I have always loved IT – from helping friends and families install Windows ‘95 during my high school and college years, to starting my own MSP in the early 2000s and then founding Nerdio in 2020. With each chapter of my career, I’ve learned invaluable lessons, navigated challenges, and embraced incredible opportunities.
As businesses grow, it’s easy for leaders to get caught up in the pressures of day-to-day operations and lose sight of what drove them to start their company in the first place. While I don’t claim to be the ultimate authority on entrepreneurship, I’ve found that staying connected to the core mission that inspired my journey has been essential to maintaining authenticity and driving sustainable growth.
Here are three key lessons I’ve learned along the way that have helped Nerdio scale while staying true to its roots.
1. Adapt and evolve – but stay grounded in customer needs
The tech industry moves fast, and it’s tempting for entrepreneurs to chase the latest trends without fully considering whether they align with customer needs. True innovation isn’t just about adopting new technologies—it’s about meeting customers where they are and guiding them through meaningful change. When we started Nerdio, many SMBs were hesitant about hosted IT infrastructure. Today, remote desktop services and cloud-based solutions are the norm, and businesses are phasing out legacy infrastructure at a rapid pace. But this shift didn’t happen overnight. It required patience, adaptability, and a deep understanding of how to support customers through change.
For Nerdio, this meant evolving from a focus on private cloud to embracing public cloud services like Azure and developing cloud-based desktop virtualization solutions. Our goal has always been to simplify IT management and enable our customers to scale with confidence. By listening to their needs and being flexible in our approach, we’ve been able to turn industry shifts into opportunities for innovation.
2. Scaling smart: The power of partnerships and rapid iteration
Growth isn’t just about expanding—it’s about scaling in a way that’s both sustainable and impactful. A company’s evolution should reflect its ability to adapt to market needs while maintaining a strong foundation.
Nerdio launched in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic—a time when remote work needs surged overnight. Our ability to quickly iterate, respond to customer feedback, and deliver solutions at record speed helped us gain widespread adoption. What started as a product designed for MSPs evolved into a platform serving thousands of organizations worldwide.
Automation has been a cornerstone of our approach, allowing us to simplify the provisioning, management, and optimization of IT environments. This commitment to efficiency, combined with a strong feedback loop with customers, has fueled our rapid growth. Today, Nerdio is recognized globally, and being named Microsoft Partner of the Year for IT innovation in 2024 was a proud milestone that underscored the impact of our work.
Partnerships have been equally critical to our success. Our MSP partners have played a key role in shaping our vision and helping us refine our offerings. Scaling a business isn’t just about having a great product—it’s about building an ecosystem where collaboration drives continuous improvement.
3. Culture is everything: Invest in people, not just products
A company’s success isn’t defined by its technology alone—it’s defined by its people. The best businesses are those that cultivate an environment where employees feel empowered, engaged, and aligned with the company’s mission.
At Nerdio, we’ve built a culture centred on active listening, transparency, and mutual respect—values that extend beyond our team to our customers and partners. Close collaboration has been a constant in my career, and I’ve seen firsthand how fostering a strong company culture translates into better products, better service, and long-term business success.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is the importance of setting high expectations—not just for myself, but for the entire organization. While it’s easy to let predetermined limits dictate what’s possible, real innovation happens when you push beyond them. That said, scaling a company requires balancing ambition with realism. Sustainable growth comes from setting clear goals, staying focused on long-term impact, and ensuring that teams have the support they need to thrive.
Looking ahead, the future remains full of possibilities. While we can’t predict every shift in technology, one thing remains constant: adaptability, customer focus, and a strong culture will always be the foundation of success.
Vadim Vladimirskiy
Vadim Vladimirskiy is CEO of Nerdio, a premier software solution provider, supporting organisations of all sizes looking to deploy, manage, and cost-optimize native Microsoft technologies.
