From $1.5B startup to serverless Postgres: Nikita Shamgunov on building Neon

Executive overview

Most founders set a plan and stick to it regardless of how the world changes. Nikita Shamgunov left a $1.5B company he built over 10 years to start Neon, a serverless Postgres platform, because AI was reshaping the database market. Adapt or become irrelevant — the plan must reflect the world, not the original intent.

When growth slows or the world moves on, that is when the music stops; until then, keep dancing.

Leaving SingleStore for Neon

• Built SingleStore from $7M ARR to north of $20M, reaching a $1.5B valuation.
• After 10 years, the operational layer matured enough that he was no longer the critical node.
• Craving breadth of learning and a new challenge pushed him to start again from zero.
• AI changed the database market fundamentally — ignoring that shift was not an option.

Validating product-market fit early

• Neon was built in the open: all code on GitHub under a permissive license.
• GitHub stars going vertical at 11 months in was the first PMF signal.
• Launched a website without a password gate; a leak sparked public debate that served as early audience signal.
• Treat the website like a movie trailer — it tells you whether the audience wants the film before you finish it.
• Don't obsess over domain names until after PMF; Neon.tech was available and good enough.

Staying adaptive as the world changes

• Having a 1–3 step plan matters (e.g., Tesla: Roadster → Model S → Model 3).
• The plan must evolve when the world changes — formalise the new plan, communicate it to investors, board, employees, and yourself.
• If your team was built for the old plan, they may lack the capacity to see or execute the new one.
• Bring in people who are already expert in the direction the world is heading.

Working through hard periods

• The hardest moments: things stop working, money burns faster, team patience runs out.
• Common failure modes: wrong market fit, poor technology, or being outcompeted.
• High-quality teams work through those moments without losing composure.
• Having lived through it at SingleStore made navigating it at Neon smoother.

Growth as the antidote to grind

• A startup only feels long when growth slows or stops.
• Neon grew over 6x in revenue in one year — the company looks completely different than it did at the start of that year.
• Strong PMF is visible: customers love the product, more joining daily, scope expanding into broader platform territory.
• As long as growth continues, the fog of war is bearable and the work stays energising.