Building a Robust Business in Australia: Investorist CEO Jon Ellis (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: After you quit Mirvac, you started an ad agency? Jon Ellis: I didn’t intend to start an ad agency. I just intended to work as a marketing manager for other property developers. Very quickly, I realized that there weren’t a lot of experienced marketers. There was an opportunity to work for a number

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Building a Robust Business in Australia: Investorist CEO Jon Ellis (Part 1)

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page.  Jon has side-stepped venture capital, and raised a significant funding from his customers. He hopes to take the company public in Australia once the company gets to about $50 million in revenue. Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you

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Bootstrapping to $18 Million: Vlad Friedman, CEO of Edge Hosting (Part 5)

Sramana Mitra: If you can attract bank financing and can do things with bank financing, it’s hugely advantageous from an ownership point of view. Vlad Friedman: Exactly. Today, we’re at about $18 million run rate and on our way to hit $20 million this year. We’re still in the same position. We still have a strong

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Roundtable Recap: April 28 – Great To See Student Entrepreneurs

During this week’s roundtable, we did yet another romp around the world. Place2Sport First up, Nikola Dechkov from Sofia, Bulgaria, pitched Place2Sport, a platform for booking amateur sports venues like soccer fields and such, for Europe, starting In Bulgaria. I like the idea, and advised Nikola to assess the market scope for the venture based on

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304th Roundtable For Entrepreneurs Starting NOW, Live Tweeting By @1Mby1M

Today’s 304th FREE online 1M/1M roundtable for entrepreneurs is starting NOW, on Thursday, April 28, at 8:00 a.m. PDT/11:00 a.m. EDT/8:30 p.m. India IST. Click here to join.

304th Roundtable For Entrepreneurs Starting In 30 Minutes: Live Tweeting By @1Mby1M

Today’s 304th FREE online 1M/1M roundtable for entrepreneurs is starting in 30 minutes, on Thursday, April 28, at 8:00 a.m. PDT/11:00 a.m. EDT/8:30 p.m. India IST. Click here to join. All are welcome!

Bootstrapping to $18 Million: Vlad Friedman, CEO of Edge Hosting (Part 4)

Vlad Friedman: Over the course of time, it was almost like there was an impasse where by the time the recession hit in early 2000, we had just reached our stride. We were sitting in a good place. We were starting to build these relationships with more and more customers. As the market bottomed out,

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Bootstrapping to $18 Million: Vlad Friedman, CEO of Edge Hosting (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: What year did you come up with the insight? Vlad Friedman: It was in the mid-90s. I don’t remember the exact year. Sramana Mitra: You started to provide a hosting solution in the 1995 to 1996 time frame. What was the customer base that you went after with that? Vlad Friedman: Interestingly, the

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