Finding Opportunities and People: The Story of a Ukrainian Entrepreneur Serge Baidin Mapping Out Global Market

Written by Author Anthony Gill.

By Christmas 2023, more than 5,000 newly married couples had watched their wedding videos… They might not even know that Ukrainian video editors at Bride&Groom.video participated in creating those cinematic memories for them.

That’s the company built by Serge Baidin (pictured), a Ukrainian serial entrepreneur, dedicated to empowering small business owners by providing efficient outsourcing solutions.

Besides serving creatives in the videography niche, his other passion is working with technology professionals. He’s also the force behind Markupus, a web development agency catering to the needs of eCommerce and affiliate marketing enterprises across the UK and EU.We’re eager to uncover the secret behind Serge’s ability to identify opportunities and drive results for such different businesses on a global scale. Stay with us for some stories and actionable lessons. 

So, Serge, first things first. Who do you see yourself as — a video editor, a web developer, an investor, maybe?

Huh! I do have a lot of things going on. However, they are all connected. I see myself as an entrepreneur who creates new services and connects people to create something valuable together. I’m always testing new things in life, so I think you might say I’m also a life tester and life hacker! 

Love this! Where did your journey begin? 

It was 2002, and I was 14 back then. My friend’s brother had a book on coding in HTML, so I borrowed it and dove right in. The funny thing is, I didn’t even have a computer back then! My first code was written on paper. But I was determined. I kept learning on my own until my dad helped me buy my first computer. 

My first “business” was actually the website about retro cars. I bought an album with retro pictures at a market. I scanned those and turned them into a website. It caught the eye of a retro car club owner in a neighboring country, and he hired me to build their website. I worked remotely for over a year and got away with being under 18 😉 

You see, we communicated via email because video calling was not a thing yet; international phone calls were still expensive, and payments were made via online money transfers. So my client didn’t even know I was underage. 

Wow! So, that’s how you became a web developer. How did you transform into an entrepreneur?

Everything started when I was a university student. Once, I saw a job announcement on the subway: it called for people who knew HTML. I applied, did the test task, and got my first job! 

For an 18-year-old at the time, I was making good money. I decided to spend it on my dream trip abroad. And while I was in Prague, enjoying this amazing city, I thought to myself: can I live how people lived there? I counted how much time I needed to save up, and the result struck me: 50 years!

That’s when I knew that I should start my own business. First, I did freelance at night. But eventually, I decided to quit my job and take entrepreneurship to a new level. 

To tell the truth, I thought my new business would take off immediately! Or at least, quite fast. However, it was the middle of 2008 — right when the world crisis hit! That’s why I had to work 14 hours instead of 8 just to make the same amount of money I made as an employee…

But eventually, I managed to turn things around. It wasn’t easy: I dove deep into sales, learned to offer my services, and did a lot of independent work. In time, I also shared my experience with a friend and he joined me in doing business. That’s how I started. 

And what about wedding videos, what’s the story there? 

I’ll be honest, my interest in video editing also sparked from a personal experience! Six years ago, I got married. My new wife and I were eagerly waiting for our wedding video, but it took our videographer so long to deliver it. We were a bit annoyed. However, later, I became friends with that videographer, and he explained how the industry works. Turned out that delays during hot wedding months are caused by editing backlog. 

That’s when I thought: if I  know how to help designers worldwide speed up the website creation process by outsourcing coding, why not help videographers deliver films faster by outsourcing video editing?

I did my research and found out that there were a handful of editing companies in the world and lots of freelancers. None of them offered the level of service that was a standard in IT outsourcing. 

It was my chance and my opportunity in 2018, and now in 2024, we are the biggest player in this niche.

What an inspiring story! I have a follow-up question here: one can notice that Markupus and Bride&Groom.video come from two very different industries and locations. Yet you saw business opportunities in both. What inspires you to create new ventures?

Meeting new people and exploring new cultures is a huge source of inspiration. I see things done differently in various countries, which sparks ideas. For example, in Ukraine, I learned how to build teams of talented individuals who struggle with marketing themselves. Then, living in the US and Ireland, I saw how local entrepreneurs excel at storytelling and creating value, but have trouble finding the right people and delegating. 

These experiences teach me valuable lessons in communication, collaboration, and presenting ideas. By understanding these cultural differences, I can bridge the gap between countries and cultures. This creates value for everyone involved and opens up new opportunities.

And that’s got you to where you are, right? 

Not just this.  First, I feel I’m just at the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey. And I’m pretty sure the most crucial thing for every entrepreneur, and for every leader, is constantly learning new things and sharing your knowledge with others.

For instance, I have never spent a month since primary school without taking any courses or doing other learning activities. Right now I’m digging into the backbones of businesses, pursuing an MBA at Dublin Trinity Business School.

One of the best parts of it is meeting talented, inspiring people with an entrepreneurial mindset. I love surrounding myself with people who don’t take “no” for an answer and keep pushing boundaries, building, and growing. 

So, yeah. Knowledge brings ideas and some level of confidence. Sharing this knowledge and ideas, in turn, brings bright people into the team, and working together with great people makes 100%+ growth in both businesses possible. 

Impressive results! It seems like you and your team have a solid foundation. Can you share some insights into your approach to hiring and building teams capable of achieving such remarkable success?

Smart people say it’s crucial to hire people who are smarter and stronger than you. I’m not there yet; I’m only learning how to attract and retain A-players at the moment.

But what I think I’m good at is seeing potential in junior people, and designing work processes in a way that allows them to grow and show significant achievements really fast.

I focus on ambition, a willingness to learn, and a strong work ethic. We might only pick 1 out of 80-100 candidates, but these are the people we have worked with for years! They’re reliable partners in our shared growth journey. 

For instance, Markupus Head of Development Sasha joined the company in 2015 as a developer. Right now, he’s in charge of the whole development team. Another great example is our Operations Manager at Bride&Groom Olga. She joined in 2018 and now manages the entire customer journey. Clients love her work, and some even mention her in reviews or comments on my social media posts. 

But where there’s team expansion, there’s more delegation. It’s often a hurdle for many entrepreneurs. How comfortable are you with letting go of control?

Honestly, not so much! But my top priority is to continue scaling my companies, making sure that our clients receive exceptional service and that my team grows professionally. 

Delegating more and more responsibilities is the only way to get there. I work with mentors and with a personal coach who helps me shift my mindset and develop new habits that make delegating easier.

And I can tell I’m getting there! For instance, earlier in the year, I promoted two professionals at Markupus to CBDO and Head of Development. They are responsible for all the operational decisions. I’ll be honest, it’s still scary and unusual for me. However, I try not to interfere and be there only when they have questions or need me.

From what you’re telling me, it seems everything comes so easy for you! Did you face any challenges on your way? 

Well, talking about challenges is just not that fun. But my journey indeed wasn’t always smooth. As you remember, it began amidst a world crisis in 2008. 

And then in 2014, my company had its own crisis. We just started to create a system for managing business, contracts, and taxes in the right way. So, we had to deal with many uncertainties before we achieved efficiency in our legal department. 

In 2016, I faced a crisis in my first marriage which ended in divorce. Of course, it also affected my work. Then came COVID-19: all the weddings got canceled. To keep the business running, we edited an educational course.

And then, the war hit in 2022. 

Right. How did the war affect the business?

Both my business and I lost a lot of assets. Unfortunately, I lost my home and my company’s office. But thank God, we managed to save all of our people. Right when the war started, we helped everyone to move to safer locations. And while doing all that, we were also trying to keep our clients, convincing them that our business was still able to deliver. 

Of course, it wasn’t easy to develop websites and edit wedding videos with bombs flying around. However, we found our motivation in helping the army and donated money from each project or even bought the necessary equipment ourselves. The best reward for us was to find out that one of the bulletproof vests we bought saved someone’s life.

At the end of 2022, we started hiring again. A lot of talented people have lost their jobs because of the war, so we gave them a stable income and interesting projects.

Wow! It’s impressive. Any important lessons you got from that?

Now I understand that material things are temporary and in general not so important. But people and reputation are. When the war started, a lot of my clients helped me out a lot, and my own connections benefited my team and society. That’s what kept us going.

True, it’s extremely important to be surrounded by the right people — I feel we’ve mentioned the social circle a lot during this interview. So, what qualities do you value most in the people you connect with?

I enjoy sports, communication, and surrounding myself with people who are always learning, growing, and living an active lifestyle. They’re decisive and up for adventures, and that’s what I love about them!

I know work-life balance is a hot topic for many right now, and it’s important. However, I find it challenging to stick to strict work hours. When I’m passionate about something, I can work non-stop. But I also recognize the need for rest and downtime, especially when I feel tired during any day of the week.

You mentioned an active lifestyle. What is it that you do and how do you combine it with entrepreneurship and your personal life?

Earlier, I thought I didn’t have much knack for sports. I tried swimming and boxing but quit both. But five years ago, I discovered Ironman and started training with a local team. My wife saw how much I loved it and decided to jump in too! A few months later, we tackled our first half Ironman in Turkey, and a year after that, we conquered a full Ironman. Sports have taught me a ton about endurance and persistence. Plus, it’s a great way to network – lots of business people are into it!

After my daughter was born, there’s been less room for sports in my life. Howeer, I still do CrossFit twice a week. I also love getting my family and friends involved in outdoor activities when we’re in Ireland. We go biking and running together – it’s a blast!

That’s the spirit of a true Ironman in business! Now that we’re moving towards the end, I’d like to ask what’s the most rewarding thing about owning a business for you.

Well, there are three things. First, I absolutely love seeing my team grow alongside the business. They’ve come so far over the years, and seeing their success makes me incredibly proud.

Second, there’s nothing quite like getting positive feedback from clients. Hearing how we’ve made a real difference in their lives and work, even beyond what they expected, is incredibly rewarding.

And lastly, I love the personal growth that comes with being an entrepreneur. Running your own business teaches you so much! If you’re not constantly learning and evolving, it’s like the business itself is stagnating. Growth is essential.

Elaborating on that, what’s next for your business?

We aim to grow our customer base twice in Bride&Groom.video and add new services besides video editing. Our ultimate goal is to become a reliable and multifunctional back office for wedding photo and video professionals, where they can outsource all their processes (apart from working with the couple and filming, of course).

Right now, Markupus is in the middle of developing a cutting-edge client platform for our Bride&Groom clients. While working on this project, I learned about the struggles that marketing teams have with outsourcing developers. That’s why we are launching a new engagement model “Web designers and developers as a service” where the client pays a fixed subscription and gets a team ready to work on their tasks as soon as it’s needed.

So, there’s a lot that’s going on. Hope we’ll have enough energy for everything 😅

Lastly, what advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs out there?

I believe that we should never give up, never stop learning, and follow our dreams no matter what. In 2020, Bride&Groom almost had to close its doors. But by 2023, we’d tripled the number of projects we take on, and we’re setting our sights even higher. 

It was our pleasure talking to Serge. His story is a good example of what it takes to be an entrepreneur – curiosity, resilience, and a life-learning mindset. At the end of the day, entrepreneurship is more than just business. It’s a way of life driven by a desire to make a difference, create something new, and solve problems.