We don’t chase the story. We are the source.
We believe startup media is broken. It chases funding announcements and acquisition headlines while the real stories – the ones about how things actually get built – go untold.
So we’re doing something different.
BYVI is written by founders, for founders. No traditional journalists. No outside writers trying to interpret what we do. Just builders sharing directly how they think, what they’re building, and why.
Real insight.
No fluff.
What you’ll find here: the frameworks that shaped decisions, the mental models that got founders through hard moments, the lessons learned when no one was watching.
No media spin. No polished rewrites. Just raw clarity field notes and future-state thinking from the minds building tomorrow.
Written by those building the future.
Every founder has a story worth telling, regardless of funding stage or round size. The bootstrapped founder grinding toward profitability has as much to teach as the venture-backed unicorn.
Because the best way to understand how startups get built and inspire a new generation of founders is simple: hear from those building right now.
This is founder-driven media. Insights first. Always.
Welcome to BYVI.
Editor in Chief
Lidia Vijga
CO-Founder at DeckLinks
Lidia is a tech founder by day and ghostwriter by night. It’s a combination that taught her exactly what’s missing from startup media.
She started the publication after experiencing firsthand how difficult it was to secure press coverage for her first startup. The pattern was clear: journalists gravitated toward fundraising announcements and acquisition stories, while bootstrapped founders and early-stage startups struggled to get noticed, no matter how compelling their work was.
That realization became BYVI’s founding mission: making press coverage accessible to all founders, regardless of their startup’s stage or funding status.
Lidia believes every tech founder has a story worth telling and lessons worth sharing. BYVI exists to shine a light on those stories – the ones that typically live in the shadows of the tech news cycle.
Authors
Andrew Jenkins
Founder at Volterra
Andrew Jenkins is an International Speaker, Podcast Host, University Instructor and a founder at Volterra, a Social Media Management Agency. Andrew has been teaching social media marketing strategies for enterprises at the University of Toronto for the past ten years. He is also the author of ‘Social Media Marketing for Business: Scaling an Integrated Social Media Strategy Across Your Organization.’
Assel Beglinova
CO-Founder at Paperstack
Assel Beglinova is a CEO and Co-founder at Paperstack, a platform that provides working capital for e-commerce sellers. With her expertise in revenue-based financing, Assel helps merchants achieve their growth goals and thrive in the competitive world of e-commerce.
Daniel Rizzi
CO-Founder at We WATCH and Toronto Business Lawyer
Daniel Rizzi is co-founder at We Watch and Toronto based business lawyer that helps founders in software, Crypto, Fintech, BioTech, and the AI space navigate the legal landscape and make better decisions. From incorporations, shareholder agreements, terms and conditions, privacy policies, to fundraising and M&A, Daniel helps the underdogs become titans.
Roy Wainer
Founder at Townish
Roy Wainer is a Toronto-based entrepreneur who is building Townish, a platform for planning and organizing team retreats. Townish partners with villas and hotels, chefs and caterers, and local experiences, as well as professional coaches to help teams succeed. Roy is very engaged in the Toronto tech ecosystem and is always willing to have a coffee with fellow founders who need advice.
Rob Comeau
Founder at Cinemads
Rob Comeau is a founder of CinemAds, a video production company that handles creative development, production, post-production, and marketing. Rob produces high-quality video content for various B2B startups to help them grow faster and become the leaders in their industry.
Tasha Van Vlack
Co-Founder at The Nonprofit Hive
Tasha Van Vlack is Co-Founder at The Nonprofit Hive – a platform for impact-driven, nonprofit professionals to meet weekly for free 1-1 video calls. She is passionate about the social impact sector and hopes her startup will build community and connection for the industry she loves.
Sascha Hoffmann
Founder at Lifecycle Marketing
Sascha Hoffmann is an editor at Back 2 Marketing School and a marketing professional with 4+ years in the heart of Silicon Valley, London, and Germany. He started his Lifecycle Marketing consultancy in September 2020 and has helped small and medium-sized businesses with their digital marketing in SEO, Paid Media, and Marketing Automation.
Ansley Fender
Founder at Grantcycle
Ansley Fender is the Founder & CEO of Grantcycle, a collaborative grant management platform serving the public, private, and nonprofit grant funders and recipients in the US and Canada.
James Wiles
Founder at QRSpace
James Wiles is a startup founder and serial entrepreneur with 10+ years of experience in hardware and SaaS. As a leader in the industry, James is committed to sharing his expertise with others and has written numerous articles and blog posts on topics related to software development, business, and finance.