Pavel Guzhikov on zero to one speed and building Uzum in Uzbekistan

Here’s a founder story that blends speed, scars, and systems. Thomas with co-host Markus digs in with Pavel Guzhikov—co-founder of Uzbekistan’s Uzum and now building Meadows—on how he thinks from day zero to PMF. 🚀Pavel’s new bet, Meadows, is an insight engine for real-world decisions: councils, banks, businesses. It pulls raw signals from streets and shopfronts, then tells you what to build next—and why. Not hand-wavy AI, but sentiment, cohorts, and choices you can defend.We get the playbook: trust your gut, but check the retention curves; empower people at the edge; move fast where incumbents move slow. Acquisition vs unit economics isn’t a binary—if retention is real, you can earn later. 🧠On Uzum, the “why” wasn’t valuation—it was impact. First-mover e-commerce + fintech, TV-led trust, hammer goods to build habit, and zero-fee P2P to get money flowing. The unicorn label came after the country changed, not before. 🌍There’s the cost, too: a near-collapse early in his career, then a rebuild grounded in dashboards, cohorts, and stepping back only when the team sees the problem before he does. And his take on AI? Useful, overhyped—invest with discipline, not delusion."Vision-driven, data-informed."