SM: You spent your time at MIT doing the theory and physics. When did it start to become a commercial thought? AE: In five years we really felt that we had an understanding of how these devices work and if there were a way to commercialize this technology or make it beneficial for the industry,
This past week I talked with Greg Gianforte, founder and CEO of RightNow and author of Bootstrapping Your Business. Today, to go along with my new Forbes column, I have more bootstrapping tips from serial entrepreneur and storyteller extraordinaire Cree Lawson. Cree says:
Alexei Erchak founded Luminus in 2002 after being awarded his PhD in materials sciences and engineering from MIT. There he designed and tested photonic lattice LED technology which has evolved into PhlatLight, the most powerful LED in the world. PhlatLight offers a 20,000-hour life span and high production volumes (low cost), which has been enticing
Concur, the expense management software maker, released its earnings for the second quarter of 2008. Subscription revenue growth was the main driving force behind their robust earnings. The company posted net income of $4.5 million orĀ $0.09 a share, compared with $1.8 million or $0.04 a share in the corresponding quarter last year. Total revenue is
SM: In your opinion, what are some of the typical problems entrepreneurs have? GG: I think the biggest problem is they think they have to a perfect product before they can go to market. The reality is that learning does not start until you have some value proposition. When you go through the process of
Dr. Elgamal is a leading expert in computer, network and information security. Also, recognized in the industry as the “inventor of SSL,” Dr. Elgamal led the SSL efforts at Netscape and throughout the industry. He also wrote the SSL patent and promoted SSL as the Internet Security standard within standard committees and the industry. Dr.
Pandora Media, based in Oakland, California, is an Internet radio web site. Founded by Tim Westergren in 2000, it was formerly known as Savage Beast Technologies. Pandora uses the Music Genome Project, a collection of songs that have been analyzed by trained musicians.
SM: Have you taken any venture capital funding with RightNow, or has it been solely bootstrapped? GG: We raised about $27 millionĀ in 1999 and 2000. The first key is that our partners were really good. We also were a good size, we had about 160 people on board. We had a $6-million-a-year business and they