Voohy is where ambitious high-performers come to take their leadership skills to the next level. Often people are promoted to a leadership role because they have done well - but the skills that made them successful in their role till now, often isn't enough to perform well in a leadership role.

Voohy is a place where people can become better managers and better leaders.

Who is behind Voohy?

Voohy is made by me - Shwetank Dixit 👋.

Before Voohy, I served as VP of Core Technology at eyeo GmbH. I've also led R&D for BarrierBreak, was PM of the Browser Extensions Platform at Opera, and a member of it's Developer Relations Team for about 9 years.

I am married to an incredible woman, and have two amazing twin kids.

How did Voohy come to be?

When I was younger and much less mature, I thought a manager's job was easy. After all, it was the ICs actually producing stuff - code, designs, marketing material, sales leads.

Then I went into product management (that was still an IC role) and I was swarmed with stuff. People coming from everywhere asking for all sorts of things. Me being dragged into tons of meetings. Me sending a bunch of emails and keep track of a number of stakeholders.

I realized how overwhelmed I was and then I looked at my managers and remembered that they are in even more meetings, talking to way more people, and they also have people management responsibilities on top of it.

This was my journey of realizing that leadership roles require a lot of self-management. This is doubly true if your leadership role involves people management.

Struggling for Solutions

I tried to find tools and techniques to manage myself better, but none of them were truly built for the specific needs of people who are new to leadership.

With time, I got people management responsibilities and I ran into the same issue. Sure, there were learning resources, but they were scattered all over the place, many of them were out of my reach because they were too expensive, and many of them were actually too long (I still believe many books are longer than they need to be).

Developing the Vision

As I become more experienced in people management, and lead not just a team, but an entire business unit with multiple teams across different geographies, I became more opinionated about not just how to lead, but also how to keep growing as a professional.

I realized that there is a gap in the market when it comes to solutions which provide both tools and training to manage different aspects of leadership. Especially the emotional aspects. Relationships are extremely critical when you're leading people. Along with the territory also comes emotionally charged moments. Having a space to take a step back, reflect and manage your emotions is critical, but I haven't seen a place where leaders can do it properly.

That's when I decided to make something on my own - something to help people become better leaders and managers. Something that will level up their knowledge on leadership, help them on the emotional aspects of leadership, help them advocate for themselves and others, and help them in their career goals.

I envisioned making something that I would have found invaluable when I was starting out my journey in leadership and management.

Taking the Leap

With the vision in mind, I decided to leave my role as VP and fully commit to building Voohy out.

Along with the ride, came even more learning and growth. I began talking to a great number of people in all spectrums of leadership. ICs and people managers. Leaders in product, engineering, sales and marketing. People managers and individual contributors.

People have been very forthcoming to share the ups and downs that come along their jobs with me. They've shared the challenges they face every day, the lack of support and clarity they have to wade through, and the emotional struggles they face when leading others. I also began mentoring and coaching people along the way, which has been a privilege in itself, but also has unlocked even more insight on how to help people advance in their careers by becoming better leaders.

I wanted to make sure that I am not just solving a problem for myself. I am solving a problem for all kinds of leaders in tech organizations, with a direction and opinion born out of my own mind, but shaped by hundreds of people I have talked to along the way.

Voohy is a labor of love, born out of a genuine desire to help people lead better. A lot of thought and care has gone into it. Your support towards Voohy will help an indie one-person business (me) and my family, instead of some large corporation. I will be honored for you to try Voohy.

With you,

• 

  Shwetank Dixit

  Founder of Voohy

PS: You can read more on the methodology and values behind Voohy here.