From Developer to Serial Entrepreneur: Michael Morris, CEO of Torc (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: What year does this bring us up to?

Michael Morris: This would be the end of 2001. A group of us stayed on for a little bit, then we left. We went and started a company called Topcoder. The whole idea was to build a community for software developers to compete and earn a profile, and do what you used to do in universities where you had grades. Oftentimes, you had competitions. We started doing those things with Topcoder. We got to about 10,000 people. We just saw it spread and grow. We grew that community. Fast forward to 2008, we probably had about 250,000 software developers in the community.

Featured Videos

Best of Bootstrapping: Queue-It Bootstrapped from Denmark to the US

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

In 2019, Queue-It Co-founder Camilla Ley Valentin shared this wonderful story of capital-efficient entrepreneurship, and scaling a company born in Denmark to having 40% of its business in the US.

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?

Camilla Ley Valentin: I come from a creative family. My father was a child TV star back in the 70’s and 80’s, which was when I was born in 1973. At that time, you can imagine that there weren’t many TV stations in Denmark where I’m from. We were part of a mini celebrity family and worked a lot in the entertainment industry.

>>>

Building a Global Hardcore Financial Technology Company from Brazil: Ricardo Josua, CEO of Pismo (Part 1)

We don’t hear of hardcore B-to-B technology ventures coming out of Latin America very often.
Ricardo is building one that caters to banks and financial institutions, has raised over $100M in financing, has over $25M in revenue, and has major Latin American banks as customers.

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 background?

Video FAQs

From Developer to Serial Entrepreneur: Michael Morris, CEO of Torc (Part 1)

Michael has not only transitioned successfully from a developer to an entrepreneur, but he has also built communities of developers and 2-sided marketplaces around them over and again. Torc is his third run at this overall mission of enabling and empowering developers to have great careers.

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 background?

Catching Up On Readings: Mobile Wallets

This report from CB Insights analyzes the evolution of mobile wallets and where the technology is going next, from AI-based financial assistants to super wallets. The mobile wallet sector is expected to grow to $7T by 2027 from $1T currently. For this week’s posts, click on the paragraph links.

September 1 – 588th 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable for Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are invited to the 588th FREE online 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable on Thursday, September 1, 2022, 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!

587th 1Mby1M Entrepreneurship Podcast with Dheeraj Pandey, Nutanix

Dheeraj Pandey, founder of Nutanix and DevRev. The conversation spans a variety of topics and has some brilliant insights on the gaps in the tech industry.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | TuneIn | RSS

587th Roundtable Recording with Dheeraj Pandey

In case you missed it, you can listen to the recording here: