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# Startups Alex Samson Founded: Exits and Failures

> Ventures Alex Samson founded since 2001: three exits, the failed startups and what each one did.

## dvhb (2010–2025)

Founder · Exit · Founder & CEO. HRTech, DevTools, FinTech, Vibe Coding.

I bootstrapped a product R\&D studio and scaled it to international operations: a remote engineering team of 50 people across 12 time zones that built 100+ tech products from idea to Series A for startups and corporates. Closed an acquihire deal and relocated to Bali.

[Website](https://dvhb.com)

## Owork v2 (2019–2022)

Founder · dvhb · Exit. HRTech, SaaS.

Hiring and onboarding automation. Two clients and no market fit; the product was acquired by a fast-growing software company (150+ people) in sports and entertainment.

## Djvid (2020)

Founder · dvhb · Failed. Entertainment, Video streaming.

Remote party streaming during the COVID lockdowns. The market went away when they ended.

## Liccy Bot (2019)

Founder · dvhb · Failed. DevTools.

Open-source license manager. It failed for lack of leadership.

## Savemyphone (2015–2018)

Founder · dvhb · Failed. InsurTech, E-commerce.

Online smartphone robbery and theft insurance. Some revenue, small market.

## Owork v1 (2013–2017)

Founder · dvhb · Failed. HRTech, SaaS, Social network.

Grew out of the intranet we built for Merz. Intranet SaaS for teams: a social network, documents, messenger and tasks. Some revenue and an award, no market fit.

[owork.org in the Web Archive, 2014](https://web.archive.org/web/20140101232057/http://owork.org/)

## Evomap (2011–2014)

Founder · Failed. UrbanTech, GIS, SaaS.

SaaS GIS for interactive crowdsourcing projects: city maps where residents and city officials mark places, built on OpenStreetMap. The first pilot ran in 2012. Five clients, no market fit.

[evomap.ru in the Web Archive, 2013](https://web.archive.org/web/20130517141538/http://evomap.ru)

## Passbooker (2013)

Founder · dvhb · Failed. InsurTech, SaaS.

A B2B service that delivered insurance policies to customers' phones: Apple Passbook, plus Android and BlackBerry through PassWallet. It sent renewal and location reminders, and gave insurers a template builder and install reports. It started as a project for a leading national insurer, one of the first to put policies in Passbook, and installs ran several times above forecast.

## Duma (2001–2008)

Founder · Closed. Web agency.

A freelance agency in web design, software development and online marketing for small businesses, which I founded in high school and ran through university.

[dumagency.ru in the Web Archive, 2008](https://web.archive.org/web/20080331003228/http://www.dumagency.ru/)

## Petman (2004–2007)

Founder · Exit · Co-founder & CEO. E-commerce.

As a university student, I built an early e-commerce leader in pet supplies from the ground up to 4,000 SKUs and a team of 9. I managed all operations from engineering to sales, scaling the business to an exit.

[petman.ru in the Web Archive, 2006](https://web.archive.org/web/20060109123306/http://petman.ru/)

## I2M.ru (2001–2002)

Founder · Failed. E-commerce.

A marketplace of direct sales products, connecting buyers with sellers in cities, which I launched at 15. My first e-commerce experience and $50 from banner ads, before I closed it to focus on exams.

[i2m.ru in the Web Archive, 2001](https://web.archive.org/web/20010517042345/http://www.i2m.ru/)