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
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
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
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
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.
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
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
If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. You learn from successes. You learn a lot more from mistakes and failures. Patrick freely discusses various missteps in his journey and how he managed to pivot out of various corners. Excellent discussion. Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are