Sramana Mitra: How long did it take you to productize everything? When you got this $100,000 plus deal, was it already productized? Mack Sundaram: We were about 70% there. It was something that they could implement right away and certain things that they wanted that I didn’t have, I agreed to build it out for
Sramana Mitra: How did you get this off the ground? Mack Sundaram: Being in a sales role, I had the privilege of having worked with companies. I personally have to find ways to solve this problem of blackbox sales. I used to experiment with different techniques. I hit upon something that started working for me.
Sramana Mitra: How did you solve it precisely? Mack Sundaram: That’s the company I started in 2015. Sales people talk to prospects every time. Back in the day, people would just believe that. Now we verify every deal with the prospects. We actually ask the prospects, “Do you feel that this is the right solution
Mack Sundaram: Professionally, I was working in sales, sometimes in direct sales or in supporting sales. All of that was happening on the side while I was pursuing these little things. Now we’re fast forwarding down to 2014 when I left my corporate job. I was too passionate about technology and being an entrepreneur. At
Mack Sundaram: Exactly. There’s always that human psychology element that tells you, “Maybe you’re not ready. Maybe you should wait another year.” That was one side of the brain holding me back. At the same time, since I’d already tasted being in a startup situation a decade before that, the lure of that novelty was
Sramana Mitra: I did a startup in AI 20 years ago. That was not when AI was really happening. Mack Sundaram: There you go. It was incredible to get that opportunity. It was a great experience for me. Sramana Mitra: You left the company, though? Mack Sundaram: We sold the system to the Department of
If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. Mack has built a successful business optimized for autonomy and profitability. Excellent navigation! Sramana Mitra: Let’s go to the very beginning of your journey. Tell us where you’re from. Where did you grow up? Where were you born and raised? Mack Sundaram: I was born in
Sramana Mitra: Is this an inside sales model? What is the go-to market? Anthony Ferry: It has turned out to be more of an inside sales type of selling. It’ a hybrid. That was a learning for me. What I was used to was more of an outside sales in a consultative arena. Especially when