categories
HOT TOPICS
- 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
Leading Michigan’s Emergence as a Tech Startup Hub: Billhighway CEO Vince Thomas (Part 2)
Sramana: Tell me how you launched the business. You launched it in college to help roommates pay shared bills, and somehow it morphed into a business. What was that process like? Vince Thomas: I launched it from my college apartment. For me it was a humbling experience. I built Billhighway by myself for the first
Leading Michigan’s Emergence as a Tech Startup Hub: Billhighway CEO Vince Thomas (Part 1)
If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. Vince Thomas is the founder and CEO of Billhighway, a provider of cloud-based financial management solutions tailor-made for nonprofit, donor, and member-based organizations. He developed Billhighway in college as a way to help manage finances among college roommates and in the years since the company has
Bootstrapping to $35M via Affiliate Fees: Swagbucks Co-founder Scott Dudelson (Part 7)
Sramana: What is the most popular reward type? Scott Dudelson: Without a doubt it is the Amazon gift card. Gift cards in general are popular. Sramana: If you were able to give advice to another entrepreneur, what advice would you pass on? What were some of your biggest lessons learned? Scott Dudelson: We pivoted twice
Bootstrapping to $35M via Affiliate Fees: Swagbucks Co-founder Scott Dudelson (Part 6)
Sramana: You are sitting at $35 million in revenue a year. What percentage of that money comes from affiliate relationships? Scott Dudelson: The majority of the revenue comes from affiliate opportunities, although I do not have the exact percentage of that breakdown. We have recently brought on salespeople who are helping bring in more direct
Bootstrapping to $35M via Affiliate Fees: Swagbucks Co-founder Scott Dudelson (Part 5)
Sramana: What were the business models that you worked with for the incentive providers? Scott Dudelson: We just bought the gift cards and the award items. We did try to get free goods. We had a business model that supported itself. When a user took an action that generates us money, he or she would
Bootstrapping to $35M via Affiliate Fees: Swagbucks Co-founder Scott Dudelson (Part 4)
Sramana: It seems that the key differentiator with Swagbucks.com is that you have made a move to host a destination site, and you no longer rely on other brands to promote your service. Is that correct? Scott Dudelson: That is correct. In 2008 when we launched Swagbucks.com, we took control of attracting our own users.
Bootstrapping to $35M via Affiliate Fees: Swagbucks Co-founder Scott Dudelson (Part 3)
Sramana: When fans go to the SearchWithKISS.com website, what do they get out of it? Scott Dudelson: Every time a fan does a search on that site, he or she has an opportunity to earn points called Swagbucks. They can redeem those points for things like KISS concert tickets, memorabilia, or autographs. The money that
Bootstrapping to $35M via Affiliate Fees: Swagbucks Co-founder Scott Dudelson (Part 2)
Sramana: How did Swagbucks evolve from Prodégé? What was the thought process behind that transition? Scott Dudelson: After we started getting charity organizations on board at Prodégé, we realized that if we could get internet users to use the Prodégé technology, we could make some money. We realized that charities were simply a distribution channel