# Journey: Mikita Shylai > Mikita Shylai is a product engineer and founder who builds mobile and web software and applies AI to practical workflows, with a strong interest in the business and economics behind products. Source: https://shyl.ai. Last substantive update: 12 October 2026. Only published, publicly approved information is included. Metrics carry the date they were measured. ## 2008: Where it started: Minsk I was born in Minsk, the capital of Belarus. Looking back, the business side showed up early: as a child I collected stones on the street, opened a shop in our flat and sold them to my family. I do not even remember what I was saving for. I just wanted to earn my own money, and I kept saving from then on. Permalink: https://shyl.ai/journey#2008-minsk ## 2019: First programming classes at IT Club At eleven I started programming classes at IT Club, because I wanted to solve technical problems and build things of my own. Over four years I went from C to HTML and CSS, then C#, then Unity. One language a year: C first, then HTML and CSS the next year, then C#, then Unity. That is where my interest in building things for real started. Permalink: https://shyl.ai/journey#2019-it-club ## Apr 2022: Moving to Poland In April 2022 I moved to Poland. Permalink: https://shyl.ai/journey#2022-poland ## 2023: Teaching myself Python In the summer of 2023 I bought Python courses on Udemy with my own money and worked through them on my own. It was the first time I chose what to learn next by myself. Permalink: https://shyl.ai/journey#2023-python ## Oct 2024: My first startup event At the Econverse Cup in Poznań I met Mikołaj Mikołajczak, who turned out to be from my town, Jarocin. We started mTriage there and reached the final in December 2024. Permalink: https://shyl.ai/journey#2024-econverse-start ## Nov 2024: Joining Econverse V4 Right after the Econverse Cup I applied to Econverse V4 and joined a team of five to build Riddep. Permalink: https://shyl.ai/journey#2024-econverse-v4-start ## Mar 2025: Econverse V4 final with Riddep Two days of finals, first at Warsaw Tower and then in Łódź. We did not win, but through the team I met Radosław Soysal and Wiktor Dźwigałowski, who told me about the economics olympiad. Permalink: https://shyl.ai/journey#2025-econverse-v4-final ## Mar 2025: Codaro starts on a night train Travelling back to Warsaw from the lost Econverse V4 final in Łódź, Radosław Soysal and I decided to start Codaro together. Permalink: https://shyl.ai/journey#2025-codaro-founded ## Apr 2025: mTriage pivots to mass-casualty incidents As we joined the TeenCrunch accelerator, and after meeting the Jarocin County head and the county hospital's emergency department, we moved from AI triage in hospitals to software for paramedics at mass-casualty incidents. Permalink: https://shyl.ai/journey#2025-mtriage-pivot ## 13 Jun 2025: First place at TeenCrunch At the Demo Day closing the TeenCrunch accelerator, the jury gave mTriage first place. Rzeczpospolita covered the results. Evidence: - [Rzeczpospolita](https://www.rp.pl/prawo-dla-ciebie/art42558001-mlodzi-innowatorzy-i-liderzy-biznesu-nagrodzeni-w-ramach-futurecrunch) Permalink: https://shyl.ai/journey#2025-teencrunch ## 13 Jun 2025: Two projects, one Demo Day I worked on two projects in the TeenCrunch accelerator at the same time. At the Demo Day, mTriage won first place, and Codaro won the Audience Award and a place at Google for Startups. Evidence: - [Rzeczpospolita](https://www.rp.pl/prawo-dla-ciebie/art42558001-mlodzi-innowatorzy-i-liderzy-biznesu-nagrodzeni-w-ramach-futurecrunch) Permalink: https://shyl.ai/journey#2025-teencrunch-two-projects ## Jun 2025: Google for Startups Campus residency Codaro moved into Google for Startups Campus in Warsaw, the place it won at TeenCrunch. Coworking, training and a cohort of other founders until February 2026. Permalink: https://shyl.ai/journey#2025-gfs-residency ## Jul 2025: Freezing mTriage A month after winning TeenCrunch, we froze mTriage and later archived it. My time went to Codaro. Permalink: https://shyl.ai/journey#2025-mtriage-ends ## 1 Jul 2025: Starting economics from zero Wiktor Dźwigałowski told me about the economics olympiad, and on 1 July 2025 I started learning economics with no background at all. I remember not understanding why price and quantity sit on the axes the way they do in a supply-and-demand chart. Permalink: https://shyl.ai/journey#2025-economics-start ## Sept 2025: Codaro's first pivot: from freelancers to teams Few would pay to verify a developer's hours. We moved from time tracking to a live view of progress and blockers for whole teams. Permalink: https://shyl.ai/journey#2025-codaro-pivot ## 2025: Prime Minister's scholarship Awarded the Prime Minister's scholarship for the 2025/2026 school year, and again for 2026/2027. Permalink: https://shyl.ai/journey#2025-pm-scholarship ## Jan 2026: Joining OpenRoad as technical co-founder I joined two days before Rasputin launched the iOS app, and started building Android. It became my first project with large-scale traction. Permalink: https://shyl.ai/journey#2026-openroad-join ## 2026: Codaro's second pivot: testing B2C For about three months in early 2026 we offered the same plugin directly to individual developers, to see if they would pay faster than companies. It brought our first sale in March 2026. Permalink: https://shyl.ai/journey#2026-codaro-b2c ## 24 Feb 2026: Hackathon Codaro A hackathon at Google for Startups Campus in Warsaw: 16 teams, about 90 participants and over 25,000 PLN in prizes, organised by the Codaro team in one month. We had exactly one month for everything: the agenda, guests, participants, funding, sponsors, partners and marketing. It taught me more about running something under a hard deadline than any sprint. Permalink: https://shyl.ai/journey#2026-hackathon ## 16 Mar 2026: Codaro's first paying user The B2C version of Codaro made its first sale: the first traction for a product I had built from the very beginning. Permalink: https://shyl.ai/journey#2026-codaro-first-sale ## 31 Mar 2026: OpenRoad launches on Android Three months after joining, I published the Android app I built as OpenRoad's only Android developer. Since then I work on both platforms. Permalink: https://shyl.ai/journey#2026-openroad-android ## 9 Apr 2026: Laureate of the national economics olympiad, first attempt 9th place in Poland in the central final of the XXXIX Olimpiada Wiedzy Ekonomicznej, after placing 3rd in the country out of 394 participants in stage II. My goal had been to reach the final; I came out a laureate, with admission to SGH. The essay was what I feared most. Polish is my third language, and four years earlier I could not speak it. The task is to write seven or more pages on an economics topic you only see on the day. I practised until it became my strength: a maximum 25/25 in stage II and 24/25 in the central final, the second-highest essay score among the 100 finalists. Most people need two or three attempts to become a laureate. I studied every day for nine months, covered at least the first year of an economics degree, and did it alongside school and my projects. Evidence: - [Official list of laureates](https://owe.pte.pl/upload/files/uczestnicy/laureaci/laureacixxxixowe.pdf) Permalink: https://shyl.ai/journey#2026-owe-final ## May 2026: Stepping back from Codaro After more than a year, I stepped back from Codaro to focus on OpenRoad. I stay on as an advisor, and Radek continues as CEO. Permalink: https://shyl.ai/journey#2026-codaro-step-back ## Jun 2026: A month locked in in Warsaw Rasputin flew in from Seattle and we rented an apartment in Warsaw for a month, living together and working only on OpenRoad. We shipped many new features, and my English got much better. Permalink: https://shyl.ai/journey#2026-openroad-warsaw