From Startup To 500 Million Dollars: VistaPrint CEO Robert Keane (Part 2)

SM: So you did not really take that model to market. RK: When we finally launched I was able to convince Microsoft France to distribute our catalogues in every box of Microsoft Publisher. That gave us a mechanism to reach out to small businesses who were already buying desktop publishing and who we thought would

Read Full Article »

From Startup To 500 Million Dollars: VistaPrint CEO Robert Keane (Part 1)

If you haven’t already, please study our free Bootstrapping course. Robert Keane is the president and CEO of VistaPrint, which he founded in 1995 to provide small businesses print tools to market their business. Robert’s vision for VistaPrint emerged from his experience with the development of a retail kiosk design and printing system as well

Read Full Article »

Helping Moms Juggle: Juggling Mother Sara Sutton Fell, CEO of Flexjobs (Part 7)

SM: Your business gives options back and allows really talented people to have their career and their family. SS: Some of the biggest challenges in our society are parents not being there for their kids. They are not there for dinners, outdoor activities, or teaching kids how to be healthy.

Helping Moms Juggle: Juggling Mother Sara Sutton Fell, CEO of Flexjobs (Part 6)

SM: When I look at your service, I think it provides women who are taking a break from their careers an opportunity to keep their resumes alive through flexible arrangements. Resume gap is a big problem. SS: In the last six months we have seen a big change. The primary reason people are coming to

Read Full Article »

Helping Moms Juggle: Juggling Mother Sara Sutton Fell, CEO of Flexjobs (Part 5)

SM: How successful was your business model? SS: HR people are very difficult to get ahold of, and it requires a lot of relationship building. Our price point was too low to support a high-touch customer recruiting model.

Helping Moms Juggle: Juggling Mother Sara Sutton Fell, CEO of Flexjobs (Part 4)

SM: I have noticed a trend where a lot of people are dropping out of their careers to become stay-at-home moms. What are your thoughts on that? What do you see happening? SS: Boulder is a very work-life balanced place. People move there because they want to be able to play. Local employers have more

Read Full Article »

Helping Moms Juggle: Juggling Mother Sara Sutton Fell, CEO of Flexjobs (Part 3)

SM: You made that transition right before the bubble. When did you actually sell JobDirect? SS: The deal closed in July of 2000. It was hard to go from such optimism; it was a very difficult time. I was dating my husband at the time. We decided that after four rounds of layoffs at the

Read Full Article »

Helping Moms Juggle: Juggling Mother Sara Sutton Fell, CEO of Flexjobs (Part 2)

SM: I think straight out of college is a great time to do entrepreneurship. You don’t have families to support or any big liabilities. If it doesn’t work you can always go do something else! SS: Exactly. There was a freedom because we knew that if it did not work we would go back to

Read Full Article »