Who is Bogdan Demeny?
I am a very passionate software developer who always dreamed of creating a start-up. I was first introduced to coding in 7th grade when I was trying to earn some money to upgrade my computer. Since that moment I just followed my passion for software which led me to where I am now.
What’s the story behind RacketPal?
About 3 years ago I started a new role as Lead Mobile Developer for a very fast-growing startup in London. That was when I met Robert (my co-founder) who was struggling to find a tennis partner. Very quickly I realised that I was facing a similar issue, I was having a hard time finding a squash partner. The next day we were already planning how the product will work and look like. Six months later we were launching the first version of RacketPal and after another 6 months, we were reaching 5K users in London only.
Soon after that we handed our notice, Robert moved in with me and we started working on RacketPal full time.
Now, about 3 years later we reached 35K users, over 25K matches played and 150k messages sent through the app.
What was the most difficult part of your experience in the early beginnings?
In the early days both Robert and I were always coming up with new concepts or improvements to the product. So probably the most difficult part of building a tech start-up was to keep the focus on the main goal.
These days, it is even more difficult as everyone from the company is bringing lots of valuable ideas to the table. Unfortunately, we don’t always have the time to implement all of them. So one of our day by day challenges is to decide what gets to be developed and what doesn’t.
What are you most proud of regarding your business?
There are many things that I’m proud of regarding our business. But one thing stands out for sure, and that is our team. With a very limited budget we managed to recruit like-minded and passionate people that believed in our dream.
What is your vision for the future of RacketPal?
RacketPal’s vision is to become the biggest sports community in the world. In the years to come, we will expand to other territories and we are also thinking of adding other sports to the app.
For the next 12 months we have planned to acquire 100K users in London, launch the app in another market and close the series A round.
What’s your advice for the businesses that are trying to adapt to this economic climate?
Every business is different and no one has the perfect recipe for success, particularly, for making it during the pandemic. I believe with hard work everything is possible.
My advice is – just iterate and don’t give up.
Please name a few technologies which have the greatest impact on your business.
The piece of technology that had the greatest impact on us is React-Native. React-Native is a UI software framework that is used to develop cross-platform applications.
RN helped us to launch the application on both iOS and Android in a record time at a very low cost.
What books do you have on your nightstand?
I mostly have tech-related books. At the moment I’m reading Superintelligence paths, dangers, strategies by Nick Bostrom.
Because of the current economic climate our publication has started a series of discussions with professional individuals meant to engage our readers with relevant companies and their representatives in order to discuss their involvement, what challenges they have had in the past and what they are looking forward to in the future. This sequence aims to present a series of experiences, recent developments, changes and downsides in terms of their business areas, as well as their goals, values, career history, the high-impact success outcomes and achievements.
