Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapping a Generative AI Product

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

R.J. Talyor, Founder CEO of Backstroke and Pattern89, talks thoughtfully about product idea validation for two AI companies. Backstroke is operating on the cutting edge of Generative AI and delivering clear ROI by solving a very specific problem.

Sramana Mitra: All right, R.J., let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised? What kind of background?

R.J. Talyor: Thanks for having me. I’m born and raised here in Indianapolis, Indiana. I always thought I’d leave, but I graduated from college with an English degree out of an entrepreneurial honors program. I ended up in this entrepreneurial fellowship right after school here in Indianapolis. It paired Indiana grads with leaders across the state and I got into a role at ExactTarget, which was, at the time, a small startup. We grew to be a $2.7B acquisition by Salesforce and became the ExactTarget Marketing Cloud within the Salesforce Marketing Cloud. So my career grew there over that ten years.

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Bringing a Generative AI Product to Market: RJ Talyor, Founder CEO, Backstroke and Pattern89 (Part 7)

Sramana Mitra: Now, what did you decide this time around in enterprise versus SME? Where did you position? And did you start with a good, solid positioning and commitment?

RJ Talyor: We’re going right after the mid-market. We’re looking at businesses or retailers, specifically with 100-1,000 employees. We’re looking for people who send two to three emails every week, and that means that they care about email. They have a team of two to four people who are interested in getting better, and they likely have a set of vendors that we understand, and are willing to move quickly. That’s pretty much what we’re interested in.

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Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapping a Second Data Venture

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

In 2014, we covered John Wallace’s entrepreneur journey with DataSong, a bootstrapped venture that achieved a successful exit. LiftLab is his second company, and he is applying the same rigorous, lean, disciplined approach.

Sramana Mitra: John, welcome to the show again. It looks like you’re up to a new adventure. So, tell us about it.

John Wallace: I’ve been fortunate to be building LiftLab for the past five years. The team had built a company with me called DataSong, which, you covered. I feel very honored and fortunate to be a second time attendee on one of these interviews.

Something unique I’ll share about us is that, when we took some time off from DataSong after its acquisition, a couple of my colleagues had gotten back together and they were trying to figure out what they wanted to build next and I had shared an idea with them. I actually came back and rejoined the old team. And that idea was the beginning of LiftLab.

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May 2 – 638th 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable for Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are invited to the 638th FREE online 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable on Thursday, May 2, 2024, at 8 a.m. PDT / 11 a.m. EDT / 5 p.m. CEST / 8:30 p.m. India IST.

If you are a serious entrepreneur, register to “pitch” and sell your business idea. You’ll receive straightforward feedback, advice on next steps, and answers to any of your questions. Others can register to “attend” to watch, learn, and interact through the online chat.

You can learn more here and REGISTER TO PITCH OR ATTEND HERE. Register and you will receive the recording by email, even if you are unable to attend. Please share with any entrepreneurs in your circle who may be interested. All are welcome!

Bringing a Generative AI Product to Market: RJ Talyor, Founder CEO, Backstroke and Pattern89 (Part 6)

Sramana Mitra: Can you double-click down and talk about your validation process in this company, given what you experienced in the previous

RJ Talyor: One thing that I’ve done is structure contracts. I found that everybody loves to be cheerleaders for startups, but ultimately, startups are measured by revenue. We have structured all of our engagements with these early customers around revenue, meaning if we’re gonna work together, you are committing to paying us for that.

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Colors: Blocks I

I’m publishing this series on LinkedIn called Colors to explore a topic that I care deeply about: the Renaissance Mind. I am just as passionate about entrepreneurship, technology, and business, as I am about art and culture. In this series, I will typically publish a piece of art – one of my paintings – and I request you to spend a minute or two deeply meditating on it. I urge you to watch your feelings, thoughts, reactions to the piece, and write what comes to you, what thoughts it triggers, in the dialog area. Let us see what stimulation this interaction yields. For today – Blocks I

Blocks 1 | Sramana Mitra, 2022 | Watercolor, Pastel, Ink | 8  x 8, On Paper