Rolling Up Professional Networks: Dan Serfaty, CEO of Viadeo (Part 1)

Dan Serfaty is the founder and CEO of Viadeo, a company he launched with Thierry Lunati in September 2004. Today it is one of the leading worldwide professional social networks. Viadeo was initially conceived as a club to build bridges between private equity groups and entrepreneurs. Prior to launching Viadeo, he founded a tourism company,

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Rolling Up Mystery Shopping: Market Force CEO Karl Maier (Part 7)

Sramana: How have you managed to bring together operations from each acquisition and roll them up into a single entity? Karl Maier: We have been very happy with the results we have achieved over the past two years by running our business in accordance with our strategy map. We have it on one sheet of

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Rolling Up Mystery Shopping: Market Force CEO Karl Maier (Part 6)

Sramana: What do you want to do with the company? Are you going to continue down the roll-up path? Karl Maier: That is part of the strategy. From day one we have had a two-pronged strategy, and the first prong is to consolidate. We will continue down that path. We do not need equity to

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Rolling Up Mystery Shopping: Market Force CEO Karl Maier (Part 5)

Sramana: Is the workforce widely distributed? Karl Maier: We have built a shared service center that has allowed us to centralize back-office operations here in Colorado. We have 45 people here and we handle legal, HR, new product development, and IT.

Rolling Up Mystery Shopping: Market Force CEO Karl Maier (Part 4)

Sramana: How did you actually accomplish a roll-up in mystery shopping to start a company? What was your next step? Karl Maier: The first step was to conduct research to answer the basic questions such as market size, value proposition, and market competition. Paul Berberian, Rushton McGarr, and I then spent three months bootstrapping the

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Rolling Up Mystery Shopping: Market Force CEO Karl Maier (Part 3)

Sramana: What is the story behind Market Force? Karl Maier: There is a serial entrepreneur in the Boulder area whom I have known for years. I had just sold Vector, and he had just left the board of Raindance Communications. We were talking, and I said that I felt I was a bit too young

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Rolling Up Mystery Shopping: Market Force CEO Karl Maier (Part 2)

Sramana: What year did you move back to the States? Karl Maier: I came back in 1996. I graduated from college in 1989. I had a long-distance relationship with a girlfriend whom I worked with at the Bank of Boston.

Rolling Up Mystery Shopping: Market Force CEO Karl Maier (Part 1)

Karl Maier is the founder and CEO of Market Force Information. Prior to founding Market Force Information, he was the executive chairman of the board of Vector ESP, a provider of professional information technology services. Before Vector, Mr. Maier was the chief executive officer of VIA NET.WORKS, a public international Internet service provider. Prior to

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