Sramana Mitra: Is your primary customer base in the tech sector?
Krishna Raj Raja: Right now, we are focused on the tech sector. This is intentional. We have closed a lot of technology companies. Salesforce is one of them. Others are Databricks, Snowflake, 8×8. The who’s who of Silicon Valley are using us. The reason why we chose to focus on them is that technology companies have highly complex support.
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If you haven’t already, please study our free Bootstrapping course and the Investor Introductions page.
As usual, we love Bootstrapping Using Services case studies. Avelead CEO Jawad Shaikh shares his journey. Streamline Health acquired Avelead in 2021.
Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born and raised? What kind of background did you have?
Jawad Shaikh: I was born in Pakistan. I came to the United States when I was four years old. I lived here in the States my entire life. My story falls under the Entrepreneur Journeys because my family is a business family. My father had his own business. I used to work with him. My story starts there.
Sramana Mitra: How do you go to market? Do you sell directly to enterprises or other companies that you mentioned?
Krishna Raj Raja: Great question. Salesforce is a customer of ours. Salesforce Support uses Support Logic. We have not done joint go-to-market. We sell directly, but we’re forming partnerships with ISP vendors and delivery and support vendors. If you have an offshore agency that delivers support, they care about the quality of support they deliver. We cater to them as well.
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If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page.
We’ve seen a clear trend towards bootstrapping digital startups while holding onto a full-time job for years. When we spoke in 2014, DefinitiveDeals Founder Mattias Larson had a simple but powerful story to tell. Soon after we spoke, DefinitiveDeals.com was acquired by Quotient.
Sramana Mitra: Mattias, tell us about you. Where did your journey begin and in what kind of background?
Mattias Larson: I was born in the northern part of Sweden – actually, not that far away from the Arctic Circle – in a small town with a population of maybe 40,000. I grew up there and I went to college in a nearby town. I graduated with a master’s degree in Computer Science and International Marketing.

Entrepreneurs are invited to the 599th FREE online 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable on Thursday, February 9, 2023, at 8 a.m. PST/11 a.m. EST/5 p.m. CET/9:30 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!

Over the course of several years, we have fine-tuned our proven methodology for building tech startups. We have packaged the 1Mby1M methodology into short courses on Udemy. This is an extension of our strategy to democratize entrepreneurship education at scale, globally.
Here are the $12.99 coupon codes for all of our courses on Udemy. These coupons expire on February 28, 2023, so enroll today!
Bootstrapping:
Bootstrap First, Raise Money Later with Sramana Mitra: TRY1MBY1MFEB2023BTS
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Bootstrapping a Startup with Services with Sramana Mitra: TRY1MBY1MFEB2023SVC

The field of customer service is getting revolutionized as AI and ML drive tremendous value out of data. SupportLogic works in the B-to-B tech sector and drives immense gains.
Sramana Mitra: Let’s start by introducing our audience to yourself as well as to the company.
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If you haven’t already, please study our free Bootstrapping course and the Investor Introductions page.
Founder CEO Katie Echeverry had a pharmaceutical sales job that she used to bootstrap with a paycheck for 5 years, before quitting to go full-time with her business, Unique Vintage. Here is her story from 2015.
Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Tell us where you’re from. Where did you grow up? Where were you born and raised?
Katie Echeverry: I was born in Burbank, California. I still reside in Burbank, California. I went to school and got my Bachelor’s degree in Sociology, but I ended up in sales. When I was about 26 years old, I ended up being a pharmaceutical sales rep, which I enjoyed. What I liked about sales is the harder I worked, the more money I made. I was a natural entrepreneur, but I just didn’t know the word for it. I worked really hard but that wasn’t enough for me.