Today we have selected Paul Volk he is the CEO of Artifiqa.
Tell us about you, your career, and how you founded or joined this company?
I’ve been managing IT businesses for as long as I can remember, mostly working in Central Asia to represent the interests of European software companies. But I’ve always been fascinated by the startup world. So in 2017 I launched my own project, a blockchain-based solution to prevent fake market surveys.
My technology caught the attention of a major global crypto investment fund, which bought my startup. I ended up working for the fund and landed an executive role. But in 2020, when the pandemic hit, I realized I wanted to help small businesses survive and thrive even under pandemic conditions.
I looked at the data to find out what might help companies boost their sales. According to the research, videos increase product purchases by almost 150%. With my partners and some members of my previous team, we created Artifiqa, a community-oriented video reviews platform.
How does your company innovate?
Artifiqa is building an innovative platform to manage video content for online stores, Recomm.app. It’s open to businesses of any size, including the smallest ones, such as dropshippers. With our platform, online stores can use storytelling as a marketing tool to increase their sales. Another Artifiqa product, ReNett, is a “TikTok for shopping,” which introduces a whole new shopping experience for internet users.
Artifiqa is already stepping into the metaverse. Small online businesses have a great future on Web3, providing an immersive experience to consumers, and we want to be on the front lines. One of our first projects is a collaboration with New Layer, a Web3 startup that lets users discover and identify NFTs.
How has the coronavirus pandemic affected your business, and how are you coping?
The business was born as a result of the pandemic, as a response to the challenges faced by small businesses in particular. Thanks to our solution, many online stores have been able to increase both their sales and the average time that shoppers spend on their websites, as well as conversion rates.
Did you have to make difficult choices, and if so, what lessons did you learn?
As an entrepreneur, you have to make difficult decisions on a day-to-day basis. You decide who should join the team, which idea to implement, which platform to integrate, which market to enter first, whether you should finance the project yourself or look for funding, etc.
The main conclusion I’ve come to over more than 10 years of entrepreneurship is that the decision should be always yours and yours alone. As a business owner, you are the only person who has to take responsibility for this choice. Also, there isn’t one “right” choice, it isn’t like a multiple-choice test, the choices available are just numerous paths to achieving your goal.
Who are your competitors? And how do you plan to stay in the game?
Our competitors are shoppable video solutions, such as the livestream platform Firework, and smaller projects like VideoWise, but we are going further. We have a much larger range of useful services, from video reviews that boost our clients’ sales to a video store that immerses customers in a fantastic shopping experience.
What specific tools, software, and management skills are you using to navigate this market uncertainty?
It’s important to monitor and analyze market indicators — that way you can keep an eye on the uncertainty and update the product if needed. Keep your finger on the pulse. I use various dashboards, both basic and established analytical tools. All my employees also track their areas of responsibility, and share their findings at our meetings.
We are always up to date with all the news and latest data on marketing, software, and video sales, as well as new trends and opportunities in our market. This helps us make well-informed decisions and act quickly. Information is the power and the key to fighting uncertainty on the current market.
• Spokesperson: Paul Volk
• Company: Artifiqa
• Website: https://www.artifiqa.com/
