We are experts in software product development and business strategy. Our innovative solutions have created market leaders across various sectors.

OAK'S LAB in numbers

  • 2016

    year founded

  • 70+

    team members

  • Top 0.38%

    of job applicants hired into our team

  • 48

    client software products built and launched

  • 4.9/5

    average client review rating on Clutch

  • 89%

    client retention post-initial contract

Founding story

In 2016, our founders, Jake and Theo Dluhy-Smith, established OAK'S LAB. The Czech-American brother duo recognized Prague’s potential and embarked on their entrepreneurial journey to connect visionary American entrepreneurs with exceptional Czech product development teams.

OAK'S LAB was not founded to be just another software house. Jake and Theo envisioned helping the next generation of innovators transform bold ideas into legendary products that improve life and the world.

With no investor backing, they built the company from the ground up and assembled an empowered team of product builders. This team has developed OAK'S LAB into a global technology partner. To date, we have helped numerous businesses transform their ideas into software products that generate millions of dollars in revenue with a worldwide impact.

OUR FOUNDERS JAKE & THEO
2016

2016 highlights:

Jake and Theo moved to Prague, founded OAK'S LAB focusing on startup clients, assembled the initial team, and began executing our mission from the ground up.

  • Operated from an apartment office
  • Secured venture capital partnerships for startup client deal flow
  • Built and launched the first client startup software product
  • Established our product development methodology - the OAK’S LAB WAY

2018 highlights:

We began to see the first successful outcomes for our startup clients. Our business model proved to be financially viable and sustainable, and we shifted our focus to growth.

  • Appointed Martin Klikar as our CFO
  • Built the first client startup software product that was acquired
  • Bill Gates highlighted a software product we built on Twitter
  • Relocated to our office on Old Town Square

2019 highlights:

We established our business development department to expand our network of clients beyond word-of-mouth referrals and continued to work on building quality software products while helping our clients grow.

  • Appointed Andy Powell as our CBO
  • First client startup product we built reached Series A funding
  • Created a recruitment arm for client in-house team hiring
  • Built and launched 20 software products

2021 highlights:

As we grew, we implemented our strategic framework to bring focus, clarity, and coordination across all levels of our company and started making our first early-stage startup investments.

  • Received the Clutch award as top company in the Czech Republic
  • Established an investment arm for strategic early-stage startup investments
  • Developed the first software product for a scaleup client
  • Expanded our team to 70 members

2022 highlights:

We evolved into a results-first company culture, focusing on operational excellence and embracing the empowered product team approach to achieve successful business outcomes for our clients.

  • Received the Clutch award as top company in the Czech Republic
  • Revamped our product development methodology - the OAK'S LAB WAY
  • Built and launched 40 software products
  • Startup client portfolio exceeded $1B

2023 highlights:

We matured into a global software product development thought leader, expanding our services from startups and scaleups to enterprises for greater impact, taking us one step closer to our vision.

  • Received the Clutch Champion award and Clutch Global Winner award
  • Featured as a thought leader at TechCrunch Disrupt
  • Featured as a thought leader at Startup Grind Global
  • Developed a software product backed by Nasdaq

Our purpose is to bring people together to drive technological progress and achieve ambitious business outcomes.

Purpose

Our world is rapidly evolving. Never have we been more globally connected, technologically advanced, and abundant in opportunity.
As governments and institutions fail to keep up, innovators are pioneering a better future. We have entered a new age–the age 
of technology-led innovation. We pursue ideas with profound impact, ones that will positively shape our future.
We bring people together to drive technological progress and achieve ambitious business outcomes.

Mission

Mission

We empower innovators to improve life and the world.

Vision

Vision

OAK'S LAB is a hub of groundbreaking global innovation.

Explore building your product with us.

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Our values

  • 01. Strive to be the best.

    We possess an endless drive to be the best. We do the maximum we can to achieve successful results and try to exceed expectations. We are overachievers striving to go above and beyond.

  • 02. Focus on outcomes over outputs.

    We always keep the broader vision in sight and focus on initiatives with the highest impact. Our strategic, analytical, and business mindset allows us to prioritize our focus on what truly matters.

  • 03. Deliver quality.

    Our actions and results demonstrate our commitment to the highest standards in the industry. We approach our work with an elevated degree of professionalism, consistently delivering premium customer service.

  • 04. Just be honest.

    We are honest in all our interactions, whether with ourselves, our teammates, our clients, or our partners. We are open to improvement and view constructive feedback as an opportunity for mutual growth.

  • 05. Be kind and compassionate.

    We are grounded in humility, caring about the well-being and success of others. We actively engage in supporting our peers, helping them overcome challenges both professionally and personally.

  • 06. Overcome adversity with positivity.

    Our experience gives us perspective, and we understand that it's the journey, not the destination. We are confident in our capabilities and maintain positivity during tough moments.

Our leaders

Jake Dluhy-Smith

CEO, Co-Founder

Jake is the visionary behind our company. He shapes our strategy, works closely with leadership to achieve our goals, and leads our business development efforts.

He has a background in product management, having led over 20 greenfield software product builds. Before founding OAK'S LAB, he served as COO at a global digital development agency and as the Prague director for the Founder Institute, the world's largest pre-seed startup accelerator. Jake is also a mentor at the British Chamber of Commerce and actively advises multiple startups on strategy and growth.

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Theo Dluhy-Smith

COO, Co-Founder

Theo oversees our operations and leads initiatives across business development and recruitment to grow our business.

His experience is rooted in business operations, focusing on finance, legal, and recruitment. Prior to founding OAK'S LAB, he led operations at several global companies, playing a key role in expanding their international market share. Theo works with our recruitment teams to hire top talent for OAK'S LAB.

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Andy Powell

Chief Business Officer

Andy will work with you during the proposal process and then continuously as a business partner throughout the product development cycle.

He has a diverse background spanning legal, sales, and software product development. Prior to OAK’S LAB, he was on the founding team of a B2B SaaS Startup, leading it from the pre-seed stage to Series B. At OAK’S LAB, he oversees our product development teams and is responsible for the success of all our software product builds.

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Martin Klikar

Chief Financial Officer

Martin is responsible for overseeing our finance and legal operations, and strategic planning to achieve sustainable growth.

He has a background in corporate finance, economics, and business. Prior to OAK’S LAB, he worked as a financial controller for a global financial services corporation, with a focus on Central Europe. As a leading CFO in the CEE region, Martin provides expert guidance to companies on their financial operations.

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Tonda Kmoch

Head of Engineering

With over 20 years of experience, Tonda leads our software engineers and actively supports our product development teams.

His journey began as a PHP developer in 1999, evolving through C++, .NET, Python, and Javascript. Tonda has held almost every role in a cross-functional product development team, including positions as a software engineer, analyst, business and solution architect, QA, test manager, project manager and product manager and scrum master, before advancing into a leadership role like division manager or CTO.

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Erika Boucharechas

Head of People

Erika collaborates with department heads to enhance our employee experience, ensuring that our team remains happy, engaged, and continuously growing and performing.

She has experience in managing the employee engagement lifecycle from inception to scale. Prior to joining OAK’S LAB, she provided consultation to multiple Czech startups and scaleups on people management and employee value propositions. Erika ensures that our people are always at the core of everything we do.

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Vladimír Řehoř

Tech Lead

With over 15 years of experience, Vladimir leads our technology teams at OAK'S LAB, focusing on shaping technical strategy, guiding teams, and driving innovation with modern technologies like React, TypeScript, and AI.

Before joining OAK'S LAB, Vladimir served in key roles such as Software Architect and Tech Lead, working on high-impact projects for Moneta Money Bank and Creative Dock, gaining expertise in DevOps, cloud technologies, and software architecture. His early career included significant contributions at Unicorn and Nielsen Admosphere, where he led development teams and worked extensively with JavaScript, C#, AngularJS and .NET to build enterprise software solutions.

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Simi Valda

Head of Marketing

Simi leads our marketing team in attracting exceptional startups, scaleups, and enterprises, as well as in recruiting top-tier talent.

She has a background in marketing, bringing over 15 years of multi-channel marketing expertise. Prior to OAK’S LAB, she led marketing for 12 brands across 10 industries, involving 20 products, 8 events, and 4 subscription services. Simi has been shortlisted for multiple industry awards, including the best social media campaign.

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Igor Tadic

Head of Product

With over 15 years of experience, Igor leads our product teams, focusing on discovery and innovation.

He has a background in venture building and product innovation holding leadership roles in startups and enterprises. Prior to OAK’S LAB, he served as Innovation Director at a leading digital product innovation, where he led digital product design and innovation. Throughout his career, Igor has designed and tested more than 200 digital products, fine-tuning their value propositions for optimal market fit. He has played a pivotal role in launching and scaling over 20 ventures, guiding startups from their inception to scaling phases.

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Sean Smyth

Head of Talent Acquisition

Sean brings over a decade of expertise in recruitment to his role at OAK'S LAB, where he spearheads talent acquisition strategies, manages recruitment processes, and builds a strong pipeline of top talent. His focus is on driving recruitment excellence to support our dynamic software development needs.

Previously at Robert Half, Sean advanced from Recruitment Consultant to Associate Director, leading the Technology Practice. His strategic approach and leadership were key in expanding the team and improving recruitment outcomes. Sean’s ability to enhance client satisfaction and drive team performance resulted in significant career growth and recognition within the firm.

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Amar Haskic

Head of Business Development

With over 10 years of experience, Amar leads business development at OAK'S LAB, focusing on sales strategy, team management, and partner expansion. Amar drives revenue targets, manages the sales pipeline, and coordinates with marketing and delivery teams.

Previously, Amar excelled as Head of Business Development at Symphony where he managed to achieve 5X growth in 3 years through enhancing sales processes and key account management. Notable achievements include expanding distribution networks for Samsung by 20% with over 30% turnover growth and increasing a key account’s market position with a 40% YoY growth in Procter & Gamble.

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