MacPaw Co-founder: Built 15 Products with Zero VC by Investing in AI Over Headcount
rschmelzer · x · 2026-08-11
The Small Team Big Scale podcast interviewed Vira Tkachenko, co-founder & CTIO of MacPaw, discussing how she led a 500-person team to build 15 products (including CleanMyMac and Setapp) with zero VC funding.
Key takeaways include:
- AI Tokens Over Headcount: The company now prefers investing budget in AI tokens rather than hiring new employees, scaling output while keeping headcount flat.
- B2C Funding Challenge: Investors tend to favor B2B, but MacPaw maintained independence by staying profitable from day one.
- Importance of Co-founders: Vira advises finding a co-founder rather than going solo, as diversity of thought beats simply relying on AI agreement.
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