From Dial-Up Belarus to 350 Engineers | Andrei Yurkevich
From 40% Better - Engineering Leadership by Bill
February 13, 2026 · 53 min
About this episode
Andrei Yurkevich discusses his journey from starting a software business in Belarus with limited internet to leading Altoros with 350 engineers globally.
In 2002, a 25-year-old Andrei Yurkevich started a software outstaffing business in Belarus with internet speeds under 100 kilobits per second for the entire country—slower than a dial-up modem. Twenty-two years later, he's President and CTO of Altoros with 350+ engineers across 25 countries, plus multiple spin-off companies including Protofire, a Web3-focused venture. Andrei shares why he spent two years answering seven questions that should have taken two hours, why distribution must always come before delivery, and how giving everyone equity ownership creates the type of organization where people leave, gain experience, and choose to return. Discover why Andrei's biggest hiring mistake was starting initiatives without a "single thread leader," why he motivates leaders with revenue shares but learned that scaling teams before having solid sales pipelines is fatal, and how following the Scaling Up methodology's "7 Strata" document became their most powerful alignment tool. Learn why Altoros operates as a venture studio with each business having separate leadership, cap tables, and P&Ls, why they explored but ultimately didn't fully implement DAO principles, and how their…
People in this episode
Host: Bill
Guest: Andrei Yurkevich
Topics covered
- software outstaffing
- business growth
- leadership strategies
- equity ownership
- team scaling
- Web3 ventures
Keywords
- software business
- Belarus
- engineering leadership
- equity ownership
- team scaling
- Web3
- Scaling Up methodology
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Altoros, Protofire
Places: Belarus
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