Roundtable Recap: April 15 – Small Is OK; The Goal Is Profitability

This morning I worked with four new entrepreneurs, all at the early stage of validating who their customers are and building their businesses. Up first was Martin Calle and his company OraQuel. Martin worked for years on product development for companies like Procter & Gamble and Frito-Lay, but eventually wanted to create a product that

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April 15 Roundtable Recording

In case you missed it, here is the recording:

College Bootstrapping Buddies: Grasshopper Cofounders Siamak Taghaddos And David Hauser (Part 7)

SM: Is RingCentral larger than you are? ST: Not necessarily, but I can’t say for sure. The only thing I really know about them is that they have raised a couple rounds of venture capital. I never look at competitors and worry about what they’re doing. I don’t believe they are much bigger than we

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College Bootstrapping Buddies: Grasshopper Cofounders Siamak Taghaddos And David Hauser (Part 6)

SM: Intuit does well because accountants and bookkeepers all know and use its product. They are all trained on QuickBooks, and they are not entrepreneurs. Even Microsoft could not penetrate that relationship. ST: It all depends on the services they’re going to provide to entrepreneurs. Intuit has done a great job and has been very

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Vision India 2020 Book Review: Subrata Mitra

Subrata Mitra, a partner with Accel Partners, has written a notable review: “Vision India 2020 is a great read for anyone who believes in the India story, how the country is touted to emerge as a global economic force in the coming decades, and how younger generations can think very differently about their lives and

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College Bootstrapping Buddies: Grasshopper Cofounders Siamak Taghaddos And David Hauser (Part 5)

SM: How are you structuring your products as you spin them out of Grasshopper Labs? ST: We want brands that are self-sustaining. We are structured like Coca-Cola is. They are the manufacturing company and the flagship product. However, they also have other brands. Our virtual PBX is our flagship product, but we have other brands

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College Bootstrapping Buddies: Grasshopper Cofounders Siamak Taghaddos And David Hauser (Part 4)

SM: After the first year, what were some of your major milestones and challenges? ST: The primary challenge that we have had from day one is scaling the company without external financing. We continue to reinvest the money and make smart bootstrapping decisions.

Vision India 2020 Book Review: Manoj Saxena

Manoj Saxena is vice president and global solutions leader at IBM, and was CEO and founder of Webify Solutions (acquired by IBM in 2006). Here is his review: “Brilliant analysis and a must read. Sramana’s book Vision India 2020 is a book about potential, possibilities and solutions. She provides a comprehensive picture of the potential and

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