$360 / month
2 calls per month (60min/call)
Unlimited Q&A via chat
Expect responses in 2 days
Hands-on support
Starts with a free 7-day trial – less commitment than a paid call, cancel anytime.
$360 / month
2 calls per month (60min/call)
Unlimited Q&A via chat
Expect responses in 2 days
Hands-on support
$360 / month
2 calls per month (60min/call)
Unlimited Q&A via chat
Expect responses in 2 days
Hands-on support
$360 / month
Start free, decide later
I'm a technical co-founder building a B2C generative AI startup (currently in stealth). Before that, I spent 8 years at Google building the modern YouTube.com frontend and backend, serving on the core web committee, and shipping major product features. I then spent 4 years at Waymo as an L6 engineer focusing on ML/generative AI systems and was part of the San Francisco autonomous vehicle rollout.
I'm also the creator behind one of the most popular open-weight text-to-image models (300M+ generations, 1M+ downloads - I'll share which one when we chat).
Over my 12 years in big tech, I climbed from L3→L4→L5→L6 and conducted 100+ technical interviews.
🎯 What I Can Help You With
💼 If you're aiming for roles at top tech companies:
🦄 Breaking into FAANG/top-tier companies (L3 through L6)
🦄 Technical interview preparation (systems design, coding, behavioral)
🦄 Understanding what matters for leveling and promotions
🦄 Navigating culture and org dynamics at Google (YouTube vs. Cloud vs. Ads are very different internally)
🦄 Hiring strategy: getting hired at senior levels vs. how AI tools are changing junior expectations
🦄 Career pathing and strategic moves
🦄 International hiring and US immigration (directly hired from Russia to Google - happy to discuss recent H-1B changes)
🦄 Relocating to the Bay Area and navigating tech hubs
🦄 Direct referrals and introductions to FAANG companies and leading Gen AI/Robotics startups for strong candidates
🚀 If you're building an AI/ML startup:
🦄 Technical architecture for generative AI products at scale
🦄 Navigating the AI tech landscape: choosing models, APIs, hosting, and avoiding expensive mistakes
🦄 Training and deploying large models
🦄 Setting up technical foundations: infrastructure and tooling
🦄 Hiring your first technical team
🦄 Co-founder dynamics and division of responsibilities
🦄 Balancing product velocity with technical excellence
🦄 Fundraising preparation from a technical founder's perspective
✨ My Approach
I adapt to what you need - tactical interview prep, strategic career guidance, or technical architecture discussions. I'm direct when you need honest feedback, supportive when you need encouragement.
💡 Fun fact: If you use dark mode on YouTube, I built that. I also led the world's largest WebP rollout - as featured in Ars Technica https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/04/cheaper-bandwidth-or-bust-how-google-saved-youtube/
🎥 See me explain the YouTube.com rebuild: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4l86SKBtMs
5 out of 5 stars
Mikhail is a great mentor. He helped me build an end to end streaming pipeline. I think he can understand exactly what you need out of mentorship very well and come up practices/exercises that make sense for someone to improve. I would 100% recommend him for anyone that is truly looking to get better.
Standard Plan • 1 month
5 out of 5 stars
Mike is an excellent mentor and an equally wonderful person. He possesses a vast amount of knowledge and is always willing to share it with others. I have truly enjoyed our technical and non-technical discussions, mock interviews, and job search conversations, all of which have been incredibly valuable and insightful.
Standard Plan • 3 months
5 out of 5 stars
I sought mentorship because I had several important interviews coming up and wanted guidance from someone experienced to help me prepare effectively. Working with Mike has been an outstanding experience. He takes the time to truly understand the challenges you’re facing and provides thoughtful, practical guidance on how to approach them. He helped me focus on the right technical areas to prepare for my interviews and spent time helping me refine and frame my experiences so they communicate impact clearly. What truly stands out about Mike is how genuinely invested he is in helping his mentees succeed. I always felt that he approached my challenges as if they were his own, not just a task he was helping with. Even though I’m still in the early stages of my interview process, his guidance has already been incredibly valuable and helped me think about aspects of interview preparation that I hadn’t considered before. I highly recommend Mike to anyone preparing for technical leadership interviews or looking for thoughtful and supportive mentorship.
Standard Plan • 1 month
Mentees who work with a mentor for 3+ months reach their goals 2x faster than those going it alone. Long-term mentorship means fewer false starts, more focused sessions, and support that builds week after week.
97% satisfaction across all mentors
Personalized feedback and growth plans
Trusted by thousands of mentees
Mikhail Sychev
CTO & Co-founder | Ex-Google/Waymo Staff SWE and TL at None
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Book a free intro call with Mikhail
Connect with Mikhail in a quick call (usually under 30 minutes)
One-off sessions with Mikhail
One-off sessions are a great option if you're looking for specific advice on a certain topic.
Your resume often decides whether you get the interview or get overlooked. This MentorCruise session is designed to help you strengthen your resume so it …
What's included in the trial?
Every trial is a little different–here's what Mikhail says about their trial:
We'll meet for a quick call (usually under 30 minutes) where we:
- Break the ice and introduce ourselves
- Discuss your goals and how I can support you
- Coordinate logistics like time zones, meeting frequency, and communication methods
