Sramana Mitra: Where were these customers coming from? What was the customer acquisition strategy? Cary Breese: We knew that the point of sale or service for pharmacies is inside the doctor’s office. When I was in the doctor’s office, he was the one who decided that I was going to get a prescription. It wasn’t
Sramana Mitra: When you started digging into this problem, what did you learn about the competitive landscape because, today, online pharmacies are present. Cary Breese: What struck me immediately was that the products themselves that pharmacies maintain in their inventory are fairly non-perishable commodity items.
Sramana Mitra: In 2010, you gained some significant domain knowledge in the insurance domain. What happens next? Cary Breese: I got interested in the broader startup industry. Although I had some deep experience in insurance, I was always an engineer by background. I was interested in technologies of various industries.
Equity Crowdfunding has matured significantly. In this case study, we get to learn some interesting nuances. Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born and raised? What kind of background did you have?
Sramana Mitra: Who did you raise money from? George Anderson: It was from a company called Soros private equity. Sramana Mitra: How much revenue was the software business generating when you brought this firm in? George Anderson: I don’t want to get it wrong, so I’d rather not say that one.
Sramana Mitra: When did that episode happen? Was it when you did this repackaging? George Anderson: Yes, when I did the repackaging. It was in 2001. Sramana Mitra: From 2001 to 2008, you ran as a bootstrapped company. How far did you get between your services, training, and software?
George Anderson: Here is a lesson I learned. It’s very relevant to bootstrapping using services. I said, “How do we take this business to the next level?” The answer was to go out and raise some capital. I hired Jeffries and we put together an information memorandum and a package, and we went out and
Sramana Mitra: How long did you do the high-end data teaching business? George Anderson: Up until 9/11. My learning center was in Broad Street in Lower Manhattan. They called it the Silicon Valley. I was in the information technology center during 9/11. 9/11 put it out of business. Sramana Mitra: Did your technology consulting business