Bootstrapping An Innovative Telecom Services Startup: Callture Co-founders Mamoon Rashid and Siva Sanmuga (Part 3)

Sramana: How has your revenue ramp looked?

Mamoon Rashid: I do not recall how things were in the very beginning because it is so long ago. I do know that we were quadrupling our revenues for the first few years. We hit the million dollar mark in our third year.

Sramana: Was that all based on your customer recruiting done through online advertising channels?

Mamoon Rashid: Yes. That has been our primary focus, and we have tried to capitalize on that as much as possible. One of the reasons we created the virtual PBX division was the fact that our product got to the point where it was not only beneficial for international toll charges, it was a product that was useful for small businesses in the U.S.

Sramana: Walk me through the evolution of the international calling business. Skype has entered the market, and the Internet has really decimated that market, correct?

Siva Sanmuga: Initially there were very high charges in different countries. Callback service was the first thing that disrupted the market. As a result of reverse calling, U.S. long distance charges went down, while long distance charges were higher in other countries. We were able to bring U.S. charges to other countries, and that essentially was market disruption.

The next major disruptive technology was VOIP calling. Initially we were a victim of VOIP as well because we were in the TDM marketplace. When VOIP entered the markets, they dropped the prices so low that they did not use our service. That is when we entered the VOIP market, and we focused mainly on the U.S. Today most of our long-distance calling clients are in the U.S. market.

Sramana: What is the VOIP business today? If I want to make an international call I will use Skype. What are the other alternatives?

Mamoon Rashid: From a consumer perspective we are not a VOIP company. From the back end for us to be able to offer eFax functionality, integration with Skype and Salesforce.com, it is important that our technology be on a VOIP platform. From a consumer perspective they will use their existing landline, cell phone, or VOIP phone as is.

Sramana: Are your customers businesses or consumers for international calling?

Mamoon Rashid: We have a large number of international customers who use our toll-free service. Those are primarily companies.

Sramana: Why do they choose to use you and not Skype?

Mamoon Rashid: We are very strong with toll-free services. We have access to all of the toll free numbers and we can provision toll-free numbers instantaneously. We make it possible for a consumer to go to our website, search for a toll-free number, and get it activated all within minutes. You can have that toll-free number ring to Skype or any existing phone number. We can also have that toll free number direct to your Skype number and if you don’t answer after two rings it will forward to your mobile, and if you don’t answer there it can ring to a number somewhere else.

Sramana: Your service has a lot of call routing capabilities that other services like Skype don’t have. Is that a key differentiator?

Mamoon Rashid: Yes. We were offering this about seven years ago. At the time we had international customers who were able to use the virtual PBX service to provide remote agents. They had sales teams and technical teams in different cities. We evolved long-distance into the virtual PBX realm.

This segment is part 3 in the series : Bootstrapping An Innovative Telecom Services Startup: Callture Co-founders Mamoon Rashid and Siva Sanmuga
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