Ukrainian Entrepreneur Bootstrapped with a Paycheck to $7M ARR: Nikita Sherbina, CEO of AIScreen (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: How did you get your first customer? It sounds like you had a personal experience as well as observed experience of identifying the problem. How did you get to the first customer?

Nikita Sherbina: We outsource sales people and back in my country, we educate them. We educate those sales reps how to gather emails from LinkedIn. You go to Google Maps. You search 100 different locations with restaurants. You schedule those with your offer. You get a response.

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Ukrainian Entrepreneur Bootstrapped with a Paycheck to $7M ARR: Nikita Sherbina, CEO of AIScreen (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra:: Talk about the two projects.

Nikita Sherbina: I was working in an AI-enabled tool company. It was for marketing and sales people. It helped communication between departments. For example, you can create multiple campaigns in sales. Marketing people can see all these statistics. We’ve 80 customers which generated $80 million of revenue. It was a B2B SaaS business. We were providing a software platform.

Ukrainian Entrepreneur Bootstrapped with a Paycheck to $7M ARR: Nikita Sherbina, CEO of AIScreen (Part 1)

This is a classic bootstrapping story with a very small team to serious revenue.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born and raised? What kind of background?

Nikita Sherbina: I was born and raised in Ukraine. I moved to the United States about six years ago without knowing anything about this land.

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Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped an AI Software Company to Exit

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

Artificial Intelligence startups are very hot these days. Read how CEO Dave Copps built Brainspace from Dallas. After we spoke in 2016, Brainspace was acquired by Cyxtera Technologies in 2017.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start with the very beginning of your story. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background?

Dave Copps: I was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. My dad was an eye surgeon. My parents had moved down from Wisconsin. They were snow birds, as they called themselves. My mom was a community leader. My dad was very smart. He graduated from college at 17. His dad had the same background. He went to the Navy while his friends were graduating.

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Catching Up On Readings: Clean Air Startups

This feature from Crunchbase News looks at funded startups that tackle air quality. From filters you wear in your nose to industrial carbon capture systems, startups focused on cleaner air have pulled in some big rounds over the past several years. For this week’s posts, click on the paragraph links.

July 13 – 611th 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable for Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are invited to the 611th FREE online 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable on Thursday, July 13, 2023, 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!

Smart City Use Cases and Opportunities: Jay Chandan, CEO of Gorilla Technology (Part 6)

Sramana Mitra: In general, the issue of internet of things and all kinds of monitoring is that there is a lot of data being generated. That data does need to be protected in a holistic and wholesome way. Your point is well taken that that problem needs to be thought about more accurately and more precisely.

Jay Chandan: It’s a long-term issue. We are working very closely with a lot of the government agencies to address them.

Smart City Use Cases and Opportunities: Jay Chandan, CEO of Gorilla Technology (Part 5)

Sramana Mitra: In those situations, they are the tier one system integrator and you come in as a tier two or tier three.

Jay Chandan: I’m happy being tier two. I wouldn’t call myself tier three today.

Sramana Mitra: Your genesis is Taiwan. Where are you getting the traction? Is it more in Southeast Asia?