Bootstrap First, Raise Money Later: Wrike CEO Andrew Filev (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: Let’s do this a bit chronologically. You finished college in what year? Andrew Filev: A little bit more than a decade ago, I think. Sramana Mitra: The Internet was in full swing in 2005. You were still in Russia at this point? Andrew Filev: Yes, I was still in Russia. I was eager

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Peruvian Entrepreneur, Bootstrapping to $200 Million: Belisario Rosas, CEO of WEI (Part 1)

We hear a lot from Indian and Chinese entrepreneurs. We hear some from Europeans. But thus far, not as much from Latin American entrepreneurs. Belisario Rosas is Peruvian, and is also interested in fostering further entrepreneurship in Latin America. Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your personal journey. Where are you from?

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Building a Capital Marketplace for Mid-Market Businesses: Axial CEO Peter Lehrman (Part 1)

Capital marketplaces are quite the trend these days. This story traces the evolution of Axial. This is a very different marketplace from AngelList. Sramana Mitra: Let’s start with some context and background of your personal journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background? Peter Lehrman: I was

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Bootstrap First, Raise Money Later: Wrike CEO Andrew Filev (Part 1)

Andrew has built a company with a rigorous data-driven approach. Learn how! Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background? Andrew Filev: I was born in St. Petersburg in Russia. I got interested in computers pretty early.

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December 17 – 287th 1M/1M Mentoring Roundtable For Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are invited to the 287th FREE online 1M/1M roundtable mentoring session on Thursday, December 17, 2015, at 8 a.m. PST/11 a.m. EST/9:30 p.m. India IST. If you are a serious entrepreneur, register to “pitch” and sell your business idea to Sramana Mitra. You’ll gain straightforward feedback, advice on next steps, and she’ll answer any

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286th Roundtable Recording On Dec. 10, 2015: With StudyMode Co-founder Blaine Vess

In case you missed it, you can listen to the recording here:

Roundtable Recap: December 10 – Bootstrapping To $20M With Freemium Conversions

During this week’s roundtable, we had Blaine Vess, Co-founder of StudyMode as our guest. Blaine discussed how he made multiple business model shifts, and eventually scaled his company to $20 million in revenue with a sub 1% freemium conversion rate. QmyAgent.com As for the pitches, first up, Bill Boyd from Wilmington, Delaware, pitched QmyAgent.com, a

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Thought Leaders in Artificial Intelligence: Jonathan Crane, Chief Commercial Officer at IPSoft (Part 4)

Sramana Mitra: Talk to me a bit about how you deal with emotions. You presented that as one of your key differentiators. Talk to me about how you achieve emotional parsing in your agents. Jonathan Crane: Here’s how we basically look at it. If a customer wanted to renew a wireless service contract and I knew that

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