Jiri’s Journal #1
Jun 9, 2024
Hi, ahoj,
Jiri here, glad to make it to your inbox. You’re reading my very first exclusive public journal. It’s full of my personal tips from my entrepreneurial (startup founder) journey and updates about my life. You will learn about things I’m excited about, what I’m doing, and where I’m investing. I aim to teach you something new and provide inspiration. Promise, no spam - I’ll send journals irregularly, whenever I have the time and energy. It’s exclusive, only for you, a member of my private community of builders, founders and entrepreneurs.
Today, I’m writing this #1 journal from rainy London, where we’re enjoying a week watching Wimbledon (because we love tennis with Bara) and working offsite from a WeWork. Currently, this song is playing on my Apple Music, so you can tune in as well to catch the same vibe while reading the journal. And one more thing—no AI or sponsorships here. Just me, keeping it real. Hope you enjoy it!
My Life Recently
What have I been up to and where have I traveled this year? I kicked off January in Thailand (Koh Lanta), then went skiing in the Alps, fishing for cod in Norway with my father, plus a few smaller trips. We spent May + June in SF and NYC. I think every tech startup founder should spend at least a few weeks a year in SF. It’s the perfect place to get inspiration, meet the best founders and investors in the world, and stay at the forefront of tech development. For our life, we are still keeping our main base in Prague to stay connected with our family, friends, and the VOS team in our beautiful Prague office. Plus, honestly, I think Prague offers the best price-to-value ratio in the world across all aspects. We love it there for general life!
It feels like this year is running super fast; we’re already in the middle, so don’t forget to make the most of it!
Business updates and exciting new products
As you know, for the last 3 years, I’ve been running a mental health B2C company VOS.health. I am happy we are helping millions of people around the world every day; our technology has saved multiple lives and is getting better every day! The current state of VOS (founder to founder perspective) we have a runway for over 6 months, and we are preparing for our Series A. The team size is 13 FTE, we are currently standing at a 7-digit $ ARR. We raised $2.7M in the past 3 years. In the first half of 2024, we focused mainly on product repositioning aiming to bring the best features to users seeking help for work-related stress. This repositioning seems to be working perfectly, and we are predicting a growth in Q3-4 2024.
But there is one thing I would like to share with you. Not a lot of people know it yet... I’m super excited about our new product. We’re about to launch in a few weeks new AI therapy platform. It's like a therapy but with AI therapist. I will share more soon! But if you want to be among the first to experience it, you can join the waitlist here!
From a founder’s perspective, I can share that the 2024 B2C market and fundraising are very tough, with a huge drop in volume even among our biggest category competitors. Valuations are also rapidly declining. It’s much more expensive for us to acquire new customers than it was in previous years. But I believe times are getting better for startups in the second half of the year. To be honest, business has been one of the toughest parts of my life lately. But just like always, we’ll face these challenges head-on and get through them.
So overall life happines, I feel like I’m at about an 8 on a scale of 0-10.
Mobile App Business Tips & SaaS
Are you interested in building apps or startup? This might help you!
State of in-app subscriptions 2024 from my favourite tool Adapty - You can learn very interesting facts about recent trends, pricing strategies, and how to earn the most with your app. There’s also a great resource from RevenueCat on this topic.
New tool for Ads - I met this dude recently, and he just started a company for AI-generated ads a few months ago. The tool is called Arcads, and you can use it for generating ads. We mobile creators for B2C need a lot of ads on a huge scale, and this tool helps a lot for just a few hundred dollars!
I’m excited about recent AI products and developments such as: Figma AI, OpenAI Sora, Apple Inteligence or a new Antropic Claude 3.5 Sonnet. The AI rush is running, and I am very bullish about upcoming research. I recommend everyone keep up with these AI innovations—you will regret it if you don’t!
Many times, when I’m talking to first-time founders, they ask a lot of basic questions about startups. I definitely recommend visiting (YC) Y Combinator videos on YouTube. Whether you are an aspiring, new, or experienced founder, you will find great resources there.
Here’s where I’m finding inspiration on X from fellow SaaS creators and founders: @levelsio @sobedominik @marc_louvion
I recently discovered this book, Andrew has been inspiring me for many years, and I definitely recommend you check it out!
Are you thinking about starting a new startup? Looking for place where to start? Check out this cool company I visited in SF called Buildspace it's a home for ppl bringing their wildest ideas to life. (And they have a great IG )
Thinking about how to make onboarding (UX/UI) for your next SaaS project? This might help.
Recent discoveries I’m excited about
Kindered - A week in a Manhattan (NYC) luxury flat for just $150? We’ve started using Kindered for flat swapping while traveling, and it’s been amazing.
Arc - It’s still getting better! I’ve completely churned from Chrome / Safari browsers and am all in on Arc—it makes my browsing experience much faster. + recommend following their social media; the team and company are a big inspiration for me.
Cursor AI - Don’t know how to code? Not the best at it? Takes you a lot of time? This AI tool helping me extremely with building of MVPs.
Pendant - Imagine remembering everything you heard or said! These guys pivoted with new AI pins, and I’m very bullish about it. You can preorder now for the best price.
Flighty app - My friend recommended this app. I’ve been using it for a few months, and it’s been so helpful when traveling and navigating airports.
We got a Vespa ! In spring, my gf and I bought a scooter for the summer in Prague. It’s the ultimate time saver, and I recommend it to everyone who lives in the city. It only cost us $2k.
In March I've finally got my gun license in Czech and got my first Glock (43x). I love picking up new hobbies! It’s always great energy meeting new communities in different sports.
We got a new coffee machine! I used to have a Nespresso capsule machine at home for a couple of years, but I don’t like the taste anymore, so… I decided to switch to a lever coffee maker De'Longhi and now it feels like having a small coffee shop at home. We started ordering different coffees to home, and so far our favorite is from Miners (Ethiopia Bookkisa Espresso).We’d be happy to get your tips!
Skincare routine with CeraVe: Thanks to Bara, I learned a lot about skincare this year and added SPF cream to my daily routine. This CeraVe is my daily essential.
This year, I am gradually updating my minimalist wardrobe. Recently, I’ve been wearing mostly Lululemon and Alo clothes. I love the quality and minimalism—no logos, no prints, no brands, just top-quality materials. I’m almost exclusively wearing these trousers with OnCloud shoes.
Onesip opened a new coffee place near our office. I recommend you visit if you are in Prague!
Current 3+1 most favourite podcasts:
Anytime I have free time, I’m listening to podcasts. Here are my top picks from the last few months.
My investments in 2024
The majority of my resources are invested back into the business, but I’m also investing a portion into different instruments. These are the areas where I’ve been investing in recent months. This is NOT investment advice.
Crypto Portfolio (30%) : expanding my altcoin portfolio, especially with Solana, Ethereum, and Cardano
ETF (30%) : (CSPX.UK) and (IUIT.UK)
Stocks (40%) : Tesla, Meta, Apple, LVMH, Alphabet, Microsoft, Groupon, Amazon NVIDIA, CVS
That’s all for this time…
now it’s time to build again!
If you enjoyed the read or found something valuable, please let me know in a dm; it will motivate me to write the next journal soon. If you have any questions, feel free to write to me email anytime, and I will do my best to answer.
Jiri