Twenty Years of Building: From SLmix to AI

Twenty years ago, I was a teenager at Hazelwick school in Crawley, obsessed with computers and connected to a community back in Sri Lanka through the internet. Today, I run multiple businesses, work with AI daily, and help others build their digital futures. This is the full circle moment I never planned but somehow always worked toward.

The Beginning Nobody Saw Coming

In 2006, I didn't know what a business model was. I didn't know about unit economics, customer acquisition costs, or runway. What I knew was that I loved technology, I loved building things, and I'd found others online who felt the same way.

I'd arrived in the UK in September 2004, a kid starting fresh at Hazelwick. But my connection to Sri Lanka never faded - if anything, the internet made it stronger. When we built SLmix, I was sitting in Crawley, collaborating with people thousands of miles away. That felt like magic then. Now it's just how work happens.

SLmix wasn't a startup. It was a passion project that accidentally became something bigger. We built a platform for Sri Lankan artists before "platform" was a buzzword. We had users, engagement, community. We had everything except the knowledge to turn it into something sustainable.

The Education That Mattered

The twenty years between then and now weren't a straight line. I worked night shifts. I did physical labour while teaching myself to code properly. I built and failed and built again. I failed more times than I succeeded.

But here's what I've learned: every failure was actually a lesson in disguise. SLmix taught me about community and passion. Night shifts taught me discipline. Physical labour taught me the value of leverage. Each chapter prepared me for the next.

Where AI Fits In

People ask me about AI like it's this magical new thing. For me, it's just the latest tool in a twenty-year journey of using technology to create leverage. The principles haven't changed - understand what people need, build systems to deliver it, iterate constantly.

AI just makes everything faster. The same instincts that helped me build SLmix - listening to users, solving real problems, moving quickly - those same instincts work with AI tools today.

That's why I built Insawebsite.co.uk - a fully AI-driven web agency helping businesses of all sizes get professional websites without the traditional agency price tag. Small businesses shouldn't have to choose between a terrible DIY site and a £10,000 agency bill. AI changed that equation entirely.

What I'd Tell My 2006 Self

Learn the business side sooner. Passion is necessary but not sufficient. Find mentors. Document everything. And most importantly - the failures aren't failures, they're tuition.

What's Next

I'm building for my daughter's generation now. A world where AI is assumed, where global teams are normal, where the old career model is a history lesson. The next twenty years will be even more transformative than the last.

The teenager in Crawley with a dial-up connection and dreams of building something couldn't have imagined this. But he took the first step anyway. That's the only thing that matters.

What's your twenty-year story? What did you start before you understood what you were starting?