Building a Global Enterprise Software Company from Belgium: Felix Van de Maele, CEO of Collibra (Part 7)

Sramana Mitra: Where are you now revenue-wise? Felix Van de Maele: We’re getting close to $20 million. Sramana Mitra: You said you’re already profitable? Felix Van de Maele: We were profitable over the last two years but then made the decision to grow the company.

Building a Global Enterprise Software Company from Belgium: Felix Van de Maele, CEO of Collibra (Part 6)

Sramana Mitra: When you raised the seed round, you already had some revenues and customers? Felix Van de Maele: No. We raised the round in August 2008. We just incorporated the company. We had no customers and just had a letter of intent. Sramana Mitra: Who were the people who funded you in this round?

Building a Global Enterprise Software Company from Belgium: Felix Van de Maele, CEO of Collibra (Part 5)

Sramana Mitra: Your positioning is to help with data consistency. Felix Van de Maele: Yes, data consistency, data understanding, and data compliance. Sramana Mitra: Who is your direct competitor? Felix Van de Maele: The biggest competitor is really doing nothing. It’s not a replacement sale. What we replace is Excel, SharePoint, and Word. It’s a

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Building a Global Enterprise Software Company from Belgium: Felix Van de Maele, CEO of Collibra (Part 4)

Sramana Mitra: What could you do that IBM couldn’t do? Felix Van de Maele: That goes back to the original story. The authenticity there is in focusing on business people. We always focus on business people. The product is very easy to use, collaborative, and social. We adopted some concepts from Wiki. The user interface

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Building a Global Enterprise Software Company from Belgium: Felix Van de Maele, CEO of Collibra (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: Why did your current VP of Sales join your company? What was it in your company or in what you told him that convinced him to join your company? Felix Van de Maele: I think that’s a really good question. We were very early. We had no revenues. We had no customers. He thought strategically

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