Meet Mahir
Mahir Laul is the founder and CEO of Velric, a New York based hiring platform built around a simple but radical idea: people should be hired for what they can do, not how well their resume performs. A former performer turned entrepreneur, Mahir brings the discipline of the arts and the rigor of execution to reimagining how talent is evaluated and trusted.
The Quiet Confidence Behind the Work
There is a certain calm intensity to Mahir Laul that does not announce itself loudly. It shows up instead in how he speaks about work, standards, and responsibility. He does not romanticize struggle or glorify chaos. He talks about momentum, consistency, and outcomes with the matter of fact tone of someone who has learned that real progress rarely needs an audience.
What drives him is not the spotlight, even though he once stood comfortably in it. It is the deeper satisfaction of building something that holds up under pressure. Something that works when nobody is watching. That instinct to perform, refined over years, has been redirected into a different arena, one where the stakes are measured not in applause but in trust.
Learning Discipline Before Learning Business
Long before startups and hiring systems entered his vocabulary, Mahir’s world revolved around performance. He trained in acting at Interlochen Arts Academy, one of the most demanding performing arts high schools in the United States. The environment was intense by design. Talent was assumed. What separated people was discipline, preparation, and the ability to deliver on command.
Those years shaped how Mahir understood work. Rehearsal was not optional. Feedback was immediate and often blunt. Improvement required humility and repetition. Perhaps most importantly, pressure was constant. You learned quickly how to show up even when confidence wavered or conditions were imperfect.
That training left a lasting imprint. The habits of preparation and self accountability followed him well beyond the stage. While many performers chase validation, Mahir found himself increasingly focused on execution. He began to notice that effort without results felt empty. Applause faded quickly. What lasted was the quiet knowledge that you had done the work properly.
From Expression to Ownership
As he grew older, Mahir stepped into leadership roles earlier than most. He worked directly in operations and growth, learning the less glamorous but essential mechanics of building something real. Managing people, timelines, and expectations revealed a different kind of performance. One where mistakes carried consequences and outcomes mattered more than intention.
It was during this period that his interest shifted more decisively toward entrepreneurship. He did not abandon performance so much as internalize it. The stage became the company. The audience became the customer. The metric of success was no longer applause but progress.
He was drawn to environments where the work was tangible and the stakes were real. Places where effort translated into movement and decisions had weight. Over time, he began building businesses alongside a growing personal brand, testing ideas, learning what scaled, and developing a deep respect for execution.
Seeing the Cracks in the System
The idea for Velric did not arrive as a sudden inspiration. It emerged gradually, shaped by observation and frustration. As Mahir navigated professional environments and spoke with people across industries, a pattern became hard to ignore. The hiring process was broken in quiet but costly ways.
Talented individuals were being filtered out for superficial reasons. Keywords, pedigrees, and polished resumes were often treated as proxies for ability. Meanwhile, companies were making expensive hiring mistakes based on limited signals and short interviews. The system rewarded presentation more than performance.
For someone shaped by environments where proof mattered, this felt deeply misaligned. Mahir saw how many capable people were overlooked simply because they did not fit a conventional mold. He also saw how employers were forced to guess, hoping that credentials would translate into competence.
That tension stayed with him. It was not just inefficient. It felt dishonest.
Choosing to Commit Fully
There were several moments that clarified Mahir’s direction, but one decision stands out as the most transformative. He chose to go all in on building Velric. No longer experimenting on the margins or splitting focus, he committed fully to creating a company that could fundamentally change how hiring worked.
It was a shift from trying to committing. From exploring to owning. That decision brought clarity and responsibility in equal measure. It demanded sharper priorities, deeper focus, and a willingness to say no to distractions that did not move the work forward.
Around the same time, Mahir faced a different challenge. Speed. Opportunities began arriving from every direction. Partnerships, media attention, speaking invitations, new ideas. The challenge was no longer access but selection. Progress required discernment.
He responded by becoming disciplined about outcomes. Every decision was measured by whether it advanced the company. Systems replaced improvisation. Delegation replaced overextension. Momentum became the guiding principle.
As he puts it, “Pressure is a privilege.” That belief anchors his approach. When things feel chaotic, he returns to execution. Tightening priorities. Focusing on the next concrete action. Trusting that momentum creates motivation, not the other way around.
Building Velric With Proof at the Center
Velric was built around a clear premise. Hiring should be based on proof of work rather than promises. Instead of relying on resumes alone, the platform allows candidates to demonstrate their abilities through real missions. Employers, in turn, gain access to transparent performance data that reflects how someone actually works.
The impact is twofold. Candidates receive a fairer evaluation. Employers make more informed decisions. Bias is reduced not through intention alone but through structure. Skill becomes visible. Ability becomes measurable.
What makes this work resonate for Mahir is that it aligns with his values. He cares deeply about standards and ownership. About doing the work properly and letting results speak. Velric reflects that mindset. It is designed to reward consistency, clarity, and execution.
The traction has been tangible. More than a thousand users have joined the platform. Over a thousand missions have been completed. Dozens of companies have begun onboarding. For Mahir, these numbers matter not as status symbols but as evidence. Proof that the problem is real and the solution resonates.
What he values most is that the work compounds quietly. Progress continues even when attention fades. That is the kind of credibility he respects.
Redefining What Gets Rewarded
At its core, Velric challenges what hiring systems choose to reward. In many traditional models, perception carries disproportionate weight. Credentials signal credibility. Language stands in for ability. This creates inefficiencies and inequities.
By shifting the focus to performance, Velric reframes the conversation. It asks a simpler question. Can this person do the work. The answer is grounded in data rather than assumption.
This approach benefits both sides of the market. Candidates are judged more fairly. Employers reduce costly mis hires. Over time, the industry itself moves toward greater accountability.
For Mahir, this shift is deeply personal. It reflects his belief that outcomes should be earned. That talk without execution is empty. That standards matter not because they impress others but because they sustain trust.
A Long View of Success
Mahir’s definition of success is deliberately unglamorous. He speaks about consistency more than milestones. About inevitability rather than hype. For him, success means building something undeniable. A company that earns respect because it works. A system that scales because it solves a real problem.
On a personal level, success is tied to ownership. Control over time. The ability to support family. The freedom to choose work that aligns with his standards. These are not abstract ideals. They are outcomes he works toward daily through discipline.
His principles are straightforward. Hard work and responsibility. Execution over talk. Quality and long term thinking. Independence and leverage. These values shape not only how he builds Velric but how he structures his life.
He maintains stability through routine. Sleep, training, structure. When the body and schedule are stable, the mind follows. Balance, in the traditional sense, is less important to him than peace of mind earned through progress.
Looking Ahead Without Losing Ground
Mahir’s focus now is scaling Velric into a global benchmark for hiring. In the near term, that means expanding the number of active companies, refining the mission based evaluation system, and improving speed and transparency for users.
Longer term, his vision is broader. He sees Velric as an ecosystem rather than a tool. A platform that reshapes how skills are proven, how careers are built, and how opportunity is distributed across industries and borders.
Alongside the product, he is intentional about building a personal brand that reflects his standards. In a world where distribution and credibility matter, he understands the importance of alignment. Visibility should reinforce substance, not replace it.
He takes inspiration from builders who combine ambition with calm execution. From performers and athletes who understand that showing up consistently matters more than motivation. From anyone who chooses ownership and commits to building something that lasts.
The Work That Speaks
If there is a through line in Mahir Laul’s story, it is a belief in proof. Proof of effort. Proof of ability. Proof of progress. From the rehearsal rooms of Interlochen to the growing ecosystem of Velric, his path reflects a steady narrowing of focus toward what actually works.
In a culture that often rewards noise, he is building quietly. Measuring carefully. Committing fully. Trusting that results, given enough time and consistency, become impossible to ignore.
That trust shapes not only his company but his identity as a leader. Not defined by titles or attention, but by the work itself.
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