"We want IT in Kazakhstan to be spoken of with pride": How ZIZ created the IT world of the Kazakhstani music scene

ZIZ has been on the market for 2 years. During this time, the team has managed to create websites for almost everyone: from V$XV Prince and Darkhan Juzz to Aida Kuamenova, Aigul Imanbaeva, and Kuralay Khanym. We spoke with one of the project's founders, Galymzhan Khamidolin, about why they primarily work with celebrities, what they learn from stars, and how they want to change the IT market in Kazakhstan.

How it started

We named the company after the mythical bird Ziz, which is associated with the bird Samruk (the Old Testament Ziz is the prototype of the Turkic-Persian Samruk, a symbol of Astana — ed. note). We started with this name as an online store, engaging in buying and selling for five years. Later, we decided to work in our specialty: developing websites and applications, and assisting with digital promotion.

However, starting without advertising and clients was difficult, so we thought about creating websites for artists in exchange for barter services. As a result, we managed to reach an agreement with V$XV Prince, Darkhan Juzz, and M’Dee. We didn’t ask them to advertise us, but through word-of-mouth and the status of these artists, people learned about us.

Why celebrities

We enjoy working with celebrities, famous people, and outstanding personalities. I have always been interested in success stories, especially those of self-made individuals. Once, I saw an interview with Yelan Ashim, the director of Natige Milk, and immediately wanted to meet him. He and his team decided to launch a book publishing project, and we contributed to the development of qasymkitap.kz as an online store. We visited him, and he dedicated an entire day to us. It was after that meeting that we decided to develop IT in Kazakhstan to such an extent that people all over the world would say, “Kazakhstan has a very strong IT industry.”

Working with celebrities is also interesting because you can use all your creativity. For example, the website for Asxa Prince was complex because it had to be styled like Microsoft 98, include game development, and incorporate music. With Aida Kauamenova, there was a different challenge — she wanted to turn the website development process into a reality show from start to launch. When we worked on the bisen.com website, we relied on American projects. We like to follow American websites because trends originate there. Unfortunately, Bisen himself didn’t get to see the final result, but visually it was exactly what he wanted. He was a very good person.

On principles

We do not take on projects that we cannot handle. We do not want clients to trust us and then live with unmet expectations. We have already made mistakes by taking on a project for which we did not have enough time. At that time, we had both work and personal commitments, everyone was constantly traveling, and when we returned to Astana, the client had already found another studio. We have also been monitoring competitors for a long time, and we do not particularly like their approach. We have redesigned their websites dozens of times because they fail to deliver and charge exorbitant amounts.

Our team consists of only 10 people, most of whom work remotely. Even such a small team has changed about ten times over two years. This happens because many people enter the field for money. People who were primarily interested in the commercial aspect have long left the project. We do not keep such individuals. We are interested in those who are passionate about the idea itself. We primarily want to create convenience for clients so that they can later say that Kazakhstan has truly good projects.

On the future

Currently, we are developing websites for celebrities with 2 to 5 million followers. We work with the best and can call ourselves the number 1 website developer in Kazakhstan. However, other studios could also achieve this. In Kazakhstan, no one monitors this. In the world, there is Awwwards — an award for the best websites, and in the CIS region, there is Golden Site. It would be cool to participate in such an award in Kazakhstan, where top developers showcase their best works. This is also a form of advertising and prestige.

In addition to commercial projects, we have our own startup. We plan to launch the first launchpad platform in Central Asia. This is a place where startups can realize their ideas by raising the necessary funds. It is similar to crowdfunding, but here investors purchase their cryptocurrency. We also plan to gradually open branches in Almaty and Turkey, and in five years — in New York.