Anant Agarwal is CEO of edX and my former professor at MIT. We have a wide ranging and comprehensive discussion on the future of higher education, complete with startup ideas and analysis of entrepreneurial ventures within education. Definitely worth a look, if the subject interests you.
Rather than reinventing the wheel as you build your startup, you should be trying to learn the lessons of those who have successfully walked the path you are on before you. Here are the startup stories of a diverse group of entrepreneurs who have all built profitable businesses. Have a listen to these approximately 30-minute
Caleb Sima, a world-class security expert and serial entrepreneur, was working on his security startup, BlueBox Security (acquired by Lookout in 2016), at the time of this discussion. If security is your interest, this is a great session to listen to.
Henry Schuck, Co-founder and CEO of DiscoverOrg, is a first-time entrepreneur who has bootstrapped his company to $25 million ARR, and then raised private equity financing from TA Associates. Henry sees a clear path to $100 million. Very inspiring story!
Sinclair Schuller, CEO and Co-Founder of Apprenda, built this enterprise software company with $55 million in financing from Upstate New York. He has raised funding from Silicon Valley, but without moving here. Listen to what he has to say about moving to the Valley.
T.M. Ravi is Managing Director and Co-founder of The Hive, a venture studio. The discussion touches upon a couple of key issues: the prevalent incubator/accelerator model of 3-month classes, we agreed, is bogus; and the Future of Work: Utopia or Dystopia?
Alexandre Wentzo, CEO of Casewise, an enterprise software company that started in London and has scaled in the US. The company is self-financed and did $24 Million in revenue last year. Our discussion focuses on some of the nuances of starting an enterprise software company in Europe and scaling it in the US.
Whether born and raised in India or of Indian descent, these successful tech entrepreneurs each brought something very special to a problem that led them to build their solutions into some very nice businesses. If you are looking for some inspiration today, especially as an Indian entrepreneur, please have a listen to these stories shared