# Smirnov Labs

> Smirnov Labs is engaged when meaningful capital has already been deployed
> into a technology initiative and outcomes are delayed, uncertain, or
> deteriorating. Our role is not to add engineering capacity — that has
> usually been tried. Our role is to restore execution control, so that
> prior commitments can be converted into operating assets.

Smirnov Labs LLC is a technology-leadership consultancy based in
Westminster, Colorado. We work with investors, boards, and founders of
mid-stage and SMB portfolio assets where a technology initiative has stalled.

**Areas of focus.** Stalled platform interventions; mid-market technology
leadership; AI transformation oversight, applied with the same execution
discipline.

**Engagement model — three phases with explicit exit ramps:**

- **Assessment (1–2 weeks)** — independent evaluation of technical,
  organizational, and commercial state. Deliverable: a written go, reshape,
  or wind-down recommendation.
- **Reset (2–6 weeks)** — establish single-owner authority, prune non-viable
  work streams, define the first concrete delivery target with a fixed
  review date.
- **Execution (1–6 months)** — operate as the accountable technical leader
  until the deliverable is in production and the asset is transferable to
  ongoing leadership.

**Strike-zone signals.** Smirnov Labs is most useful when three or more of
these are present: engineering spend rising while production output is not;
a specific milestone has repeatedly slipped; no individual can commit to a
date for the next production milestone; an external dependency has been
blocked for more than 90 days; leadership disagreements are resolved by
postponement rather than decision; the most recent architectural direction
is less than six months old.

**Diagnostic posture.** Ownership before architecture; deletion before
refactor; scope to the revenue path. Poor fit for greenfield projects with
no prior spend, pure advisory arrangements, or situations where the binding
constraint is market rather than execution.

**Engagement inquiries:** ivan@smirnovlabs.com

## Pages

- [About](https://smirnovlabs.com/about): Background on Smirnov Labs and Ivan Smirnov.
- [Services](https://smirnovlabs.com/services): Technology leadership offerings — assessment, reset, execution.
- [FAQ](https://smirnovlabs.com/faq): Engagement structure, fit, and outcome measurement.
- [Press](https://smirnovlabs.com/press): Podcast appearances, interviews, and topics Ivan speaks on.
- [Contact](https://smirnovlabs.com/contact): Direct contact and engagement-inquiry intake.

## Media

- [Around the Coin — Episode 317](https://www.aroundthecoin.com/podcast/episode-317-ivan-smirnov-cto-cofounder-of-elude): Ivan Smirnov on building Elude as founding CTO — distributed microservices architecture, venture funding, and travel-tech.
- [The Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur Show — Episode 1023](https://www.thewantrepreneurshow.com/ivan-smirnov/): Ivan on the future of technology, human-centric product design, and lessons from Google and early-stage startups.

## Blog

- [All articles](https://smirnovlabs.com/blog): Index of articles on platform leadership, AI transformation, and engineering organization.
- [AI Agents in 2025: How Agentic AI Will Transform SaaS](https://smirnovlabs.com/blog/ai-agents-2025): Ivan's take on the rise of autonomous AI agents and what it means for startups building the next generation of software.
- [Build vs Buy: A Strategic Framework for Technical Decisions](https://smirnovlabs.com/blog/build-vs-buy): Guidance on when startups should build custom technology and when to leverage off-the-shelf platforms. A strategic framework for technical decisions.
- [Case Study: How DevZero Scaled Infrastructure for Developer Environments](https://smirnovlabs.com/blog/devzero-infrastructure-transformation): A deep dive into how we helped DevZero build a scalable, secure platform for cloud development environments—from architecture decisions to team growth.
- [Case Study: Scaling Going.com's Platform to Millions of Users](https://smirnovlabs.com/blog/going-com-case-study): How we helped Going (formerly Scott's Cheap Flights) optimize their backend to handle millions of users and scale their infrastructure.
- [From Monolith to Microservices: A Practical Migration Guide](https://smirnovlabs.com/blog/microservices-architecture-guide): Thinking about breaking up your monolith? Here's a battle-tested approach to migrating to microservices without killing your startup in the process.
- [Scaling Your Startup Engineering Team: Lessons from Google and Beyond](https://smirnovlabs.com/blog/scaling-startup-engineering-team): Drawing from 5 years at Google and multiple startup experiences, here's what actually works when building and scaling engineering teams—and what doesn't.

## Optional

- [Contact success](https://smirnovlabs.com/contact-success): Confirmation page after submitting the contact form.