categories
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
Navigating Through Multiple Pivots: Convercent CEO Patrick Quinlan (Part 5)
Sramana Mitra: You also need the direct to get the reference customers before you can get the channel to accept to sell you. Patrick Quinlan: I don’t agree with that one. None of the customers were turning on. The customers were paying us. This was late 2009. Nobody had to file till 2010. What I
Capital Efficient Entrepreneurship: Ephesoft Founder Ike Kavas (Part 4)
Sramana Mitra: Wonderful capital-efficient entrepreneurship. Where do you want to go from here? Ike Kavas: We’re in the final stages of Series A. I’d like Ephesoft to remain a technology company and keep innovating. In 2013, we came up with a web service API. It brought new ways of thinking around what we do for
Navigating Through Multiple Pivots: Convercent CEO Patrick Quinlan (Part 4)
Sramana Mitra: What was it about your background that gave you any affinity towards that industry? Patrick Quinlan: I wish I had a great answer to that, but I don’t. I love to eat out with my wife. We have a very funny way of going out to dinner. We get in a car. We
Capital Efficient Entrepreneurship: Ephesoft Founder Ike Kavas (Part 3)
Sramana Mitra: What happens in 2012? Ike Kavas: We got a few more sales people. We continue to expand in every location in America. If I remember correctly, our revenues went up to $550,000 that year. From there, we went to $1.1 million. The next year, it was $2.4 million. Sramana Mitra: So $2.4 million
Navigating Through Multiple Pivots: Convercent CEO Patrick Quinlan (Part 3)
Sramana Mitra: The truth is, you can learn income statement. Learning leadership is a much harder thing. Leadership is something that is either you have it naturally or don’t. It’s not so simple. Patrick Quinlan: I would agree. We certainly see people who are uncomfortable leaders who have done good. At the end of the
Capital Efficient Entrepreneurship: Ephesoft Founder Ike Kavas (Part 2)
Sramana Mitra: How much money did you get from your friends and family to start this company? Ike Kavas: Less than $200,000. Sramana Mitra: How did you find these four people in India? Ike Kavas: I did a lot of research on companies that can develop software. I interviewed companies from Ukraine, Russia, and India.
Navigating Through Multiple Pivots: Convercent CEO Patrick Quinlan (Part 2)
Sramana Mitra: What was your next move after you came out of school? It sounds like you came back to Denver? Patrick Quinlan: I did. I’d been planning on joining the Peace Corps and was accepted, but due to some health issues, I was not able to go forward with my training. I needed a
Capital Efficient Entrepreneurship: Ephesoft Founder Ike Kavas (Part 1)
If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. Ike has bootstrapped Ephesoft and turned a relatively small $3.2 million investment into $12 million in 2016 revenue. Excellent execution. Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your personal journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of
