About Ivan Smirnov & Smirnov Labs
Transforming ambitious ideas into impactful, scalable solutions through strategic technology leadership and Silicon Valley expertise.
Former Google engineer. Startup CTO. Now empowering founders worldwide with fractional technology leadership.
Our Mission
At Smirnov Labs, our mission is to harness cutting-edge technology and strategic insight to transform ambitious ideas into impactful, scalable solutions. We exist to empower visionary founders and organizations to achieve their boldest goals through innovation, excellence, and a relentless focus on user delight.
Our Values
Innovation
We believe in the power of creativity and ingenuity, pushing the boundaries of technology to develop state-of-the-art solutions.
Excellence
Quality is at the heart of everything we do. We maintain rigorous standards to ensure exceptional performance and reliability.
Collaboration
We value teamwork and open communication, combining diverse skills and perspectives to achieve greater outcomes.
Integrity
We conduct our business with the highest ethical standards, ensuring trust and transparency in all our interactions.
Client Success
Our clients' success is our success. We're dedicated to understanding their needs and delivering solutions that drive their business forward.
Impact
We measure our work by the impact it creates, helping businesses scale and succeed in the rapidly evolving tech landscape.
Ivan's Journey
Early Passion for Technology
Ivan's journey into technology began early, driven by a passion for solving problems through code. He quickly discovered that technology could make people's lives easier and more enjoyable—a philosophy that continues to guide his work today.
5 Years at Google
Ivan spent 5 years at Google (2016-2021), where he contributed to major products like Google Ads, Google Cloud Platform, and Google Assistant. As a core contributor to Google's Tools and Infrastructure team, he worked on pipeline optimization projects that power the entire Google Ads stack.
His work involved retooling core technologies and integrating backend systems, significantly improving product performance and market impact. Working on systems that served billions of users globally taught him the art of balancing innovation with reliability at enterprise scale.
First Employee at Lighthouse AI
Before Google, Ivan was the first employee at Lighthouse AI (2015), where he played a pivotal role in defining the company's direction and product strategy. He led the development of a smart security camera MVP and was instrumental in creating patented AI camera technology, showcasing his ability to drive innovation from the earliest stages.
Co-Founder & CTO: Elude
In 2020, Ivan co-founded Elude, a travel-tech startup, serving as founding CTO. He built the engineering team and platform from the ground up, architected a high-performance distributed microservices platform, and raised venture capital to fuel growth. Under his leadership, the company launched five groundbreaking product releases.
This experience gave him first-hand insight into the challenges founders face—from technical architecture decisions to team building, fundraising, and scaling under pressure. Elude was successfully acquired in 2023 in a private transaction, validating the technical foundation Ivan had built.
VP of Infrastructure: Safe Health
Following Elude's acquisition, Ivan served as VP of Infrastructure at Safe Health (2023-2024), leading the infrastructure strategy and engineering teams for a revolutionary healthcare platform. He adopted a microservices architecture and cloud-native Kubernetes infrastructure that enhanced system scalability and reliability, while developing a 24-month technical roadmap to drive modernization and boost deployment speed.
Founding Smirnov Labs
After Elude, Ivan founded Smirnov Labs to bring Silicon Valley expertise to startups worldwide. He recognized a critical gap: many early-stage companies need seasoned technical leadership before they can hire a full-time CTO.
Smirnov Labs was created to fill that gap, providing flexible, fractional CTO services that put the company's interests first. Through this model, Ivan has since partnered with numerous startups—including DevZero, Going.com, SupplyVeins, Cupo.ai, and Island Bookings—helping them scale their technology and businesses.
Ivan's approach is unique: he works to eventually make himself obsolete, helping companies build internal capabilities and hire full-time CTOs when they're ready. This client-first philosophy has earned him trust and long-term relationships across the startup ecosystem.
Today & Beyond
Today, Ivan continues to push the envelope of technology. In his spare time, he explores agentic AI systems, advanced multi-compute (MCP) server architectures, and the latest in AI innovation—ensuring he stays at the bleeding edge of tech. He regularly shares insights through industry podcasts and thought leadership articles.
Featured On
Around the Coin Podcast
Episode 317: Ivan Smirnov, CTO & Co-founder of Elude
Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur
Episode 1023: The future of tech and human-centric solutions
"I strive to make life easier for people, whether it's a niche time-saving script or a product millions will love. There are endless possibilities for improving the world with technology."
— Ivan Smirnov
Education & Credentials
UC Berkeley
B.A. in Computer Science
Quantic School
MBA in Business & Technology
Interested in Working with Ivan?
Let's discuss how Smirnov Labs can help your startup build scalable technology, grow high-performance teams, and achieve your most ambitious goals.