jsDelivr is a plugin host that allows webmasters and developers to offload their files and plugins to offer direct links to the site, making your website faster to use. When it comes to web speed, faster is always better. We caught up with Dmitriy Akulov, jsDelivr’s 19-year-old master, to get behind the scenes look at the young startup’s world.
How long have you been involved with the Internet and what were your first steps?
My first experience with Internet was at the age of 10. After a lot of arguing and reasoning, I got my parents to allow me to use the 56k dial-up Internet connection that was advertised back then. I think the first thing I did was find the Pokemon website.
What time do you usually start work each day
I tend to work during the night and sleep the day.
Do you have an office or work at home?
I work from home right now, but I would prefer to work from [an] office in the future.
What’s the very first thing you do at work everyday?
I check my emails, and then Twitter. After I get updated on the latest events I start with my work.
How’d you come up with the name for your company?
I came up with the name with a friend of mine. After a week of trying to think of something good I gave up and asked anyone I knew for ideas. A short conversation with him and “jsDelivr” was born.
How many people did you start the company with and how many people work for you now?
I started alone and did most of the development by myself. Now there are two of us, but more people are involved in less[er] degree[s] (ideas/features/advices). And soon we expect a freelancer to get started with our first plugin for WordPress.
Who or what inspires YOU?
I think the movie “The Social Network” inspired me a lot to not [give up on] my projects.
How’d you fund this venture? VC? Self-funding? Crowd-funded? Where’d you get the money, man?
Right now the companies MaxCDN and UserVoice sponsor us with their services. But the project is self-funded; I pay all the expenses. I make money working as a Senior System Administrator for a hosting company.
What would you be doing if you had one year off and $500,000 US to spend?
A lot of things. The first thing would be to rent some office space and hire people. That would result in a lot of new and super cool features that I cannot possibly do by myself right now. After that, the marketing would follow; people need to know about us.
Do you consider yourself a successful entrepreneur right now? If not, what’s it gonna take to make you feel successful?
My startup is too young for me to be successful. I think a few thousand clients and mentions by big websites and blogs would start making me feel successful.
Is there a Web app or site you couldn’t live without?
Twitter I think, since this is where I get all my news right now. Developer articles, tutorials, news, new technologies and techniques all come from there. It would be really hard for me to follow all this without it.
Mobile App you’re in love with?
Foursquare definitely. I would be lost without it.
iOS or Android?
I always preferred Android.
What’s the greatest thing about your company/website/idea?
I think that we really care for our users. All requests are processed immediately and all feature requests are seriously considered, some of them even come out a few days later.
Where can our readers reach out to you?
You can find me on my twitter @jimaek
Thanks Dmitriy! If you’ve got an overload of plugins on your site and slow loading is the result, check out jsDelivr, and get your site’s motor running again!
