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 to Inflection: Dan Stewart, CEO of Happy Grasshopper (Part 5)

Sramana Mitra: When you and I started working together and we were looking for the positioning, that was very much our conclusion. It’s okay to cater to people who are coming as inbound leads and are a fit for the technology and product. But from an outbound marketing point of view, you have to pick

Read Full Article »

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,

Read Full Article »

Bootstrapping to Inflection: Dan Stewart, CEO of Happy Grasshopper (Part 4)

Sramana Mitra: How many years was the CRM company? Dan Stewart: Three years. Sramana Mitra: How much did you sell it for and to whom? Dan Stewart: That’s all really confidential. It wasn’t a sexy exit. Our largest customer did not want us to sell to their competitors. They basically bought a license of the code and

Read Full Article »

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

Read Full Article »

Bootstrapping to Inflection: Dan Stewart, CEO of Happy Grasshopper (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: Your background was in sales training and then construction. Where does CRM come from into this process? Dan Stewart: Maybe we should go back a little bit further. We all have our gifts and talents. I’ve always been fascinated with learning. I have a very diverse set of interests. Whenever a subject interests me,

Read Full Article »

Bootstrapping Using Services: James Kane, CEO of RWS (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: After two years of piloting, it brings us to 2003. What happens next? James Kane: I decided that I had to get back to what my avocation in life was, which was the design and creation of software. I made the decision to sunset flying and to begin the search for a new

Read Full Article »

Bootstrapping to Inflection: Dan Stewart, CEO of Happy Grasshopper (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: When you decided to shut that down, what was the next move? Dan Stewart: I went to work for one of my yellow pages clients. I became a construction manager of all things. That was a great experience because I got to sell millions of dollars worth of projects. In the process, I

Read Full Article »