About | Learn about Margus Koiduste

1987 - First breath

I was born in the small country town of Märjamaa, Estonia.

1994 - First electronics experience

I had a lot of electronics to play with as my father was previously the head of a department for the top tech design company in the country. My first soldering experience was motorizing a white gull-winged toy sports car.

1996 - First computer experience

My journey into the world of computer tech started in 1996 when my neighbor got an Intel 486 computer. Lion King, Speed Haste, and Doom 2 were the main activities.

1998 - First PC

By 1998, my father bought our family’s first PC. I learned to reinstall Windows 98 and navigate the Internet with a dial-up connection.

2000 - First website

Armed with a book gifted by my mother called “My Internet”, I dove into HTML. I created my personal website with a black background, spinning 3D skulls, and flames – an aesthetic masterpiece of its time! Also build a website for my pet turtle.

2002 - First message board

For a brief time, I ran my own hacking-themed message board. I quickly left this hobby behind after exploring some forbidden digital territories and learning valuable lessons when my hosting provider shut down the board.

2003 - First business experience

I earned some extra pocket money by fixing audio amplifiers and building speakers for my classmates as well as strangers on the Internet.

2004 - First formal education

I was so fascinated in computers that I decided to study computers and computer networks at Tallinn Polytechnic School alongside graduating high school.

2006 - First SaaS start-up

I started my first company with my brother. We built a prototype and even got our first clients. However, we gave up on the idea after a local startup accelerator turned us down with the explanation "There is no market for a SaaS like Shopify" (it was before Shopify)

2006 - First job

My first role at the company Spin TEK involved managing the hosting for Tallinn’s local government website (tallinn.ee) and maintaining budgeting software (Caesar) for Estonia’s largest construction company (Merko).

2007 - First agency

My second venture was offering website and web store development services with my business partner under the name Veebikeskus. We helped spin up at least one local ecommerce success story. This success later helped the owner to become the head of Estonia's ecommerce association.

2008 - First university

For a year, I studied Theoretical Physics at the University of Tartu. After getting acquainted with some doctorate students, I realized that it would take years in physics before I could match what I was earning from my software development agency. Next year I switched to Business Information Technology at TalTech University.

2009 - First hosting provider

While studying, I joined my classmates' company and helped develop a hosting provider called Cactus Hosting. It was later acquired by Veebimajutus, which is now the second-largest hosting provider in Estonia.

2011 - First fast-growing company

When working for my classmates' company, me and my mates laid the code foundation for Chilli. It later became one of the largest ecommerce platforms in Estonia and won the title of fast-growing company (Gasellettevõte) in Estonia for multiple years.

2010 - First programming club

During my mandatory military service, I started a programming club for my fellow soldiers. Among other things, we worked with pinu.ee (local Stack Overflow clone) team to build the largest software development-related job board in my country.

2011 - First non-profit

I joined as one of the founders of the educational non-profit KAE Kool. We ported the Khan Academy platform and content to the Estonian language as well as promoted the platform to schools and teachers. After 13 years, I still maintaining and funding this platform.

2015 - First Fortune 500 code

I joined ERPLY, one of Estonia’s early startup success stories. I built and led the building of payment and ecommerce integrations for clients like Elizabeth Arden, Disney Theatrical Group, and Garmin. After going from a software developer to a tech lead, I left ERPLY to found my third company.

2015 - First and only wife

Got married to my wonderful wife Gertrud.

2018 - First kid

We had our first kid in 2018 and the second one in 2020.

2024 - First 4-hour workweek

After giving up on a startup project for Weddingly and others wrapping up at the same time, I achieved the first 4-hour workweeks. However, after this goal off my bucket list, I started to miss the hustle.

About me