Bootstrapping First, then Raising Money to Build a $10M+ Generative AI Startup: Anthony Scodary, Co-Founder of Gridspace (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: Let’s trace this a little bit more granularly. When did you launch the company? When did you quit your jobs, or did you not quit your jobs? Did you start it before quitting your jobs?

Anthony Scodary: No, I quit my job in November 2012 and I think we started a day later. I think we decided we were going to do this in the fall of 2012. Nico had previously been at a video game streaming startup called OnLive in Palo Alto. Evan had sold his last company, which was called Zappedy.

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July 17 – Rendezvous Meetup with Sramana Mitra

For entrepreneurs interested to meet and chat with Sramana Mitra in person, please join us for our next informal meetup. If you are living in the San Francisco Bay Area or are just in town for a visit, we hope you will join us.

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Menlo Park, CA 94025

Time:

Wednesday, July 17, 2024 from 5:00pm to 6:00pm PDT – REGISTER HERE

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640th 1Mby1M Roundtable for Entrepreneurs Starting NOW: Live Tweeting by @1Mby1M

Today’s 640th FREE online 1Mby1M Roundtable for Entrepreneurs is starting NOW, on Thursday, May 16, at 8 a.m. PDT / 11 a.m. EDT / 5 p.m. CEST / 8:30 p.m. India IST. CLICK HERE to join. PASSWORD: startup  All are welcome!        

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Today’s 640th FREE online 1Mby1M Roundtable for Entrepreneurs is starting in 15 minutes, on Thursday, May 16, at 8 a.m. PDT / 11 a.m. EDT / 5 p.m. CEST / 8:30 p.m. India IST. CLICK HERE to join. PASSWORD: startup  All are welcome!

Bootstrapping First, then Raising Money to Build a $10M+ Generative AI Startup: Anthony Scodary, Co-Founder of Gridspace (Part 1)

Gridspace is a wonderful case study of a speech technology company on the bleeding edge of Machine Learning and Generative AI. You will learn how the founders managed to bootstrap to large paying customers and then raise strategic funding. You will also learn the nuances of how they used various Open Source components and existing ML models to get to a point where they can afford to develop more original technology. You will also learn the importance of solutions versus technology platforms.

Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped an IoT Company from NC

If you haven’t already, please study our free Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. 

North Carolina, at one point, had a large concentration of cellular technology companies. Some of that talent then came together around IoT, including Bob Witter, Co-founder of Device Solutions. He shared his journey with me in 2016.

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 circumstances?

Bob Witter: I was born in Springville, New York. It’s in the western part of New York. I grew up in central New York. I went to school at State University of New York and graduated in 1981 with degrees in Computer Science and Mathematics. I started my career in Rochester with Eastman Kodak company in the medical products division that was brand new at that time. I learned a great deal about how to do medical products that has certainly served me well even today at Device Solutions.

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Building a Generative AI Venture from Portugal: João Aroso, CEO of Leadzai (Part 7)

Sramana Mitra: Well, either it’s going to go there or your product is going to be able to handle this kind of dynamic pricing model check where you can determine at what price point can you still be profitable and can cater and if that’s viable ROI-wise for your customer? If you can do that dynamic negotiation at scale, that could be a dynamic pricing at scale, and that would work as well. 

What are we talking in terms of average deal size? How much does a campaign generate revenue, lead wise.

The Startup Velocity Question: Joining Forces Through M&A

Let’s look further at the issue of solid companies that have achieved $10M, $20M, $50M in revenue, close to breakeven, but not necessarily growing at an exponential pace. 

One commonly used strategy is to combine two companies in a related space to achieve growth and rationalize expenses.