AdventNet provides a safety zone from which to launch Zoho, which is why I was looking to gain an understanding of the revenue and cash position of the company. While competition will be stiff from Google and Microsoft, as well as other CRM and group meeting companies, Zoho seems to have a unique philosophy of
During the downturn after the bubble burst, many companies took significant hits. Here, it is revealing to notice there was really only one tough year for Adventnet, which could actually be described as an R&D year. That could have taken place anytime in the company’s history. The bubble burst did not destroy the company, they
Sridhar’s experience in bootstrapping is something to learn from, especially for entrepreneurs in India, who keep complaining about the lack of funding availability from venture sources. Along the way, he weathered many storms, as all good entrepreneurs learn to do. SM: How did you fund your early initiative? SV: It was all bootstrapped. My wife
If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. [Also check out my Entrepreneur Journeys book, Seed India – How To Navigate The Seed Capital Gap in India] Sridhar Vembu is the CEO of AdventNet, which owns Zoho, a new on-demand office suite we’ve been hearing about a lot lately. I spoke with Sridhar about his rather unorthodox but
We have been reviewing the Online Jobs vertical at length, and in this interview, will be speaking with Paul Forster, co-Founder and CEO of vertical search engine Indeed. SM: Please describe your personal background. PF: My professional background is in finance. I was an investment manager with the International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm
Based on my life experiences, I can assert that it is this belief in learning from experience, a growth mindset, the power of chance events, and self-reflection that have helped me grow to the present. Back in the 1960s, the odds of my being in front of you today would have been zero. Yet here
I want to share with you, next, the life lessons these events have taught me. 1. I will begin with the importance of learning from experience. It is less important, I believe, where you start. It is more important how and what you learn. If the quality of the learning is high, the development gradient
A final story: On a hot summer morning in 1995, a Fortune-10 corporation had sequestered all their Indian software vendors, including Infosys, in different rooms at the Taj Residency hotel in Bangalore so that the vendors could not communicate with one another. This customer’s propensity for tough negotiations was well-known. Our team was very nervous.