5-Minutes With: Vince Gaydarzhiev
5-Minutes With is an interview series where business leaders from Endeavor Bulgaria’s network share their personal experiences, advice, and lessons learned.
Meet Vince Gaydarzhiev, founder of Alcatraz AI, Endeavor Entrepreneur, and a trailblazing hardware engineer who has revolutionized access control with cutting-edge facial authentication technology. Born in Ruse, Bulgaria, Vince moved to the U.S. at 16, pursuing an impressive career fueled by a passion for computer engineering. He holds advanced engineering degrees from Stanford and USC, alongside a bachelor’s from the University of Central Florida.
Before founding Alcatraz AI in 2016, Vince played pivotal roles at tech giants such as Apple, NVIDIA, and Planet Labs, where he contributed to groundbreaking innovations like prototyping FaceID for the iPhoneX and integrating Tesla’s embedded systems. His startup, Alcatraz AI, serves Fortune 500 companies and government institutions, blending 3D sensing, facial biometrics, and AI to transform enterprise security.
What is a surprising fact about Endeavor?
The connectedness of the people within such a large organization. It seems everyone feels very close to the network and is willing to participate and help. It feels like an extended family.
Entrepreneurship can be a rollercoaster – what’s your go-to method for staying grounded during tough times?
Be with the people I love and recharge with adventures.
What’s one myth about entrepreneurship that needs to be debunked?
Product-market fit needs to be immediate or the company will fail.
It all depends on the product and industry, sometimes being early-on sets you up to be the leader while the market is maturing. But yes, you will need more funding to get a longer runway. 🙂
What’s one book, podcast, or resource you’re currently reading or listening to that you’d recommend to others?
The playbook by QuantumLight. It’s a short read!
What’s one piece of advice you’d give to aspiring entrepreneurs?
Start a venture with someone you trust and you like being around with. What you are creating is a family and it needs to have parents with a great marriage, otherwise company culture will suffer (and you will too).