1 Year Post-Exit: From 10 Million Users to Absolute Freedom

For over eight years, @Zsolt Czigler, his six co-founders, and their team poured their lives into building VIMAGE. They grew it into a globally recognized, award-winning AI photo animation suite with over 10 million users.
But a year ago, they made the monumental decision to sell.

Now, twelve months post-exit, we sat down with Zsolt to talk about the raw reality of the acquisition process, the internal doubts, the contract hurdles, and what life looks like on the other side of a major exit.

Q: What made you feel confident moving forward with the sale to Rounds.com?

Zsolt: We actually had a unique advantage: we had already sold a smaller app to Rounds in the past. Because we already knew their team and their process, it gave us a solid foundation of confidence, even though the scale of this transaction was much, much higher.

But that didn’t mean it was easy. Most of our struggles were entirely internal. We had to ask ourselves the hard questions: Is the timing right? Should we really sell this thing we built?

Q: If you could change one thing about the process, what would it be?

Zsolt: I would definitely discuss the contract much earlier in the process.

When you first see the contract, it looks scary, especially because Rounds operates on a structured, non-negotiable contract format. When you realize you can't modify the paperwork, it’s natural to feel a bit out of control. It’s a psychological hurdle.

But what saved the deal was communication. The continuous meetings we had with the Rounds team helped address our worries, clarify our questions, and ultimately gave me the confidence to move forward with the decision.

Q: How did the transition and migration process compare to your expectations?

Zsolt: When you are migrating multiple major, high-traffic apps with millions of active users, there is an incredible amount of complexity under the hood. I knew we were handing over a massive project.

Rounds handled the entire transition with a lot of care. They mapped out the technical migration beautifully, and considering the sheer scale of what we were transferring to ensure our users didn't experience a single hiccup, the timeline was incredibly reasonable, structured, and smooth.

Q: How has selling VIMAGE helped you in your life and career?

Zsolt: It completely changed everything!

We had been grinding on this project for more than 8 years with 6 co-founders and our employees. Closing that transaction meant a massive, intense chapter of our lives finally ended.

Now, I am able to move on to entirely new projects with even more freedom than I had before. That freedom is the ultimate win.

Q: How would you describe your experience with Rounds in one sentence?

Zsolt: Pleasant, I would go for a few more rounds. (Sorry, but I couldn't miss this pun).

Q: What advice would you give to another developer currently considering a sale?