technically the founder,
02:59 because I couldn't found it myself.
03:00 And she basically blackmailed me that if I don't finish school,
03:03 I will not get the shares.
03:05 That's a great trick.
03:07 Yeah, with that, basically, I was forced to finish.
03:11 How did you feel when she said that?
03:13 Pressured.
03:15 Very fair.
03:17 So you mentioned Adobe Illustrator.
03:19 How does your product--
03:21 how do you set your product apart from things
03:23 like Adobe Illustrator, and what makes you stand out
03:25 from other competitors?
03:27 So the way it started was pretty much about being mobile first,
03:29 intuitive, making it way more natural to create assets,
03:32 because it doesn't make sense if you think about it to redesign
03:36 things with a mouse, for example, instead of naturally
03:38 on a paper with a pencil.
03:40 So the app, it felt very natural.
03:42 And then over time, we got a lot of feedback
03:43 about people using Linear Decurve
03:45 for different animations, for different marketing videos.
03:49 And we're like, wait a second.
03:51 It's way too complicated to create those.
03:53 The only tool out there is not specialized for it.
03:55 It can really be used for everything
03:57 from huge blockbuster movies down to simple marketing
04:00 animations.
04:01 And we said, well, why don't we just
04:02 create a platform for everything-- visuals,
04:05 for marketing teams-- that basically enables people
04:07 to create the assets itself with Linear Decurve.
04:10 They don't bring it over to Linear Decurve
04:12 and really make animations as easy as clicking
04:15 three buttons and getting it done in a couple of minutes
04:17 instead of weeks or months.
04:19 Now, I'm sure people ask you this a lot,
04:20 but also, how does it differ from Canva or Figma
04:23 or those other more amateur design softwares
04:26 out there for people like me who may not
04:27 be an illustrator or someone who does it professionally?
04:30 Yeah.
04:30 With Figma, we don't see each other as competitors.
04:33 They're focused pretty much on product design, developer
04:36 handoff, and all the UI design side of things or web pages,
04:41 while we are very focused on marketing side of things
04:44 and very creative about how to create graphic illustrations,
04:47 for example.
04:48 And yeah, marketing assets pretty much.
04:52 Makes sense.
04:53 So talk to me about your fundraising journey.
04:55 How much have you raised?
04:56 And walk me through it from the very beginning.
04:58 Yeah.
04:58 So it all started with our seed round in 2017.
05:02 Still in high school back then, found a couple
05:05 of angel investors that really understood the product
05:07 and were like, oh, we would love to coach you, which
05:10 is understandable given that probably with 17,
05:12 the entire world looks a bit different than what it really
05:15 does.
05:16 And then later on, of course, we expanded with our proper seed
05:20 round with Horsbring Ventures and the latest one
05:23 with the QT Ventures, where we have an amazing partner that
05:26 really understands the design ecosystem
05:28 and had a couple of agencies before.
05:32 Very cool.
05:32 And how at 17 were you able to find these angel investors?
05:37 Because I would have no idea as a high schooler
05:39 where to start.
05:40 I think I always had the compelling story.
05:42 So people ended up reaching out, which made things, of course,
05:45 much, much easier.
05:47 And then they, of course, had a network.
05:49 And then suddenly, we had Donizio, for example,
05:51 on our board, who worked with Steve Jobs back in the days.
05:53 What has been the most challenging part
05:55 of running your company?
05:58 The most challenging one.
05:59 Complicated.
06:00 I guess it's probably a lack of experience beforehand.
06:04 Probably if you found a company later on,
06:07 you've seen at least how another organization looks
06:09 from the inside, how, for example, Google operates,
06:11 et cetera.
06:12 And if you're completely blank, then it's
06:14 a lot of figuring out and asking people for advice.
06:17 Now, talk to me about the number of clients you have.
06:21 And if you're able to name any, that would be great as well.
06:23 Yeah.
06:24 So basically, we have more than half a million active users
06:28 that use both products on a regular basis.
06:31 And some of the brands include SpaceX, Meta, Bermes, Disney.
06:37 What would it take for you to sell your company
06:40 and to set the goal?
06:42 Well, I guess I always wanted to really get the company
06:46 to a point where everyone is really
06:49 enabled to create and design assets everywhere.
06:53 Yeah.
06:54 And I wasn't really the one that looked for a way
06:56 how to optimize the exit.
06:57 So I think it's still a long journey ahead.
06:59 And I'm excited for it.
07:01 So now you've raised 35 million euros in funding.
07:04 What has that amount afforded you and your company
07:07 and any opportunities you've been able to do because of it?
07:10 Yeah.
07:10 Of course, I mean, a lot of things
07:12 that wouldn't have been possible otherwise-- doubling down
07:13 on product.
07:14 Also, from our investors, we understand
07:16 that product is everything.
07:17 And creating a design platform takes a long time.
07:20 I mean, if you look at Figma, they
07:21 need, like, what, 10 years to really get the frustration?
07:25 And you need someone that really understands that and really
07:28 supports in the journey.
07:29 So for us, there's been product, product, product.
07:32 And just now, after we launched our motion tool as well,
07:34 and beginning of this year, we're
07:36 going in the scaling phase.
07:38 Tell me about that tool.
07:39 What exactly is it?
07:40 Yeah, so it's basically all about enabling non-designers
07:42 to really animate and create animations everywhere,
07:45 but also about companies and brands
07:48 to make animations kind of like storytelling
07:50 possible for everyone, given that right now, animations
07:53 are just way too expensive.
07:54 If you outsource it, you end up spending, like, $5,000 to $50,000
07:57 per animated minute.
07:58 And with us, it's just, if at most, three days of work
08:02 for something that otherwise would take months.
08:04 So we really managed to crack down on the optimization side
08:07 and enable very fast-paced animations
08:10 at scale, which otherwise wouldn't be possible today.
08:13 What is your pricing structure like?
08:14 I know you said it was expensive to use other things.
08:17 But what can a user expect from you?
08:18 Very lean, basically just $10 per seat,
08:24 if you're a small team or if you go up
08:26 in the big organization, 45.
08:30 Excellent.
08:31 So I want to know, and I think everyone
08:34 has been buzzing about AI.
08:35 You've probably been asked this a million times.
08:37 How are you thinking about AI in terms
08:40 of application for your company?
08:41 Yeah, totally.
08:42 So we've also had that on our watch for quite a while,
08:44 also developed it behind curtains.
08:46 It will be released very soon, and I
08:47 think it will have a huge impact on our users.
08:50 But basically, what we already had in the past
08:52 was all about really taking, for example,
08:53 a picture of, let's say, a location on the street,
08:59 being able to completely vectorize automatically
09:01 with AI.
09:01 And where we're going next is, for example,
09:03 if you have, let's say, a cup of coffee,
09:06 you can say, well, I would love to have that cup of coffee
09:09 on a beach on a sunny day.
09:12 Then we are able to auto-animate that one
09:14 and create a 3D scene about it.
09:17 So what we had as a use case as well with some of the companies
09:20 that got pre-access, with perfume bottles,
09:23 they take one shot, change the entire environment,
09:25 and then we create animation around it moving.
09:28 Where basically, you just need one picture,
09:29 and then we do entire 3D animation
09:31 with animated text on top and in order,
09:34 kind of like auto-creating an ad without really spending
09:38 a lot of time on it.
09:40 Very cool.
09:41 Now, what else is exciting you in 2024?
09:43 Any future projects on the horizon
09:44 that you can tell us about?
09:45 Yeah.
09:46 So basically, I think the thing that we're going for
09:49 is all about the motion tool and enabling collaboration
09:52 across teams.
09:54 Also, our motion tool has just come out.
09:56 So it's more or less pretty much, as you can see,
09:58 like a small beta.
10:00 We're still working exclusively with some small companies
10:03 to really double down and get feedback in and iterate
10:06 on what it will become later on.
10:09 But ultimately, it's all about collaborating and really
10:12 closing the gap between design, animation, and kickstarting
10:16 assets very quickly.
10:18 So I'm curious, as a very young founder,
10:21 how did you approach hiring people who potentially
10:24 were older than you and had maybe more experience than you?
10:29 And how do you manage people when you're
10:32 such a young founder yourself?
10:33 Basically, I guess it all started
10:35 with me hiring my friends, which went sideways sometimes.
10:39 But it was a good start.
10:41 Also getting more direct feedback than other people
10:43 might say.
10:44 But over time, of course, I also got
10:46 in a very experienced leadership team
10:48 that helps with all the things.
10:51 So remember, our CTO was at BP4, which
10:54 is a company of Freeno, managed a couple of hundred developers
10:58 there, our VP of marketing coming from Bolt,
11:01 setting up the entire food delivery team.
11:03 So those people, of course, have a huge impact
11:05 in being able to filter out what I'm saying
11:08 and give it to the rest of the team
11:10 so that they don't go crazy.
11:11 But I'm probably definitely not the easiest one to work with.
11:15 Is it challenging to work with them?
11:18 Do you ever feel any sense of imposter syndrome?
11:20 No.
11:21 It's quite good, I guess I would say.
11:24 Also, I improved a lot.
11:25 I'm also now 24, so I'm doing it for quite a while as well.
11:28 But still, lots of upside on how to handle it.
11:31 Excellent.
11:32 And last question for you, what would
11:34 you like your legacy to be?
11:36 I think I would be very happy to know that we enable a lot
11:39 of people to really express their creativity,
11:41 to enable storytelling, and enable more fun
11:45 to watch engaging content in the world.
11:48 And we stop seeing the very boring, kind of like static ads
11:51 that sometimes buzz around and are really annoying,
11:54 like on everyone's screen.
11:56 That would be great.
11:57 Well, thank you so much, Vlad.
11:58 I appreciate you sitting down with me.
12:00 Thank you.
12:01 [AUDIO OUT]
12:05 [AUDIO OUT]
12:08 [BLANK_AUDIO]