INNOVATORS VS COVID 19

Remote Teams is a Rapidly Growing Niche during Pandemic in 2020, Says Julia Koinak, the Founder of DNA325 and LAB325

Published

3 years ago

11/12/2020

Kokou Adzo

First of all, how are you and your family doing in these COVID-19 times?

Julia Koinak: Thank you for this question. We’re ok, but Vit C, D3, and Zinc have been ordered.

Tell us about you, your career, how you founded DNA325 and LAB325.

Julia Koinak: I’ve been in IT since 2006, starting from Marketing for a US-based Software Development company.

Since the nascent beginnings of the iOS App Store and Google Play, I have worked in the mobile industry.

In 2010 I created and led a top-rated US-based mobile app marketing agency – ComboApp and mobile media platform – Go Wide, executing innovative marketing, traffic generation, and public relations solutions for an array of mobile-focused clients.

After gaining experience in software and product development, mobile marketing, in 2016, together with a partner, we founded Full Cycle R&D Agency – DNA325 and in 2018 – LAB325. We help with IT recruitment all over Eastern Europe, hosting our clients’ teams in our offices, software, and mobile development for E-health, E-learning, and E-commerce.

How does DNA325 and LAB325 innovate?

Julia Koinak: DNA325 uses innovative technologies for the recruitment of candidates using all the up to date services as our own Telegram channels where we have about 20k subscribers. We’re working on our own job board where a client pays for the result, not for the job post.

In LAB325, we offer our clients the development of the ready to use product mockups before the start of the development process to shorten the risks of missing the deadlines as well as to “touch” the idea of a product.

How the coronavirus pandemic affects your business, and how are you coping?

Julia Koinak: The period from March to May 2020 was the most critical for DNA325. We help global companies grow in Eastern Europe, offering full-cycle operations support from IT teams’ recruitment to hosting them in our co-working space specially designed for them. We were receiving emails from our clients during the whole month and leads that they should pause their intense to open an office in Ukraine or other Eastern countries. It is a case when you stop reacting to the negative news because it becomes new normal. But during the period when most of the people were laid off, we at DNA325 hired 35% of the new team, saved the financial reimbursement without any reductions. From the beginning of the pandemic and quarantine, I was thinking about new products to strengthen the position of DNA325 and develop an ecosystem of the liaison of global IT and Ukrainian specialists. And we started our development process of 2 new products:

1. Tender platform for service business;

2. Job board where we unite Eastern European tech and non-technical specialists and global business.

Did you have to make difficult choices, and what are the lessons learned?

Julia Koinak: Not to panic but think globally. Learn new trends, listen to specialists from different niches all over the world, follow the new trends, and be responsive.

How do you deal with stress and anxiety, how do you project yourself and DNA325 and LAB325 in the future?

Julia Koinak: It depends on your attitude. If you have problems with your business, this is not your business. If it is the business of your life, these are the issues that you can deal with on a daily basis. My plan is to grow my business during this period of new opportunities. The pandemic has given this chance to stand out of routine and think globally.

Being mindful definitely helps with anxiety. This surreal year provided the opportunity to reflect on what is really important and take a moment to appreciate the present.

Who are your competitors? And how do you plan to stay in the game?

Julia Koinak: Our competitors do only part of our services. We are building an ecosystem of Eastern European IT business for global companies. By our strategy, during the next 2 years, we will grow our business x10 in revenue; as a result, we are ready for a consortium with European IT companies and hiring business development managers in the US to grow our presence.

Your final thoughts?

Julia Koinak: Definitely, I’m waiting for the happy end of this Covid-19 story, but I’m happy that we can see the positive side and opportunities of the global collapse.