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HOT TOPICS
- The Startup Velocity Question
- Platform as a Service
- Man and Superman
- Web 3.0 = (4C + P + VS)
- The Future: End of Capitalism
- Capitalism 2.0
Successful Pivot to a High Growth Business: Ray Grainger, CEO of Mavenlink (Part 5)
Sramana Mitra: Who were these thousand participants and how did you get them on the platform? Ray Grainger: We started with our own network of people we knew. We come from a service provider industry so we have a lot of people in our network who are service providers in one capacity or another. Between the
Multiple Pivots, Taking on Giants, to Over $100 Million in Revenue: Matthew Calkins, CEO of Appian (Part 1)
If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. Matt’s first couple of bets didn’t pan out. The story is interesting on many levels, the pivots being two critical ones. Also interesting is how the company managed to compete with much better funded competitors and win. Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of
Successful Pivot to a High Growth Business: Ray Grainger, CEO of Mavenlink (Part 4)
Sramana Mitra: Let’s start with the step-by-step journey of how you put all the pieces together to make this happen. When you quit InQuira, what was the first thing that you did? Who left with you? Who were the co-founders? Ray Grainger: The co-founders were colleagues who I had met at InQuira. One is named
Bootstrapping, Fund Raising and Exit: Mads Jensen’s Journey with Sefaira (Part 4)
Sramana Mitra: What else is interesting and strategic from decision making or navigating this venture? Mads Jensen: Our partnerships were very important. We work in an ecosystem where there are some big design firms and technologies that people already use. You may know Autodesk, which is a big software company. That’s one of our partners and
Successful Pivot to a High Growth Business: Ray Grainger, CEO of Mavenlink (Part 3)
Sramana Mitra: You joined InQuira as CEO? Ray Grainger: No, as Executive Vice President. They had already been around for five years. I was an investor and joined them as Executive Vice President. I was in charge of all professional services channels and helped them grow from $6 million to about $40 million. Sramana Mitra: By
Bootstrapping, Fund Raising and Exit: Mads Jensen’s Journey with Sefaira (Part 3)
Sramana Mitra: It was 2012 when you launched the product. How did you do that year? How many customers were you able to bring on in 2012 after the first year of the launch? Mads Jensen: We grew at an accelerating clip from 2012 and until the exit this year. I couldn’t say exactly how
Successful Pivot to a High Growth Business: Ray Grainger, CEO of Mavenlink (Part 2)
Sramana Mitra: You went to college in Southern California? Ray Grainger: I did. I went to Harvey Mudd. Sramana Mitra: What did you do after that? Ray Grainger: Based on that realization in college that I would pursue a career of applying technology to business, I went to Accenture directly out of college and ended
Bootstrapping, Fund Raising and Exit: Mads Jensen’s Journey with Sefaira (Part 2)
Sramana Mitra: What was the concept that you were working with while you were pursuing your one-year MBA at INSEAD in the 2008 timeframe? Mads Jensen: Peter Krebs and I had a a lot of experience in software and technology and we both have worked in the construction industry. Peter is a Civil Engineer and