Victoria Duben Discusses Her Startup

Intro

Victoria Duben, founder of Viewst, an entrepreneur and former professional tennis player with a passion for science, spoke with us about the origins of the company, its mission, and future goals. The full interview is available in the video below.

Viewst helps designers and campaign managers to collaborate in cloud, scale ad versioning, streamline approvals, store all projects and assets in one location and organized, and build up campaigns to go live faster.

Tell me a little bit about yourself and how Viewst.com came to be.

I was a professional tennis player when I was a kid, but I’ve never given up studying.

I am grateful for the advice my parents gave me that there are just 20, 50 people who are very successful in playing tennis, and there are like thousands who are successful in science, investment banking, and other areas. Another thing that influenced me at that moment was a documentary film about Michael Jordan, who was telling his story and how he visited a lot of high schools and talked to kids and said exactly the same thing like guys use your sport’s victories as a chance to get to a great high school and sponsored education, but, don’t dream about like being just an NBA player because there were like 300 of them. So I remember this; I was, I think, 12 when I first saw the movie. When I quit tennis, I got a master’s degree in physics and mathematics and fell in love with science. I got an invitation to a Ph.D. program at one of the best universities in the United States, but accidentally, everything in my life was accidental; I joined a hedge fund. Investment bankers tend to hire a lot of graduates from technical departments. Back then, I was waiting for the invitation and papers to join this Ph.D. program because I was also dreaming of it, but spending several months at the trading desk felt so exciting. Everything about the job in the hedge fund was so exciting, we developed very complex investment strategies for different classes of assets, and I fell in love with that. So I’ve decided, okay, I will stay and do this job. Actually, I’ve done this for nearly ten years. I worked in a hedge fund and brokerage, and I’ve gone through different positions, like, analytical, trading, and portfolio management. When I turned 30 years old, I realized that I’d burned out and wanted to create value, not just trade. I met a very talented engineer building a startup who invited me to help him raise funds. He pitched me his idea, which took me roughly one year to get deep knowledge about the industry and approximately two weeks to raise funds. He invited me to join the startup as a CEO when I did it. I worked for three years on this project before finding a bigger market in the industry and launching Viewst alone.

Helping people stay focused on things that matter most in life is what drives us.
Victoria Duben, CEO and Founder of Viewst

How did you come up with the name Viewst?

I was reading a book by Phil Knight Shoe Dog, and I remember the chapter about how they ended up with the swoosh and the company name. Back then, I was a part of a Bootcamp in New York where I met a girl working on branding, and we started brainstorming the idea of a new project related to one I’ve been working on already rich media ads. We started to brainstorm the major feature of this rich media, and it was always viewable, like viewability. I was playing with these words and wrote a big list of different synonyms.

The biggest challenge was to find an available domain name. Viewst.com was available on installment bases, so I took this opportunity.

The biggest challenge was to find an available domain name. Viewst.com was available on installment bases, so I took this opportunity.
Victoria Duben, CEO and Founder of Viewst

You’ve been involved in so many different activities. It all seems very interesting and exciting. What’s going to be the next thing?

I’m dreaming about building a Unicorn, but not in the sense that I want to become famous and successful, more like when you’ve dived into an industry and have seen the flaws; you want to make it more efficient. You want to bring this solution to as many people as possible because you see the real value. Finally, I feel like I have found this sweet spot where I want to be and what I want to do; frankly speaking, building a startup is tough, but I am enjoying it.

What are the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make in startups and branding?

It’s a hard question. This is my second startup and in the first one I’ve done all the possible mistakes. I think it’s a good idea to join creative bootcamps, work with professionals.

For a startup the money is never enough, it’s difficult to find resources to invest in a brand but it is very important. There is that saying «How you call the boat it’s how it will sail».
Victoria Duben, CEO and Founder of Viewst

So there are a lot of online programs and bootcamps to learn from professionals. For instance Viewst became viral in Japan just because of our identity, our name and logo, that was a fascinating experience for our team. That’s why it is very important.

Check the full interview below for more insights from Victoria’s unique entrepreneurial journey.

We host engaging conversations about naming, branding, and entrepreneurship, exploring everything from initial triumphs to the hurdles along the way. If you’ve got insights on innovative branding strategies, lessons learned from entrepreneurial ventures, or thoughts on the significance of a solid domain name strategy, and you’re keen to chat about them, we’d love to hear from you!

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