Bootstrapping Using Services from Russia: Ruslan Fazlyev, CEO of Ecwid (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: I’m going to ask you questions so that we can trace your journey of how you put this business together block by block. Tell me how you acquired your first customers for this business. Ruslan Fazlyev: We didn’t really acquire customers for our business. We got case-by-case freelance requests to build an online

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Bootstrapping Using Services: Sylvana Caridi Coche, CEO of Gravity Pro (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: Let’s go to the very beginning of this journey in 2007. You went to SAP and said you wanted to resell. Where did you go to seek your first clients? Sylvana Caridi Coche: My clients call me. I actually have to pick the clients. Usually people who start a company to do implementations

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Bootstrapping Using Services from Russia: Ruslan Fazlyev, CEO of Ecwid (Part 1)

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page.  We’ve discussed Bootstrapping Using Services extensively over the years. Ruslan used eLance (not Upwork) to source service projects, then built, first a platform+services business that scaled to over $10 million in revenue. Then he spun off a pure play e-commerce platform business that now has over

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Bootstrapping Using Services: Sylvana Caridi Coche, CEO of Gravity Pro (Part 1)

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page.  Sylvana has an aura of no nonsense, no bullshit confidence about her that I find immensely attractive. Read her story to feel the force of sheer energy, smarts, and execution to learn how she did it! Sramana Mitra: Let’s start by introducing our audience to yourself

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Bootstrapping Using Services: James Kane, CEO of RWS (Part 6)

Sramana Mitra: In 2011, you had scaled significantly. Where are the revenues at this point? James Kane: I want to say they’re right around $4.5 million or so. My recollection gets a little bit fuzzy there. Sramana Mitra: What are the next strategic moves? What was the thinking behind those moves? James Kane: We entered

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Bootstrapping Using Services: James Kane, CEO of RWS (Part 5)

Sramana Mitra: How did revenue ramp during this two-year period? James Kane: We went from about $500,000 to a little under $3 million. Sramana Mitra: That brings us to what? 2008? James Kane: Yes, roughly speaking – about when the housing crash started. Sramana Mitra: How did that impact your business?

Bootstrapping Using Services: James Kane, CEO of RWS (Part 4)

Sramana Mitra: As you identified that opportunity, what then did you do to execute on it? What changed? James Kane: We identified that the opportunity was significantly large here. We then reimagined the company to pursue a much larger opportunity. We moved the business from a small, sleepy college town in New York to Phoenix,

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Bootstrapping Using Services: James Kane, CEO of RWS (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: What was specifically the customer acquisition strategy? Were you calling these people? Were you visiting these people? Was it direct? Was it channel? How did you sell? James Kane: The primary customer acquisition strategy was in-person sales at trade shows. The appliance retailing industry is cyclical. They have two buying seasons – in the late

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