Bootstrapping To $19 Million: Office Ally CEO Brian O’Neill (Part 2)

SM: Did you negotiate the deal before writing the software? How did you know the insurance company would be willing to pay for your software? BO: I wrote the software first because I had a lot of doctor friends and they had told me how terrible the situation was. It took forever for them to

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Bootstrapping To $19 Million: Office Ally CEO Brian O’Neill (Part 1)

Brian O’Neill founded Office Ally in 2000 after observing poor business practices in the healthcare industry. Office Ally (covered in Deal Radar early this year) is a health information network connecting patients, providers, and payers. It offers a free practice management system, a free clearinghouse, a low-cost electronic health record ($29.95/month/provider) as well as a patient

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Can You Do It All? BlackLine CEO Therese Tucker (Part 7)

SM: Your message is that you need to prioritize and that your priorities can change over time. Is that correct? TT: Yes, but you need to keep your family first. SM: That is not always possible. If your company is going through a crisis you have to put it first. TT: For stretches, yes.

Can You Do It All? BlackLine CEO Therese Tucker (Part 6)

SM: When you were going through the financially stressful period, what happened with your family? One of your children would have been entering the teenage years at that point. TT: I have the best kids in the whole world. My son goes to UCLA and works at the company during the summer. I was single

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Can You Do It All? BlackLine CEO Therese Tucker (Part 5)

SM: What happened in 2004 when your competitor started out and you were running out of cash? TT: I wanted to quit a thousand times. I would wake up at 1 a.m. just worrying about the money and payroll. We cut people but still had a $50,000 payroll. I would call my friends from SunGard

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Can You Do It All? BlackLine CEO Therese Tucker (Part 4)

SM: Tell me about the origins of BlackLine. What was it and how did you get it started? TT: Officially I started it in 2001, but it really got going in 2002. I started it as a wealth management software company, and I used the money I made from SunGard to fund it.

Can You Do It All? BlackLine CEO Therese Tucker (Part 3)

SM: After you gave up freelance programming, did you find a job? TT: I received a job offer from ADS Associates, but I was five months pregnant. My mother told me that I had to tell them I was pregnant; otherwise, they would never trust me.

Can You Do It All? BlackLine CEO Therese Tucker (Part 2)

SM: What year was that? TT: That was in 1981. I fell in love with programming. The very first computer program I wrote was a blinking Christmas tree with asterisks. That was the only computer course that Wesleyan offered; however, the University of Illinois was a couple of hours away. They have a very good

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