Child Entrepreneur David Koretz, Now CEO of Mykonos Software (Part 7)

Sramana Mitra: What did you charge Bertelsmann for that deal and what does your product cost today? David Koretz: We charged them very little because we really wanted the reference. Our product is an enterprise product. We start at 25 thousand dollars and it can range up to 150,000 dollars. Large organizations may have multiple

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How Not To Finance Your Company: TalkPoint CEO Nick Balletta (Part 1)

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page.  Nick is CEO of TalkPoint and a pioneer in the fields of unified communications and interactive webcasting. Nick launched his first company, Voyager Data Networks, in 1996 and sold it two years later. Prior he was the founder of NextVenue, a joint venture among Microsoft, NBC,

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Child Entrepreneur David Koretz, Now CEO Of Mykonos Software (Part 6)

Sramana Mitra: What is the story behind Mykonos?  David Koretz: We started seeing a problem inside BlueTie. It  was a huge issue; hackers were trying to break into our databases for a number of reasons. Some were trying to steal credit cards and others wanted to use us as a spam engine. The net effect

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Child Entrepreneur David Koretz, Now CEO Of Mykonos Software (Part 5)

Sramana Mitra: By this point of your career you had founded three successful companies. What are some of your tips on customer acquisition and how to build businesses?  David Koretz: There is an interesting challenge of risk. For a long time BlueTie was way out ahead of Google and Microsoft. When they began doing Web-based

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Child Entrepreneur David Koretz, Now CEO Of Mykonos Software (Part 4)

Sramana Mitra: What was the concept behind the business you founded just as you went to Babson?  David Koretz: It was an information sales business. It was a Dun and Bradstreet and Axiom type of company. At the time all of those products were all offline products and we were going to take them online.

Child Entrepreneur David Koretz, Now CEO Of Mykonos Software (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: You navigated a sizable business from 14 to 18 years of age. Did you parents get involved in it?  David Koretz: My parents and my grandfather were not involved and that was intentional on my part. I went to high school on various schedules. It was not official, but I just did it.

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Child Entrepreneur David Koretz, Now CEO Of Mykonos Software (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: How did you learn about home automation and energy efficiency at the age of 14?  David Koretz: I used to read trade journals such as CES Today and Asian Trade Sources. I signed up for some journals as a distributor, and it allowed me to see all of the latest technologies coming out

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Child Entrepreneur David Koretz, Now CEO Of Mykonos Software (Part 1)

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page.  Sramana Mitra:  David, let’s start at the beginning of your story. What is the genesis of your entrepreneurial roots? David Koretz: I grew up in Rochester, New York. Like a lot of entrepreneurs, my journey started earlier, more informally than it did formally. My parents owned a

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