Scaling a SaaS Company in a Competitive Space: Gainsight CEO Nick Mehta (Part 1)

Nick Mehta is the CEO of Gainsight, a B2B company that offers customer success management for SaaS companies with a goal of reducing churn. Prior to Gainsight, Nick was the CEO of leading SaaS e-discovery provider LiveOffice through its acquisition by Symantec. Prior to that was a vice president at VERITAS Software and Symantec Corporation. He has been an entrepreneur-in-residence at Trinity Ventures and an executive-in-residence at Accel Partners. He is a graduate of Harvard, from which he has a bachelor’s in biochemistry and a master’s in computer science.

Sramana: Nick, let’s start this story by getting your personal story. Where do you come from? What is the genesis of your entrepreneurial career?

Nick Mehta: I was born in Massachusetts but spent most of my childhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I went to school at Harvard and came out to California after college. I have been living in the Bay Area for around 15 years now. >>>

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Equity Financing from Customers: Modernizing Medicine CEO Daniel Cane, Boca Raton, Florida (Part 1)

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

Daniel is president and CEO of south Florida–based Modernizing Medicine, Inc., a healthcare company that aims to change the way medical information is created, consumed, and used to increase efficiency, lower costs, and improve outcomes. Daniel has a BS from Cornell University where, as an undergraduate, he co-founded Blackboard Inc. Daniel serves as the vice-chairman of the board at the South Florida Science Museum and is a member of the Foundation Board at Florida Atlantic University. He is an active member of the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County, the Boca Chamber of Commerce, and several local advisory boards.

Sramana: Daniel, let’s start with your personal background in order to set the context for your entrepreneurial journey. Where are you from?

Daniel Cane: I grew up in south Florida. I had an entrepreneurial youth with the usual sets of lemonade stands and other endeavors to make a few bucks here and there. The beginning of my modern entrepreneurial experience happened during my sophomore year at Cornell University. I founded a company called CourseInfo with a very simple premise. >>>

Roundtable Recap: April 19 – Tyranny Of The TAM

During today’s roundtable, I found myself discussing Total Available Market (TAM) issues with three of the five presenters. So let me start off by providing some guidance on the topic for all of them as well as others who are facing similar challenges.

Folks, there can be no financing without a thorough articulation of market sizing. And market sizing, in our book, means a well-formulated Bottom-up TAM analysis with clear business model and pricing model assumptions. If you do not have this analysis, please put it together.

Once you have it, you need it to determine your fundability. Thumb rule: A small TAM means you CANNOT and SHOULD NOT raise financing. A large TAM means you may be able to raise money, provided the other requirements of fundability are met.
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122nd 1Mby1M Roundtable Recording

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117th 1Mby1M Roundtable Recording

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Roundtable Recap: February 9 – Are You Fundable?

Today’s roundtable had a couple of interesting businesses, but before I get to them, I want to underscore that entrepreneurs MUST gauge fundability before assuming that they can build their businesses by raising money. We’re getting this question constantly: Can 1M/1M help us raise money? This short video addresses that question:

Now, let’s get to the entrepreneur pitches.
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Roundtable Recap: January 26 – Spotlight On Jacksonville, Florida

Today’s roundtable was co-hosted with the Jacksonville Startup Weekend. For the uninitiated, Startup Weekends are 54-hour events where entrepreneurs come together to pitch ideas, form teams, and learn best practices. This past weekend, the Jacksonville entrepreneurship community hosted their own version of this exciting program. 150 people came together, and 17 businesses were formed. An additional 50 were on the wait-list, an evidence of the energy and enthusiasm that is bubbling in Florida right now. MJ Charmani, founder of iStart Jax, a business accelerator, and one of the key organizers of the event introduced today’s session with additional reports on last weekend’s event.

Armex Zero Suit
First, Eric Keeler with Armex Industries, Inc. pitched the Armex Zero Suit, a new kind of durable, special-purpose suit with significantly higher heat and cold resistance targeted towards racecar drivers, firefighters, and military personnel. Eric has done some technology scouting, and believes he can deliver on the specs of the product.
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113th 1Mby1M Roundtable Recording

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