Sramana Mitra: By the end of 2014, what was your level of e-commerce business? Eyal Levy: Because we grew the business through other options, the percentage of the online business remained within the 15% to 20% range. Domestically, it grew. It went up to 25%. Sramana Mitra: I have one question which I can’t help
Sramana Mitra: All these years, it’s a progression and evolution of the same company that you’re still running today? Colin Earl: That’s right. Sramana Mitra: This previous product that you’re comparing your current contract management software with, what year was that? Colin Earl: The first product was roughly in 1996 to 2002. We ran with
Sramana Mitra: Why Japan? Eyal Levy: Through the years and since 2012, people would see our brand if they came to the US and tried it or they’d just read articles online. Some approached us to see if they can start the brand in their own country. With most of them, it just wasn’t the right
Colin Earl: The next thing that happened was somewhat of a surprise. It was being picked up by very large businesses. I won’t mention by name but it’d suffice to say that one client was one of the world’s largest defense contractors. When a guy representing them called, I asked him what they will be using it
Sramana Mitra: Now we’re talking 2010. What is the split in the business? How much are you selling through retail? How much are you selling online? Eyal Levy: Back then, the online business was about 20%. Sramana Mitra: What happens in 2011? Eyal Levy: We saw that the model of the store worked. In October of
Sramana Mitra: You had IBM paying the bills and you were basically hatching a company on the side. You had the time and runway to do that. Colin Earl: As anyone working 40 hours a week. Sramana Mitra: Tell me about what you were doing on the side. Colin Earl: I was working on an
Sramana Mitra: Is this a product that you are doing under your own brand? Eyal Levy: For the first line, we had to develop the product ourselves. We had to develop a different inner fabric to make it more durable and to comply with the regulations here. It’s our own brand. I started the brand.
Colin’s company has to compete with Salesforce.com, ServiceNow, and Apttus with a bootstrapped business. Read on to learn how he does so. Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background? Colin Earl: I was born in London