Today we’d like to introduce you to Yinyan Poplavski.
Hi Yinyan, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Camel Software Service grew out of a simple observation: small businesses in Austin were getting left behind digitally — not because they lacked ambition, but because affordable agencies delivered cookie-cutter results, while the good ones were priced for enterprise clients.
I had been working in the tech industry as a software engineer, building up experience across web development, digital marketing, and IT consulting. I started helping a few local business owners on the side and kept hearing the same thing: “I wish I had found someone like you sooner.” That feedback pushed me to make it official.
I founded Camel Software Service in 2024 with a mission to be the digital partner I wished existed for small business owners — affordable, technical, and genuinely invested in results.
Our first client was a local real estate agent looking to launch a flat fee agency. We built out their web presence and digital marketing strategy, and the results spoke for themselves: leads tripled. Seeing that kind of impact on a small business owner’s livelihood in the first engagement made it clear we were onto something worth building.
Today we help small businesses build and grow their digital presence through custom web and mobile applications, third-party integrations, digital marketing, and IT consulting. We’re lean by design, which lets us stay affordable without cutting corners. Being rooted in the Austin community, it’s incredibly rewarding to watch the businesses we serve grow alongside us.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Definitely not a smooth road. Early on, things looked promising — I landed a few local clients and even secured a sizeable international contract, which felt like real validation. But that momentum didn’t last. The pipeline dried up, and I found myself facing the reality that wins early on don’t guarantee a steady flow of work.
To keep the bills paid, I stepped back into a full-time job for a period. It wasn’t an easy decision — there’s a certain humility required in admitting that the business isn’t yet where you need it to be. But that time away also gave me clarity. I realized I wasn’t ready to let the vision go. The problem I set out to solve — small businesses not getting the digital support they deserve — was still very real, and I still believed I was the right person to help solve it.
So I made the decision to recommit, this time with more intention and structure. That chapter taught me that entrepreneurship isn’t a straight line, and resilience isn’t about never stepping back — it’s about choosing to step forward again.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
What sets Camel Software Service apart starts with my background. Before founding the company, I spent about 10 years as a software engineer and tech lead at Netflix, Apple, and Indeed — working across a wide range of product areas with the deepest experience in backend development, fintech, search, and AI. That’s the caliber of engineering experience that typically lives inside large tech companies, not at a boutique agency serving small businesses.
But technical depth alone isn’t what makes us different. Somewhere along the way, I developed a genuine passion for digital marketing — specifically Google Ads. I started helping friends with their businesses on the side, running SEO and SEM campaigns, and discovered I loved the intersection of technology and business growth. It’s one thing to build a great product; it’s another to make sure the right people find it.
That combination — enterprise-grade engineering chops paired with hands-on marketing expertise — is rare, and it’s what Camel Software Service is built on. Most agencies either build things or market things. We do both, and we understand how they connect.
What I’m most proud of is delivering outcomes that genuinely move the needle for small business owners — like tripling leads for our very first client, a local Austin realtor launching a flat fee agency. These aren’t vanity metrics. For a small business, results like that can be life-changing.
My mission is simple: give small businesses access to the kind of talent and strategy that used to be reserved for companies with deep pockets.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
The most important lesson I’ve learned is deceptively simple: stay focused, and only work on things you’re truly passionate about.
Early in my journey, I chased opportunities that looked good on paper but didn’t align with what I actually cared about. The work felt harder, the results were mediocre, and the motivation was never really there. Contrast that with the moments I was deep in a backend architecture problem, optimizing a search system, or watching a Google Ads campaign turn around a client’s business — time disappears, and the quality of the work shows it.
Passion isn’t just a nice-to-have. For an entrepreneur wearing many hats, it’s the fuel that keeps you going when clients are slow, when a project hits a wall, or when — like I experienced — you have to step away and decide whether to come back. I came back because the work still excited me. That excitement is what I think ultimately makes the difference between building something that lasts and burning out.
Focus is the other half of that lesson. The tech world offers endless rabbit holes — new tools, new markets, new ideas. I’ve learned to ruthlessly prioritize the areas where I have both genuine passion and real expertise, and let everything else go. That’s where I do my best work, and that’s where my clients get the most value.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://camelsoftwareservice.com/
