Sramana: What do you see for the future of Quantum? Vicki Raport: We are trying to set our company up to be a next-generation player in retail technology and retail optimization. We are going to be the foundation of 21st-century retail transformation.
Sramana: How big is your business in terms of revenue under management, and how strong is your TAM? Vicki Raport: We have estimated that if we work with only U.S.- and UK-based tier 1 retailers, our TAM in that market based on our current product lineup is around $50 million to $100 million of recurring
Sramana: When you built your prototype, did you target a specific enterprise management system to interface with? Vicki Raport: No, we just started with Guitar Center. We focused on what they had. We knew the industry very well, specifically Retek and Oracle. That made future integration easy.
Sramana: Is it correct to say that your goal was to conduct retail analytics using smaller sets of data points? Vicki Raport: Quantum came from the idea that we are dealing with a world of small systems, using granular levels of information. That is different from looking at things from the top down.
Sramana: How did you end up leaving Wilsons and head toward retail systems software? Vicki Raport: My last role in system redesign led me down that path. I wanted to take the knowledge of enabling business change via technology and see if I could apply it to a broader audience than Wilsons.
If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. Vicki Raport is the CEO and co-founder of Quantum Retail, a company that delivers a software platform that optimizes and automates retail processes related to localized forecasting and advanced order planning; allocation and replenishment; and assortment and range planning. Prior to co-founding Quantum Retail, Vicki held
Sramana: What financing strategy have you followed to build Systems In Motion? Neeraj Gupta: When we started, we knew this was not a business that bootstrapping could facilitate. We needed a leadership team that could engage with senior-level management. We needed a legitimate delivery center in order to solicit work.
Sramana: In the nearshore industry, what dynamics are you seeing and who are your primary competitors? Neeraj Gupta: Clearly, companies are still trying to figure out what to do. They are cognizant of [what is going on in] Argentina and what is going on in Mexico. We have seen most of the Indian service providers