Lech Kaniuk

Swedish-Polish entrepreneur

I keep building.

“Any action is more important than being 100% correct.”
Translated from Lech Kaniuk's Polish books
See the climb What I’m building now

The Climb / one continuous line

A career, not as a timeline. As an instrument.

The line rises, drops, and climbs back higher. The dips are part of the proof, not exceptions to the story.

  1. 01

    1985–2001 / Warsaw to Sweden

    First company sold at 20

    Everything the family owned fit in one car.

    His parents left Warsaw for Sweden in 1985 with the family’s possessions packed into the car. Growing up with less taught him to sell early: lilac bouquets door to door, then a fire-alarm business as a teenager. At 18 he sold his first innovation to the Vargön Alloys steel mill. At 20 he had sold his first company, still before finishing university, and become the youngest innovation consultant at ALMI, a Swedish state-owned company.

    “Lesiu, I don’t know, but try.”
    Read the source chapter Power of Momentum, ch. 1 + 2026 bio (transl.)
  2. 02

    Dip / Łódź, med school

    A stolen car, a blank exam sheet, and the end of one plan.

    The return to Poland collapsed fast. The car was stolen within two months, together with the belongings customs had listed on entry, and the flat was burgled in broad daylight. He handed in a blank exam sheet and went back to Sweden. The recovery started with a phone call: a professor in Luleå on Thursday, a 1,500 km drive north on Sunday, a night in the car, enrollment on Monday.

    “I aborted the exam with tears in my eyes and handed in a blank sheet.”
    Read the source chapter Power of Momentum, ch. 2 (transl.)
  3. 03

    2009–2012 / PizzaPortal → Delivery Hero

    PLN 120M exit

    The city that beat him became the city where he built.

    Money from the KYAB stake sale bought his first property in Łódź, the city he had fled. In 2009 he co-founded PizzaPortal.pl within OnlinePizza Norden, paying the first developers in shares because there was no cash for salaries. Three years later Delivery Hero bought the group for PLN 120 million; soon after, he signed a €100 million investment agreement with a trembling hand. He stayed seven years. The group’s value passed €5 billion, and the Polish platform operates today as Glovo.

    Read the source chapter as told in Power of Momentum
  4. 04

    31.01.2015 / APPetyczna Sobota

    App share 16% → 69% in one day

    The competitor announced free food. His team had 48 hours.

    Pyszne.pl announced a free-food Saturday: ten thousand vouchers. The answer was decided within hours: a bigger campaign, 12,500 vouchers, launched hours earlier and redeemable only in the app. That day the app’s share of orders jumped from 16% to 69%, and for a moment it entered the App Store top 10 among all free apps.

    “Once we picked up speed, that momentum could not be stopped.”
    Open source as told in Power of Momentum (transl.)
  5. 05

    2016 / Dip / A call from Berlin

    One phone call from Berlin ended the fleet he’d built.

    PizzaPortal had taken over McDonald’s deliveries after acquiring Foodpanda.pl, and its own delivery fleet was his bet on the next stage. Then the holding changed strategy, and the UK fleet was shut down over a single weekend. He refused to close the Polish company that way: obligations of 7 million zloty were negotiated down to under two million, the drivers were helped into new jobs, and the accounts closed with money left over. Weeks later he resigned from Delivery Hero.

    “When the transport pulled away with the last cars and I stood alone on the street, I cried for the first time.”
    Open source as told in Power of Momentum (transl.)
  6. 06

    2016–2018 / iTaxi vs Uber and Bolt

    On paper, they had no business surviving. Today they’re profitable.

    He backed iTaxi as an angel in 2014 and stepped in as CEO in 2016, straight out of the fleet’s wreckage and into a fight with Uber and Bolt for the Polish market. The way through was refusing to fight everywhere at once: only the segments where a customer’s lifetime value covered the cost of winning them. iTaxi is profitable today, and the war over those two numbers became his third book.

    Open source his third book + 2026 bio
  7. 07

    2018–2024 / SunRoof

    European BIPV leader

    He told his brother no. Twice. Then they built a European leader.

    His brother Karol brought him solar roofs; he said no, twice, wary of mixing family and money. When he finally joined, the first move was hiring an outside manager, so he would not become his own brother’s boss. As CEO from 2018 to 2024 he built SunRoof into one of Europe’s leading companies in building-integrated photovoltaics. Since December 2025 he has chaired the supervisory board.

    Read the source chapter Angel in Hell, ch. 2 + 2026 bio
  8. 08

    The hard years / unnamed, on purpose

    €15 million raised. Eighteen months of runway became nine.

    One company in this story stays unnamed, exactly as it is in the book. It raised €15 million expecting eighteen months of runway; headwinds cut that to nine. When he called his co-founder, the line went silent, and then came one word: “shit.” Marketing had been approved at €40,000 a month without checking the numbers. It did not feel like an emergency. It felt like Tuesday.

    “Hope is not a unit economics strategy.”
    Open source his third book, preface
  9. 09

    2014 → today / The other side of the table

    40+ angel investments

    Forty-plus investments. Both sides of the table.

    Across the five companies he co-founded and the ten-plus he built and led, he raised more than €150 million: from angels, funds, public money, partners, and customers. Now he sits on the other side as well: 40+ angel investments and, since January 2026, Venture Partner at Eleven Ventures, backing founders across the CEE region.

    “The smallest amount I raised was 23,400 PLN from a business angel, and the largest was 100 million euros from a fund!”
    Read the source chapter Angel in Hell, word from the author + 2026 bio (transl.)
  10. 10

    June 2025 / FaradayX

    A new company. First day, again.

    FaradayX, founded in June 2025, sells energy as a service: ultra-light photovoltaic installations with storage, built to widen access to green energy. It is the momentum thesis applied to its author. Starting costs the most energy, and he keeps choosing to pay that price.

    Open source 2026 bio
  11. 11

    Now / Stealth

    The next one is called Grasperly. That’s all he’ll say.

    An AI company, built quietly. The books argue against announcing anything before there is something real to verify, so this page won’t either. If you need to know more, ask.

    Open source 2026 bio

€150M+ raised · Co-founded 5 companies, built and led 10+ · 40+ angel investments · Builder of the Year, Sweden, under the patronage of King Carl XVI Gustaf Source: 2026 bio

From Siła Pędu

Momentum starts with the first real action.

In the introduction, Lech frames momentum as the energy needed to move a project from rest into motion. The first step costs the most. Once a project is moving, each next step becomes easier, and stopping it also takes energy.

Any action is more important than being 100% correct.

Translated from the introduction to Siła Pędu

Start moving

  • A dormant idea dies if it stays too long in your head
  • The first real step carries emotional energy
  • A name, registration, or first sale can create more momentum than a polished plan

Keep moving

  • A moving project accumulates energy
  • Each small next step is easier than restarting from zero
  • A larger project can survive problems that would destroy an early startup

Let the market verify it

  • There will be time to change the name, logo, product, and plan
  • The market can only respond after the idea exists outside your head
  • The point is to have something real to improve

Set bigger goals

  • Do not let other people's limits become yours
  • Allow yourself to dream bigger
  • Move in small steps until the line gains speed

Giving back

Building leads. Investing, writing, and teaching sit beside it.

Anioł w Piekle

Investing

He spent years on the raising side of the table and now invests from the other: 40+ angel investments and, since January 2026, Venture Partner at Eleven Ventures.

Read the source

Books / talks

Writing & teaching

Three books on momentum, fundraising, and unit economics, plus MBA guest lectures at SGH Warsaw and Kozminski University.

Speaking
Power of Momentum — book cover Power of Momentum How from 0 I co-founded companies worth more than 5 billion euros. Angel in Hell — book cover Angel in Hell How to raise funds from investors and why it is not always worth it. The Two Numbers — book cover The Two Numbers The two numbers that build or break every business.

Now · STATUS · 2026-07

The line is still moving.

  • SunRoof Supervisory board chairman since December 2025.
  • FaradayX Energy-as-a-Service: ultra-light solar plus storage.
  • Eleven Ventures Venture Partner since January 2026.
  • Grasperly European legal AI for law firms, built from Warsaw and Stockholm. In stealth.

Investors and partners: get in touch.

About Speaking Contact

For founders

Books, source notes, and tools for the next decision.

Start with free Polish chapters or practical guides adapted directly from the books.

Tools Fundraising Books