The story of Bitfiner - through the eyes of the founder

This is the story of how Bitfiner was born and how it transformed from my freelancer’s dream into a design studio into a digital eCommerce powerhouse that is now well respected and trusted by customers from over 20 countries. It is a quick overview of the freelance times, studio times, agency times, and why we now call Bitfiner a digital eCommerce powerhouse and value a flexible and remote work culture.

The beginning

In 2011, before founding Bitfiner in 2014, I thought it was a good idea to quit my marketing career that was going pretty well. The plan was to design websites that make businesses generate more revenue. The dream was to do it remotely while traveling.

Did I have proper education, training, or a detailed plan? No. 

And before reading any further, you should know I once applied to a local art and design school in Tartu and did not get in. I wandered off from design for around five years, graduated from a university, and earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental sciences. Eventually, all the roads led me back to design and digital - and well, here we are. 

This is the story, how to do it the hard way. And how hard-learning and persistence can have an impact.

Crazy times and cold calling

Well, that’s how it started. Remote freelancing began in 2011, and somehow the idea of designing not just business-card style websites but designing them using various tactics and psychology attracted several customers from Estonia and Finland. The first websites were proper “pearls” and are now shared only with a few people who can handle such a throwback. 

There are a few still out there

New York and London

The freelancing times brought many connections in 2014, and, besides freelancing, II went on a few startup journeys as a co-founder. The trip took me to London Seedcamp and New York and on many other adventures. They were eye-opening experiences for sure. This quickly shaped me up for what’s to come.

Early signs of Bitfiner

As the startup adventures gave less return than expected, I decided to focus on the web and marketing business and carried on with freelancing. But the client list had grown, and it was tough to manage everything alone.

The first office and employees in 2014

With no big plans or clear roadmap, Bitfiner was born. At first, the idea was to be a cool design studio that crafts awesome websites to help clients grow faster. So I hired the first employees and opened up an office in Tartu Science Park.

Fun times began

With little experience and learning on the go was no concrete plan 😀 Bitfiner somehow attracted more clients and some abroad. We even opened a small photo studio and made 360-degree photos for well-known brands—the first ones in Estonia.

More power in 2016

Time went by really fast, and there were some dream projects, and some of the opposite kind, as well. Luckily, the trend was upwards. Bitfiner was joined by a new shareholder and partner, Paul, my brother, in need of more power. Paul had just finished a political election campaign for the Estonian celebrity and TV host Mihkel Raud – who won a seat in Estonia’s Parliament, by the way.

New studio office

Tartu Science Park was the hub for many startups, but we felt it was time to move into a more appropriate building. And that we did. We moved to Veski Street and into the lovely historical and beautiful Sakala House. The team grew, and their skills grew even faster. It was the place where our designs matured. It was the place that gave birth to many outstanding projects. We had some excellent times there!

Increasing appetite

As our appetite increased, we needed bigger office space for our design studio/agency model. We found a perfect spot in Tartu’s Old Town. The third floor of a former bank building, which was built in the 1800s. The problem was that it was super ugly on the inside. So we hired a contractor, tore down some walls, and fully renovated the place. It came out pretty well. 🙂

First awards and high recognition

The year 2018 was more than acceptable to us in terms of recognition. Local design awards such as Kuldmuna (Golden Egg), winners of the Baltic E-Commerce Summit, European Design Awards finalists, a nomination to the German Design Award 2019, etc. It just kept on coming, as did some cool projects and clients.

I was thrilled - because as you could read from the beginning, the local art and design school in Tartu did reject my submission to learn there, I do not have the proper education when it comes to design, and I learned everything about UX/UI design and conversion rate optimization from the Google almighty.

Around 20 countries in 2018

The USA, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Singapore, China, Bulgaria, Romania, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, Germany, Iraq, Lesotho, Rwanda, Netherlands, and a few more countries. These are the places where our clients do business and where we have designed different projects. It’s pretty cool to get this level of experience from so many different perspectives. It seems that we have been quite busy and have traveled a lot. 🙂

Good start

The year was good! The German Design Award 2019, a nomination for the European Design Award 2019, an honorable mention from the Awwwards, and we had some exciting and challenging new projects. Who can complain!?

Making a significant shift in 2019

It’s been quite a journey, with freelancing, studio and agency life, etc. Since Bitfiner turned 5 in 2019, I decided to make some significant changes based on some big plans. Based on my learnings and the demand I saw, I decided that Bitfiner will not be a studio or a typical agency – instead, the goal was to transform it into a digital powerhouse. A hybrid.

Estonia is one of the world’s leading tech countries, and the ambition was for Estonia to shine even more brightly. My small dream is that Estonia and Bitfiner will be one of the first places that ambitious businesses will turn to if they want to exceed their customers’ expectations and, at the same time, improve their business. 

So Bitfiner moved from Tartu to Tallinn, and I made a significant shift towards a flexible and remote lifestyle. It felt so right.

We expanded our team from outside the country and inside. If a person wants to work from home, the office, garage, beach, or Alaska – that is perfectly ok. If they prefer to be on the payroll or like to invoice Bitfiner – that’s perfectly ok too! We have goals and deadlines and use metrics to measure the outcome. Bitfiner works with people and partners who share our values and deliver results with a smile on their faces every single time.

It is the outcome and work that matters, not chair time in the office. And I don’t care about the region a person is from or lives. If passion and skills are in place - it is all good.

2020 - yep, the one no one dreamed or dreams of

The first few months went with the speed of light. Bitfiner was fortunate to start and complete several pleasing projects recently from Estonia, Sweden, Lithuania, Germany, the USA, UK, and even South-Africa.

And then came the COVID … Kind of changed many of my plans and changed the business for good. For better, of course. If to sum up the year with one word, it would be - roller-coaster.

The year was so packed with challenges and new plans, so I think the best way to summarize the key events that helped me to shift to eCommerce more aggressively would be the following:

• The eCommerce clients had somehow taken over 60% of our time - and we loved it more and more
• During the first lock-down, the team and I created something that changed our mindsets completely. We made Helumium - a free conversion and growth kit for eCommerce businesses. It is now used by people from all over the world, over 40 countries to be specific (any by some big brands, 100M+)
• My family and I entirely moved to Tallinn - no more back-and-forth 400km trips
• We moved Bitfiner’s office from Saarinen House to Rotermann Quarter – a magnificently-restored area in the center of Tallinn with a radical avant-garde architecture is our new home. No point to have that much room when it’s sitting empty
• Bitfiner was nominated for the German Design Award 2021, with a project from Berlin
• I decided to rebrand Bitfiner and entirely focus on helping eCommerce clients grow to new heights.
• I kept the design studio opened too, and it is kind of like the “A-team.” Well hidden, but word of mouth does its job well, and we have plenty of projects on the table. Among them, the #1 art and design university in the Nordics, #3 in Europe, and #6 worldwide. I’m thrilled because even though I never got into the local art and design school and learned by googling, I can now work with the best of the best and deliver top-notch designs myself and with the team and partners.
• My brother Paul, who joined Bitfiner as a shareholder and project manager in 2016, decided to pursue his own path in November.
• The team and I made a lovely gift to our friend from Bring Hope Humanitarian Foundation - a brand new facelift for their website and digital well-being. As a pro-bono partner for 5+ years, it is crucial for the team and me to help people in need.
• The year ended quite nicely - a clear understanding of where to next, why, and how. And regardless of COVID, the year was even better than the last one. So full speed ahead! 
• We started to rebrand and entirely focus on eCommerce, and before that, and following our standards. We did many interviews and a lot of research - just to be sure we hit the nail on the head :) 

2021 - the year of eCommerce, started with a bang

Bitfiner won an award at the German Design Award 2021. I’m incredibly proud of our designers, who took it to the next level, and pretty happy myself too as the art director of this project. Please don’t tell anyone. Bitfiner also secretly has an award-winning design studio.

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Other than that … 

The majority of my energy has gone to rebranding and rethinking Bitfiner. As eCommerce will be our main focus point - a lot needs to be done, step by step. New business models, value proposition, USPs, products and services, people, agreements, systems, website, brand, legal documents - and the list goes on. The days are long, but it is all worth it.

2021 will be the year where Bitfiner starts its journey to become a premium household name in the world of eCommerce.

Will the team and I make it? I guess we will all find out soon. Stay tuned!