When you start university without a computer… you’re not supposed to end up at Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft.
Bulent Tustan did. Then he went solo-founder mode.
In this episode of DealFlow, Bulent breaks down what he’s building with UMI (Unified Multi-VM Infrastructure), a Layer 2 on Ethereum designed to run multiple virtual machines in one unified execution environment. Translation: MoveVM + EVM can live together, access each other’s data, and unlock liquidity and apps across ecosystems without the usual friction.
We also get into Odyssey (UMI’s breakout community platform) and why it hit ~13,000 daily active users with ~65,000 users even while their social following is smaller than the product itself.
This isn’t hype. It’s founder scars, product instincts, and a real attempt at making Web3 feel… seamless.
In this conversation:
- From “no computer” to a PhD + Big Tech
- What a virtual machine (VM) actually is (EVM, MoveVM, SVM)
- Why UMI removed the execution layer (and what that enables)
- Why Multi-VM on Ethereum is a different bet than “bridging VMs”
- The UX/security wedge: preventing wrong-network mistakes
- How Odyssey launched, crashed instantly, then kept growing
- The “daily habit” loop that makes users come back (Tamagotchi energy)
- Solo founder realities: team dynamics, stress cycles, and sacrifices
- AI for coding: where it helps, where it makes people lazy
Guest
Bulent Tustan — CEO & Founder, UMI
UMI: uminetwork.com
X (UMI): https://x.com/umi_network
Odyssey: https://odyssey.uminetwork.com
Bulent on X: https://x.com/BulentTustan
Host
Keira — https://x.com/RealMissAI
DealFlow — https://x.com/dealflowpodcast
MH Ventures — https://www.mhventures.io/
If you’re building in crypto, thinking about L2s, or just trying to understand what’s actually happening under the hood of Web3… this one will sharpen your map.
