Unlocking the Golden Age of Remote Conversations: Insights from Vibehut.io’s Founder, Chris Dolinski
I had the pleasure of interviewing Chris Dolinski. A Canadian-born tech entrepreneur. He is the Founder of Vibehut.io, the world’s largest video call marketplace. Chris believes that in our new era of remote working, we spend too much time making cold calls and not enough time talking with users, customers, and the global talent pool. Vibehut brings together those who want to engage in small group video conversations. Chris previously founded UseHappen.com, a bookmarking tool designed to track interests, and Clutch.ca, the premier platform for buying used cars online in Canada.
What motivated you to launch your startup?
After selling my last startup, Clutch.ca, an online used car dealership, I came across a social platform called DeSo. DeSo was reminiscent of Twitter, teeming with engaging posts. However, interactions were confined to text, making real-time conversations a challenge. This is a recurring theme across the web where the emphasis on posting creates an anti-social dynamic. To counterbalance this, we introduced the concept of conversation alongside posting with Vibehut.
Vibehut was conceived to seamlessly connect the internet’s finest through video calls. Now, using major social platforms, anyone can log into Vibehut.io with a single click and engage in conversations, create content, and monetize their community.
What excites you about what you’re building?
The evolution of the world is palpable. Two decades ago, the traditional office and commute dominated global commerce.
This is no longer the case.
The rise of remote-first work has ushered countless individuals into the global economy. Platforms like ChatGPT provide immediate conversational access to humanity’s accumulated knowledge. YouTube offers on-demand video content on virtually any topic. Platforms like X allow us to broadcast our messages to a vast audience. Yet, the challenge of access persists. The most transformative opportunities are often unlocked through personal connections.
While platforms like ChatGPT, YouTube, X, and LinkedIn enable connection, crafting the perfect message or arranging meetings can often be daunting and unproductive.
Vibehut aims to simplify this, designed for individuals eager to connect, converse, create content, and monetize their expertise. Fostering connections between willing participants means more time for building and less for prospecting. This democratization of access to the global talent pool is what makes Vibehut exceptionally thrilling.
What has been your biggest challenge when growing your team?
The primary challenges stem from effective communication in a remote-first environment and striking a balance between funding and growth. With a global team, maintaining uniform communication styles and timely responses can become tricky outside a shared physical space.
How do you plan to scale your team in the future?
Our focus remains on sourcing skilled, low-ego, action-oriented, and communicative individuals. If you fit this description, feel free to reach out at chris@vibehut.io.
Vibehut operates on fundamental pillars: Product, Marketing, Content, and Financing. We plan to amplify each pillar through dedicated small teams. Once a team exceeds six members, it’s prudent to restructure into more focused, efficient sub-teams.
If you had to share “words of wisdom” with a founder on the brink of initiating their startup, what would they be?
If you’re a founder that’s looking to start your first startup, congratulations, you’ve given yourself a chance to set yourself up for success.
“When you grow up you tend to get told the world is the way it is and you’re life is just to live your life inside the world. Try not to bash into the walls too much. Try to have a nice family, have fun, save a little money.
That’s a very limited life.
Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact: Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you and you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use.
Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again.”
It seems you’ll never be the same again too.
Firstly, the goal of a business is to provide value. Start with making something of value and get it in the hands of people other than your friends and family immediately. While doing this, decide whether you are building an exponential company or a linear company. Both work but you need to approach them differently.
Startups are a marathon, which means that having a big ToDo list is useless. The goal is to grow your Done list and keep your head high as long as you’re making progress. Progress, not perfection.
Lastly, when I started programming, I had very little support. I still vividly remember what it was like to be frustrated for days not knowing that things were possible to achieve but not knowing how to do them.
From that perspective, the world is easier now, build and join Vibehut to talk to people about what you’re building.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
You can follow me on social media at twitter.com/1dolinski and Vibehut at twitter.com/vibehutapp
This was very insightful. Thank you so much for joining us!
