Bootstrapping with Sophisticated Strategy: Rob Douglas, CEO of BioConnect (Part 5)

Sramana Mitra: Talk about the customer acquisition strategy and the scaling of revenue. Rob Douglas: Customer acquisition is a three-step process. Step one is, BioConnect needs to be integrated into target software platforms. Step two is, we use that partner’s ecosystem to plant the flags of BioConnect. If we become integrated into that software platform,

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Bootstrapping with Sophisticated Strategy: Rob Douglas, CEO of BioConnect (Part 4)

Sramana Mitra: Did you bootstrap this company? How did you build the product? How long did it take your to build the product? Rob Douglas: We bootstrapped it. We incorporated and started in the basement. The first year was all spent in research. From there, we began the process of developing what our product would

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Bootstrapping with Sophisticated Strategy: Rob Douglas, CEO of BioConnect (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: What was the premise of this company? Rob Douglas: We were then, and still are, on the quest for rightful identity. We believe that the trillions of dollars of fraud that lives in our economic system has a direct connection to the fact that we don’t actually communicate with real people but rather

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Bootstrapping with Sophisticated Strategy: Rob Douglas, CEO of BioConnect (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: In 2001, you’re done with Siebel Systems. What happens next? Rob Douglas: My ultimate goal was to become a successful entrepreneur and CEO. It was now time to learn more general management skills. I joined a company called Pivotal, which was a mid-market CRM company based out of Vancouver. I was the EVP

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Bootstrapping with Sophisticated Strategy: Rob Douglas, CEO of BioConnect (Part 1)

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page.  Rob has built a thriving founder-financed business from Toronto using very sophisticated strategic maneuvering. I just loved discussing the strategic nuances of this business. You’ll learn a LOT from reading this story. Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you

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Leveraging Domain Knowledge and Network: Ari Paparo, CEO of Beeswax (Part 4)

Sramana Mitra: What does an average deal like Foursquare amount to? Are we talking enterprise deals in the millions? Ari Paparo: I don’t want to speak about Foursquare in particular. Our minimum deal size is $100,000 year and it goes up from there. We have customers in the high six figures. Sramana Mitra: As you

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$200 Million in Revenue Catering to the Bottom of the Pyramid: Issa Asad, CEO of Q Link Wireless (Part 6)

Sramana Mitra: You are acquiring these customers through these kinds of channels – through computers at work. Issa Asad: We acquire 100% of our customers online.

Leveraging Domain Knowledge and Network: Ari Paparo, CEO of Beeswax (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: Who are the customers? Who are the ones who want to run this kind of media buying? Ari Paparo: There are two kinds of customers that we’ve been selling to. One is media companies. A lot of media companies are selling ads to brands and to advertisers directly, but they’re not always using

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