From VPE to solo mentor: 317 billed sessions in year one

Achieving €300,000 revenue with my Central European Software Engineering Leadership venture.

Year one data (July 2022 → July 2023)

Mentoring

• Volume: 317 billed sessions across 26 mentees from 16 companies or individuals.
• Funding: 19% self-funded, 81% company-funded.
• Global reach: 64% Czech Republic, 12% US, 12% Slovakia, 6% UK, 3% Poland, 3% Israel.
• Conversion: 76% post-intro client conversion rate.
• Feedback: 9.03/10 average since I started collecting formal ratings in Jan 2023.
• Composition: 52% debutant Engineering Managers, 19% mid-level managers, 29% CTO/CPO ranks.
• Remote: 93% online via video.
• Avg engagement duration: 7.3 months.
• Inbound funnel: 74% word-of-mouth, 17% social media, 9% website.

Advisory (fractional CTO / audit)

• Volume: 79 days billed across 3 firms.
• Scope: engineering metrics, internal audits, due diligence, structural shifts, career frameworks, agility.
• Rate: €1,550-2,100/day excl. VAT.
• Funnel: 100% word-of-mouth.

Phase 0: Pre-launch

My last full-time role was VPE at Mews, where I helped the company survive Covid, stabilise R&D, and scale to 100+ engineers — building a new team every month in the last year while keeping quarterly roadmap delivery over 80%.

We turned engineering into a differentiator. Mews reached Series C on that engine.

Under the surface, I’m an introverted person deep in my mind. I push myself to polish how I talk and listen. The 16personalities test flagged me as “Doctor / Defender” (ISFJ) — which pointed me at my niche. I feel best when I’m helping or earning the trust of the people around me.

I have a Computer Science degree from MFF UK — my bridge to tech experts and math-brain CTOs. I get the tech world because I was that geeky coder for 14 years before turning to leadership.

The most precious career investment I’ve preserved for two decades is a strong learning routine. 4-8 hours a week, curated sources, purely technical for the first 14 years, progressively shifting to leadership as time went by.

Phase 1: Fuelling

April 2021: I launched a Czech Engineering Leadership meetup — private, small, invited only people with something unique to add. Even virtual, the connections became strong.

Then I stepped out of the introverted comfort zone: I started blogging about leadership on the Mews tech site. My first post (“Building Trust with Engineering Teams”) took 11 evenings. Writing became my canvas and my weapon. It untangled thoughts I didn’t know I had.

Phase 2: System check

Back in 2021, my ex-boss Honza Široký planted the seed: try mentoring at PlatoHQ. I did — for two years. Alongside, I facilitated PlatoHQ circles with 12 people at a time.

The more engineering teams I led, the more urge I felt to support my line managers. I set up an internal New Team Lead Growth Programme — three-month structured foundation for new managers. I didn’t want to wait two years to find out who would thrive and who would struggle, especially while hiring aggressively and guaranteeing 80%+ quarterly delivery.

Phase 3: Ignition

The aha moment: when PlatoHQ changed its compensation policy to zero and I decided to leave, one of my mentees said he wanted to keep going — and pay for it.

Seven weeks later I had three more clients from my close network. My heart raced the day I got my first payment.

By mid-2022 things got tricky. Day job + evening coaching. I saw the worry in my wife’s eyes. I was a millimetre from burnout. I had to choose.

The defining moment

June 2022:

• Current job: I loved my VPE role at Mews.
• Side gig: four billable clients in the evenings. Inside I felt the pull to build my own venture as a 6-month experiment.
• New offer: to validate market value, I ended up with an offer of ~€230k/y compensation package (salary + bonus + stocks) for a full-time division lead role in Czech Republic.

Half my family said stay on the regular-job trajectory — the war, cost-of-living crisis, uncertainty. They were brilliant at constructing reasons not to start. The other half was supportive.

Meanwhile I researched hard. I saw the scene: people who got famous for a single topic, people relentlessly active on social, people refurbishing others’ content, people selling books or certificates.

From my learning habit, I saw:

• how Gergely’s Pragmatic Engineer newsletter had traction,
• how sharp and inspirational Will Larson’s Irrational Exuberance was,
• how tight Jade Rubick’s weekly newsletter courses were,
• how spot-on John Cutler’s Beautiful Mess scenarios were,

— it signalled there IS a way to build a solo venture on unique perspectives with a balanced (not manic) social presence. Close to my nature.

The click

One Saturday morning, listening to a podcast by Ondrej Kobersky about stock investment: he explained why timing the market is a poor idea. Compare that to consistent investment through good and bad years — the consistent approach wins.

It clicked with my venture situation of waiting to gain a competitive advantage instead of persisting to invest regularly despite unfavourable indications. Iterative discovery.

I made my lifetime decision in a second: I turned down the €230k role and gave notice.

Y1 lessons — what actually worked

1. Niche beats breadth. “Engineering leadership mentoring, CEE roots, EN/CZ/SK” was specific enough for word-of-mouth to work.
2. Word-of-mouth is the funnel. 74% of paid mentees came from previous mentees or ex-colleagues. Building a real community (ELC meetups) fed this.
3. Free intro calls, no upfront payments. Removed all buying friction. If we’re not a fit, no money changes hands.
4. Feedback score at every session. From Jan 2023 I asked for a 1-10 rating after every session. The 9.03 average IS the sales pitch.
5. Write. Consistently. Blog posts + LinkedIn built the top-of-funnel that word-of-mouth couldn’t cover.
6. The advisory revenue paid the rent. 79 days × €1,550-2,100 kept the cash flow steady while mentoring compounded slowly.
7. Don’t wait to feel ready. Iterative discovery beats timing the market. Every time.

What I’d do differently

• Start writing 2 years earlier. The compounding effect on inbound funnel is enormous. Every post is an asset that keeps working.
• Invest in the meetup community faster. ELC is now the most valuable long-term asset. I could have built it earlier.
• Say no more. In year one I said yes to almost every intro call. Half of them weren’t fit — I burned time I should have spent on writing or product.
• Price higher, sooner. I started at €150/hr and grew to €300+. Should have started at €300.

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If you’re considering a similar move: don’t romanticise it, but don’t wait either. The market will not signal “now” — you have to invest through the uncertainty. And if you want to talk through your specific situation, book a free 30-min intro. No sales pitch.