1Mby1M Entrepreneur Bootstrapping an AI Deep Learning Venture to over $5M ARR: Bharath Gaddam, CEO of Data Poem (Part 7)

Sramana Mitra: What were the ARR numbers between 2022 and 2023? Can you walk me through that growth?

Bharath Gaddam: Sure. We closed 2023 with an ARR of about $2.8 million—almost $3 million. We had started at around $500K, so it was a strong growth year. And then in 2024, we doubled again to nearly $5 million. We were consolidating, making sure everything was stable, while continuing to focus on our core offering—what we now call large causal architecture.

At that time, we weren’t even using terms like AI. We were selling it as a mathematical application—deep learning or neural networks. When ChatGPT launched in 2023, the market suddenly became more aware. Everyone now understands what AI can do.

Sramana Mitra: Yes, now you can sell it as deep learning, AI, and all of that. But back then, it wasn’t so easy.

Bharath Gaddam: Absolutely. That’s why in 2024, the awareness helped us accelerate. We still haven’t spent a dollar on paid marketing. All our growth has been through organic efforts—email campaigns, technical paper submissions, conferences, etc. We were waiting for our breakthrough moment—and that’s happened in the last 3-4 months, thanks to the education OpenAI and ChatGPT have done about AI’s potential.

Even back in 2019, we understood that deep learning had three dimensions: language, vision, and time-series data. While everyone was focusing on language and vision, we went deep into time-series—because that’s where enterprises need to understand why something is happening, not just what.

We knew LLMs couldn’t answer the “why.” That’s why we started building causal architectures—deep, explainable models capable of answering causation questions.

Our approach leverages transformer architecture, just like OpenAI’s LLMs, but in a unique way—focused on enterprise data and causation. We saw incredible internal results, and now that people understand what LLMs can do, it’s our moment to introduce the next evolution: causal intelligence.

We built models that outperform the best benchmarks, like the M5 forecasting competition. The 2021 winner used multiple models—ours did better with a single large causal model.

That’s the power of our system. With this, brands can understand what’s happening, why it’s happening, and how to improve it. We’ve built a foundational model, trained on trillions in consumer spending, across 15,000 brands and categories. We call it Palm 365—and it delivers deep forecasting, optimization, and planning insights.

Sramana Mitra: You’ve built deep technology in collaboration with top-tier enterprise customers. And you’re seeing expansion within those accounts?

Bharath Gaddam: Yes, absolutely. This is exactly the position you want to be in for venture-scale growth.

Sramana Mitra: It’s taken five to six years to get here—but now you’re ready for fast growth.

Bharath Gaddam: Yes. There are no limits for us now.

Sramana Mitra: I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to hear this.

Bharath Gaddam: Thank you. You believed in this when it was just an idea. That support gave me the confidence to pursue it with grit. As a founder, you have your own belief—but when someone with experience validates it, it makes a difference.

Sramana Mitra: Whatever little role I played, I’m thrilled. Come see me when you’re in California.

Bharath Gaddam: I’m coming next month. I’ll meet you then.

Sramana Mitra: Looking forward. Take care.

This segment is part 7 in the series : 1Mby1M Entrepreneur Bootstrapping an AI Deep Learning Venture to over $5M ARR: Bharath Gaddam, CEO of Data Poem
1 2 3 4 5 6 7