Home / Founder's story

Why I built Arrow Tempo

Sergey Tyan · Almaty, Kazakhstan · Compound · International Master of Sports

I'm Sergey — born in Almaty in 1992, a software engineer who fell for archery in 2015 and never fully put the bow down, even during the years I tried to. This is that story, and how it led to Arrow Tempo.

2013

I graduated from IITU with a degree in Software Engineering. Archery wasn't on my radar yet.

2015

I picked up a bow for the first time. My first year was on recurve — long hours figuring out form, and the particular thrill of watching a group tighten on the target face.

My first ever arrows shot at distance from recurve, grouped on a target face.

My first ever shots at a distance, on recurve — 2015.

2016

I switched to compound. That's when training stopped being a hobby and started being a habit: almost every day on my lunch break, and both weekend days, rain or shine. Every vacation I had went to archery competitions somewhere in Kazakhstan.

Lined up with a team of archers in front of target faces at an indoor range.

Standing with my coach outdoors between practice sessions, 2016.

With my coach, between sessions — 2016.

2017

The training paid off: I earned my Master of Sports. Vacations by then just meant a different city's archery competition somewhere in Kazakhstan. That year I also traveled to Bangkok for an indoor World Cup stage — my first taste of competing on that level.

Standing on the competition floor at the Bangkok Indoor Archery World Cup, bows lined up behind.

2018

One more spring of home tournaments first — Kazakhstan's outdoor season was in full swing. Then I went on to Nimes for a World Cup stage, and a few months later earned my International Master of Sports.

Nimes archery tournament — January 2018.

Lined up at an outdoor archery tournament in Kazakhstan, April 2018.

One last home tournament before the move — Kazakhstan, April 2018.

Everything else changed direction that year too: I moved to San Francisco to work at a software startup. I brought my bow with me and kept training in Golden Gate Park whenever I could. I'd planned to compete in the SoCal tournament, but my release broke just days before — I had no idea where or how to get it repaired in a new country, so I had to sit that one out.

A compound bow leaning against a bed in a San Francisco apartment, moving boxes nearby.

Looking through a compound bow's peep sight while training in Golden Gate Park.

Back in Almaty

I returned home and put competition on hold to focus on work. Archery went quiet, but it never fully left.

2020

As COVID eased, I came back to the sport again, picking training back up alongside the day job.

At a desk working on a laptop, the period back in Almaty focused on a software career.

Back in Almaty, focused on work — 2020.

November 2021

I won the Astana Grand Prix. And then, true to the pattern, I stepped back again to focus on work.

Holding the gold medal from the 2021 Grand Prix Kazakhstan international archery tournament.

2021 – 2026

Life got bigger than the range. I got married, and the next five years were work and a lot of travel with my wife. The bow stayed in its case — I didn't shoot once. Which is exactly why what came next hit the way it did.

With my wife on the day we got engaged, holding a bouquet.

With my wife in front of the spires of Wat Arun in Bangkok, July 2023.

May 2026

I was laid off. After five years away from competition, I decided it was time to come back to archery — for real this time.

The goal now: make Kazakhstan's national team — and from there, aim for the Olympics.

Arrow Tempo grew directly out of that comeback. Every training block I've logged, every heatmap drift I've caught, every camera-scored end — it's all stuff I wanted for my own practice first. I'm building the app I needed on the way back, so it's ready for anyone chasing the same climb.

Follow the comeback

Score your own sessions with the app built along the way. Free to download.