Matthew Diakonov (Mediar): From Moscow to Meditation to AI Data Entry Automation
Introduction
Xiao He:
Matthew, thank you so much for taking the time to sit down and chat with me today. How about we start with a little self-introduction?
Matthew Diakonov:
So my name is Matthew. I grew up in Moscow, Russia, and I was hoping to become a founder from an early age — like, about six years old. My first entrepreneurial experience was around age nine, when I sold newspapers to my schoolmates. Then I happened to have a CD-ROM that could make copies of CDs, and I was illegally copying computer games and selling them to classmates — that was my first business. I bought my second computer with that.
Then I got into software engineering around 15 and entered college through the Computer Science Olympiad. They said I didn’t have to pass literature or language exams, which I didn’t do well in (laughs). So I did the Olympiad, they accepted me — but studying there was too boring, so I started working full-time: first at McDonald’s, then in sales for kitchen appliances, then in a bank selling credit cards. All brief — six to ten months each.
Later I worked as a business consultant for five years, then left and started my first software company, which my co-founder and I sold after two years. Then I continued with other startups — five next ones didn’t work out — in Europe and Russia. When the war started between Russia and Ukraine, I left, moved to the States, started again from scratch, did a bunch of different projects, and now we’re working on Mediar with my co-founder Louis. It’s going pretty well — we fundraised and are building the product and working with our design customers.
Did Your Parents Encourage Your Early Drive?
Xiao He:
What a journey! I’m impressed you started entrepreneurship so early. Growing up in Moscow, you developed an early talent in business and computer science. Did your parents encourage you?
Matthew Diakonov:
My father used to give me money if I got good grades. So that’s how I learned the value of money. But then my grades weren’t good sometimes, so I found alternative ways to make income.
Why Move from Engineering to Consulting?
Xiao He:
In college, you studied computer science, but after college, you went into consulting at Accenture. Instead of software engineering, you became a business consultant. Why?
Matthew Diakonov:
Being a software engineer was too one-sided. And the technical bar in Moscow is very high. I wasn’t a great engineer in the first place — didn’t get into the top university, just top three. I didn’t think I could get a great engineering job in a top company. So I decided to start my career in business and learn business skills instead.
What Was It Like Working Abroad?
Xiao He:
That’s awesome. I know you’ve lived in many countries — Dubai, Barcelona — how was that experience?
Matthew Diakonov:
I lived in nine countries for at least two months each. Dubai was two years — UAE, Dubai and Abu Dhabi — while at Accenture. Everything was smoothly relocated, sponsored, so I just went and worked. It wasn’t a big difference — working for Accenture is the same everywhere. Pretty hard, but good money.
What Kind of Projects Did You Work On?
Xiao He:
As a consultant, what types of companies did you work with? What problems did you help solve?
Matthew Diakonov:
Very different projects: consumer goods companies, transportation, airlines. We looked at what they spent money on compared to competitors and helped reduce costs — who to fire, how to change back-office operations, etc.
Did You Enjoy Corporate Consulting?
Xiao He:
Looking back, did you enjoy it?
Matthew Diakonov:
No. Because the motivation was bad in the first place. For example, working for a tobacco company — the more we helped them, the more people they killed. So I refused to work on that project. Then a chocolate company — same thing, more sugar, same harm. Then an airline company — they were deceiving people, upselling the same seat as “premium.” I didn’t like that. Corporate business felt driven by greed — fire people, make more money — not humane.
How Did Your Values Shift Toward Meditation?
Xiao He:
Yeah, I know you’re very disciplined about where you put your time and energy. And outside of work, you also volunteer for meditation centers and help manage donation money. Do you think these values come from your upbringing or later life?
Matthew Diakonov:
Definitely an evolution. You try one dish life offers you; you like it or don’t like the aftertaste; you try another. Eventually I found the best dish — meditation. It changed my values completely. It’s counterintuitive unless you try different things.
What Was Your First Startup About?
Xiao He:
After consulting, you started your own business and successfully sold it. What was it about?
Matthew Diakonov:
It was software to manage small hotels — a CRM system connecting Airbnb and Booking.com for property managers to schedule bookings, housekeeping, inventory, pricing. It was an emerging niche back then (2014–16). Came out of my own need because I was running holiday rentals and no software existed, so I built one. Others liked it, and I quit Accenture to go full-time.
How Did That Startup Evolve and End?
Xiao He:
How was the sales process?
Matthew Diakonov:
In retrospect we were too “greedy”. Instead of selling software, we wanted to control everything, so we leased properties ourselves, gave owners fixed rent, and took profits on top. Not scalable. Every negotiation long-term, managing people a nightmare.
Xiao He:
Then what made you sell it?
Matthew Diakonov:
Too hard to scale. My co-founder wanted to exit. We sold part of the company so he could leave and I continue. Eventually the rest collapsed — we closed unprofitable units, some transferred into a real estate agency that still exists in Russia.
What Other Ideas Did You Try Next?
Xiao He:
After that, you tried other ideas in Russia and Europe. What were they?
Matthew Diakonov:
We tried long-term rental management — replacing agents with software: schedule a visit, self-tour via digital lock and camera, sign agreement online. Scalable on paper but people weren’t ready — they wanted to talk to a human for such a big expense.
Xiao He:
That was around 2015-17, right?
Matthew Diakonov:
Yes.
Xiao He:
Now eight years later people might be more receptive, especially in the US with Redfin, Zillow, etc. Do you think the timing was the issue?
Matthew Diakonov:
It’s better now but still will take 50 years for people to change.
Starting Over in the U.S.
Xiao He:
Fast forward to 2022, and you moved to the US. How was it when you first arrived?
Matthew Diakonov:
I came to the Bay Area, rented a room in a Palo Alto startup co-living house. It was shocking. My last startup in Russia was late-seed stage, team of 10, $1.5M fundraised (which equals ~$15M in the US). Then suddenly I had to start from zero. People here didn’t understand my background; none of my connections mattered. Total reset. Uncomfortable. Had to go back to IC role, relearn coding, improve English.
How Did You Improve Your English?
Xiao He:
When I met you, you’d been in the US less than three years, but your English was really good. How did you improve?
Matthew Diakonov:
It was a big challenge. I had a thick accent. I took English classes daily — 30 to 60 minutes each day. If you keep doing that for three years, you improve a lot. I still need ten more years to polish it (laughs).
What Does Your Daily Routine Look Like?
Xiao He:
I find it impressive — you work seven days a week, you meditate, swim, study English daily. How do you manage time?
Matthew Diakonov:
Sleep is the weak point. When I first came, the first app I built was a time tracker — tracking what I spend time on. It helped me stay accountable and intentional. Awareness and intention lead to better output. My routine: sleep, meditate, work, exercise, meditate, English, meditate, sleep. Recently I moved exercise to evening — feels better.
How Did You Discover Meditation?
Xiao He:
The words “awareness” and “intention” sound very meditative. When did you get into meditation — after moving to the US?
Matthew Diakonov:
Yes. I followed an influencer back in Russia — Oscar Hartmann, a self-made billionaire — he had great content about consistency producing habits that produce great output (similar to Ray Dalio’s principles). After I moved to the States, things didn’t work out — one failure after another, no friends, no girlfriend. I had passive income from Russia, but it kept decreasing. Very depressive. Nightmares every night — I’d get killed in dreams and wake up terrified.
Friends told me about meditation; five friends told me, three had incredible stories. One friend Katja moved from Russia too, went to a Vipassana course, came back and within months became a yoga teacher and studio owner. That sold me.
I signed up for a two-day course first, then a ten-day Vipassana. On day eight I had huge transformation — life changed forever. I was ready to face the world, and things quickly improved after that.
How Did Life Change After That?
Xiao He:
I’m so happy for you, Matthew. At your birthday party this summer you said it was the first birthday in the US where everything worked out. When I met you, your startup was doing so well — design partners, reputable investors — you and Louis so hardworking and disciplined (even if you eat frozen canned food every meal 😂). After hearing your story of struggle and meditation, I’m really happy for you.
Matthew Diakonov:
Thank you.
What Sparked the Creation of Mediar?
Xiao He:
What prompted Mediar?
Matthew Diakonov:
It was Louis’ idea. The first product was ScreenPipe — it recorded your screen and audio 24/7 to create an archive you could query with AI. It went viral, made $100k revenue, but people didn’t use it daily. Some businesses asked to use it for automation. That led us to focus on automating business workflows — that’s Mediar.
How Do You Find the Right Co-Founder?
Xiao He:
That’s awesome. You’ve mentioned before that you tried many co-founders before Louis who didn’t work out. How did you meet Louis, and what’s your advice for finding a co-founder?
Matthew Diakonov:
It’s like dating — a market. You have supply and demand. You want a good co-founder, but why would they choose you? Start with reality — who’s around you, who you’ve worked with. I didn’t have that in the US, so I had to try 20 different co-founders. Some didn’t like me, some I didn’t like. One was good but emotionally unstable. I kept trying — hackathons are great for meeting people. I met Louis at a community space, not a hackathon. I saw his GitHub — he was working with someone else then. I kept in touch. Later, when neither of us had co-founders, I joined his idea ScreenPipe.
Many people make the mistake of having an idea first and trying to find a co-founder to join their idea. It rarely works — the best people are already working on their own ideas. It’s better to join theirs. Louis accepted me as co-founder, which I’m very grateful for — and it worked out.
What Are Your Top Recommendations?
Xiao He:
That’s awesome. I know you two are making amazing progress and I’m excited to see what you’ll build next. One last question: any book, film, or podcast you’d recommend to our readers?
Matthew Diakonov:
The best movie is Forrest Gump.
Xiao He:
Yes, I love that too.
Matthew Diakonov:
Just repetition — doing the smallest thing a million times can make you world-class.
Book: Principles by Ray Dalio.
For startups: YC videos are the best — watch one a week and apply it.
Closing
Xiao He:
That’s awesome. Thank you so much, Matthew.
Closing
Consistency compounds. For Matthew, that’s time-tracking, English every day, swimming, and meditation—paired with honest pivots and the humility to reset. Sometimes the smartest founder move is to join the right person on the right idea—and then build.
Interview by Xiao He for Mother of Success.