Bootstrapping to $35M via Affiliate Fees: Swagbucks Co-founder Scott Dudelson (Part 2)

Sramana: How did Swagbucks evolve from Prodégé? What was the thought process behind that transition? Scott Dudelson: After we started getting charity organizations on board at Prodégé, we realized that if we could get internet users to use the Prodégé technology, we could make some money. We realized that charities were simply a distribution channel

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Bootstrapping to $35M via Affiliate Fees: Swagbucks Co-founder Scott Dudelson (Part 1)

Scott Dudelson is the cofounder of Swagbucks.com, a premier rewards site that is a subsidiary to Prodégé. Prior to co-founding Swagbucks.com he founded Music for Charity Productions, a company which helped connect bands with charitable organizations. He graduated with a BA from UCLA. Sramana: Scott, let’s start at the beginning of your story. Where are

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1Mby1M Deal Radar 2011: VigLink, San Francisco, CA

VigLink is a content monetization company that helps publishers of all kinds earn money from content on their sites. The company’s core product provides automated link affiliation that secures commissions from existing outbound links on the publishers’ sites. The site experiences no visible changes or interference with its monetization efforts; however, when someone clicks through

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A Case Study In SEO And Affiliate Marketing: MyCorporation CEO Deborah Sweeney (Part 7)

Sramana: Talk to me about the structure of purchasing the company back from Intuit. Deborah Sweeney: For the most part we structured a complete asset purchase agreement. I bought all of the assets, and everything that Intuit had owned transitioned to me. The deal was super smooth because Intuit was very much in tune with

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A Case Study In SEO And Affiliate Marketing: MyCorporation CEO Deborah Sweeney (Part 6)

Sramana: Let’s talk about your complicated journey through corporate structures. Who founded this company, and how was it funded in the beginning? Deborah Sweeney: The company was founded by a law school classmate of mine. It was really funded by company growth, so it was bootstrapped. One client turned to a second client. The founders

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A Case Study In SEO And Affiliate Marketing: MyCorporation CEO Deborah Sweeney (Part 5)

Sramana: How much money do you make off a customer once you acquire him or her, and what is the customer acquisition cost that you’re willing to invest ? Deborah Sweeney: We have done a number of formulas and the cost structure changes throughout the life of our company. We continue to grow because we offer

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A Case Study In SEO And Affiliate Marketing: MyCorporation CEO Deborah Sweeney (Part 4)

Sramana: Tell me more about how you go to market. How do you market and acquire customers? Deborah Sweeney: We have a couple primary methods. One of the most obvious, which has become less significant in our overall growth, is Internet search. Search engine optimization and search engine marketing are important to us because it’s

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A Case Study In SEO And Affiliate Marketing: MyCorporation CEO Deborah Sweeney (Part 3)

Sramana: How many customers do you have that are using your services? Deborah Sweeney: We started in 1999 and have just under 500,000 customers who have used our services or incorporated with us. We have ongoing communications with 250,000 of them via newsletters, service offerings, and other communications to ensure renewed services year after year.