Dr Botty Dimanov is the co-founder of Tenyks, a company that provides AI-delivered insights based on video feeds.
In this week’s Founder in Five Q&A, Dimanov discusses why inflexibility can kill the success of new founders, how a background in mindfulness has helped his career and why few people understand the true purpose of CCTV.
Which role was the most important early hire you made?
Georgia Mason, who is now our Business Operations Lead. From leading projects to creating company policies and processes, such as payroll and annual leave, to overseeing hiring, Georgia has been instrumental in laying the foundations for the operational side of Tenyks.
There is no doubt about her role in enabling the business to get to where it is today.
Then, of course, there is my co-founder, Maleakhi Wijaya. He’s not exactly a hire, but without him, Tenyks wouldn’t exist. He leads both the technical side and customer success, ensuring that what we build doesn’t just work, but actually solves real problems.
We met at the University of Cambridge, where, as part of my PhD, I was co-supervising his MPhil in Visual AI.
Within his first two weeks, he had achieved more than most manage in six months, driven by an unwavering self-belief that he could publish at the International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR), the gold standard in our field.
That belief wasn’t misplaced, and he later won Best Student of the Year in the department.
But what truly defines Maleakhi is his grit, discipline, and care. I still remember a night he attended a formal dinner in black tie, only to return immediately afterwards and code through the night to meet a customer deadline.
He wanted them to feel how much we cared. That’s who he is: a rare combination of world-class technical ability, relentless commitment, and genuine kindness.
Which company’s growth story are you most impressed with?
The US-based cloud data storage company, Snowflake. Despite large competitors like Amazon building a similar product, Redshift, Snowflake continued to develop its core IP and spent more than two years refining it.
The time and dedication the team devoted to this effort, solving existing problems like customer security through Customer-Managed Encryption Keys, and targeting a niche audience in marketing and gaming, enabled Snowflake to have the largest software IPO in history.
Snowflake was ahead of the game and grew – at one point, this was 174% year-on-year – because it created a solution to a growing issue. I had the opportunity to interview Snowflake’s Co-founder, Marcin Żukowski, on the business’s journey.
He shared how even when they were starting out, it was so clear to them that the world would shift from on-prem to cloud, as it provided the ability for multiple teams to collaborate, and run very sophisticated queries, while not having to maintain large legacy systems.
What’s a common mistake you see founders make?
Inflexibility. We know that startup life requires agility and adaptability, but many founders remain obstinate in the face of market demands.
You might have a great idea and product, but how will your business scale and grow without any customers or users? Product-market fit is not to be underestimated.
Timing is everything, and founding a successful startup is all about striking the right balance between perseverance and changing direction.
This is something we know all too well at Tenyks, as the company was initially focused on the explainability of AI and how to make it safe.
Our mission evolved after we established internal milestones to determine our next course of action; if we didn’t achieve X by Y, we were to reevaluate our strategy. We’ve found that having measurable goals is an effective way to avoid quitting too early or sticking with something disadvantageous for too long.
What’s a fact about yourself that people might find surprising?
I was Treasurer for the Mindfulness Society at the University of Cambridge. People are often shocked by this – and the fact that I still practice mindfulness – because I, like many founders, tend to move at a mile a minute and am constantly asking, “What’s next?” I initially got into mindfulness while searching for a business mentor, and the University teacher guided me through the type of company I wanted to start, its culture, and even the initial concept.
This conversation introduced me to reflectiveness, which helped me sift through 1000 ideas, ranging from quantum to robotics, to decide what I wanted to build.
Being mindful has been a tremendous support, as it has allowed me to find calm amidst the hectic nature of being a CEO and co-founder of a startup. It’s a great way to start and end the day, and meditation is particularly useful on those occasions when I’m struggling to sleep!
What’s the most misunderstood technology?
There’s a misconception that cameras and CCTV are simple surveillance devices, and just a way for “Big Brother” to keep watch.
They are, in fact, a source of untapped intelligence that not only improves a company’s bottom line but also finds previously unseen quality, safety, and security gains.
Utilising cameras in the right way and analysing their data can provide actionable insights for a range of industries, including hospitality, retail and healthcare.
If we can couple cameras and AI – another technology that is often grossly misunderstood and viewed by many as a threat to our jobs – we can analyse and understand video data better.
This can enhance training and enable individuals to perform more effectively in their roles, rather than making them redundant. Such an environment would deliver higher-quality service, ensure safer working conditions, improve customer experience and prevent losses, such as theft.
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