From $900 Websites to Winning Westpac as a Client - Ken Kencevski

<p>Ken Kencevski helped take his family’s car-parts business online and into international markets. Then he left to start again.</p><p>His family thought he was crazy. For six months, they barely told anyone he’d gone, just in case he changed his mind.</p><p>Ken was out knocking on doors in Wollongong, selling $900 websites and building momentum wherever he could. But one of the biggest rewards had nothing to do with his new business. Once work stopped dominating every conversation, he felt like he got his parents back.</p><p>In this episode of Founders Fire, Dan sits down with the founder of Devika to explore the decisions behind a decade of building digital products. From taking over a stalled software implementation at the family business, to landing Westpac as a client after abandoning his presentation and handing someone a VR headset.</p><p>Ken shares why he told every existing client the business was changing direction, how he held onto his team while competitors tried to poach them, and why he cares more about his business doing well than looking successful.</p><p>They also get into AI and vibe coding: where Ken sees real value in testing an idea quickly, and where founders can mistake a promising prototype for a product that’s ready for paying customers.</p><p>Along the way, there are $900 websites, kids’ coding classes, a Coachella project, a UFC Christmas party and an ambitious vision for Devika Ventures.</p><p>Through it all, Ken keeps coming back to the same question: how hard can it be?</p><p>0:00 Backing yourself and making the big calls<br>0:42 Meet Ken Kencevski, founder of Devika<br>1:09 Building and launching digital products<br>3:10 Ten years of Devika and the COVID pivot<br>5:20 Keeping the team together as competition for talent exploded<br>7:26 Choosing retention and profitability over rapid growth<br>9:56 The server outage that sparked his interest in tech<br>12:04 Taking the family business online<br>14:31 The software project that was always “one month away”<br>17:10 Taking ownership when the tech partner couldn’t deliver<br>20:17 AI, vibe coding and the gap between prototype and product<br>23:18 Creating one consistent way to build software<br>25:50 Why saying yes to everything became unsustainable<br>27:59 The “Jerry Maguire moment”: calling every client<br>29:44 Growing the family business through e-commerce<br>32:51 The San Francisco trip that changed his direction<br>34:42 Why his family didn’t want to take another big bet<br>