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HOT TOPICS
- The Accelerator Conundrum
- The Startup Velocity Question
- Platform as a Service
- Man and Superman
- Web 3.0 = (4C + P + VS)
- The Future: End of Capitalism
- Capitalism 2.0
Building a Robust Niche Business: FilmTrack CEO Jason Kassin (Part 1)
You’ve heard me say over and over again that niches make for great business opportunities. In this story, you will read how an entrepreneur with deep domain knowledge in the film industry created a robust niche business. Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you
Capital Efficient Entrepreneurship: Don Mal, CEO of Vena Solutions (Part 7)
Sramana Mitra: By the time you raised Series A, you already had $20 million in revenue? Don Mal: Yes. Sramana Mitra: Can you discuss what kind of equity cap table did you raise that money on? We have a very big philosophy in our program where if you operate tightly with small amounts of capital,
Capital Efficient Entrepreneurship: Don Mal, CEO of Vena Solutions (Part 6)
Sramana Mitra: Excel has huge training out there. People know how to use Excel. From a user adoption point of view, Excel-based interface would have a much bigger adoption. Don Mal: My favorite line is that only Facebook has as many users. Sramana Mitra: How much money did you raise? Don Mal: We raised $1.3
Capital Efficient Entrepreneurship: Don Mal, CEO of Vena Solutions (Part 5)
Sramana Mitra: Why was he calling you? How did you know this guy? Don Mal: We were together at Clarity. This is Rishi Grover, one of the Co-Founders. He’s 20 years younger than me. This is where it connects to the golf business. He said, “I need someone to help raise the money. We need
Capital Efficient Entrepreneurship: Don Mal, CEO of Vena Solutions (Part 4)
Sramana Mitra: What happens next? Don Mal: Then I went to another software company but only for a very brief time. When I went to the services company, even though it was successful, I decided that I missed selling products. I did a couple of things. While I was in the consulting business, I did
Capital Efficient Entrepreneurship: Don Mal, CEO of Vena Solutions (Part 3)
Sramana Mitra: How long did you stay with the company? Don Mal: I was there for four to five years. I was 24 years old when I started there. I grew from inside sales to outside sales, and I eventually led sales at SoftKey when I was 27 years old. I had about 18 sales
Capital Efficient Entrepreneurship: Don Mal, CEO of Vena Solutions (Part 2)
Sramana Mitra: You grew up watching that way of life or owning your own business. That’s very common actually. I’m also an entrepreneur’s daughter. It makes that very big difference. Don Mal: I used to help my father in different roles. When I turned 16, I actually got a job selling insurance to fishermen. There
Capital Efficient Entrepreneurship: Don Mal, CEO of Vena Solutions (Part 1)
Don grew up in a small island off the East Coast of Canada, and has built a capital-efficient business leveraging some key strategic assets. Very instructive interview. Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background? Don
