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firmex
Best of Bootstrapping: Scaled with Angel Money in Canada
If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. When we spoke in 2015, Joel Lessem was scaling a profitable company in Toronto called Firmex, and had only spent $4 million in angel money to get to almost $10 million in revenue. Datasite acquired Firmex in 2021. Sramana Mitra: Let’s start with the very beginning
Best of Bootstrapping: Firmex Scaled with Angel Money in Canada
If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. When we spoke in 2015, Joel Lessem was scaling a profitable company in Toronto called Firmex, and had only spent $4 million in angel money to get to almost $10 million in revenue. Sramana Mitra: Let’s start with the very beginning of your story. Where are you
Scaling with Angel Money Only in Canada: Joel Lessem, CEO of Firmex (Part 7)
Sramana Mitra: That’s an interesting position because venture capitalists manage portfolios. Entrepreneurs manage their life. Your life is not a portfolio. Life is life. You can do one company. If you fail, then it’s writing off a lot of your life. Joel Lessem: I’ve had a couple of conversations. I once said, “Here’s the problem.
Scaling with Angel Money Only in Canada: Joel Lessem, CEO of Firmex (Part 6)
Sramana Mitra: There are tons of unhealthy business practices. Pursuing growth at all cost tends to make people practice unhealthy business practices. We don’t believe in that. We believe in sustainable growth. We are much more in tune with what you’re doing. We actually appreciate what you’re doing. The more fundamental-driven approach is what we
Scaling with Angel Money Only in Canada: Joel Lessem, CEO of Firmex (Part 5)
Sramana Mitra: Talk to me a bit about the verticals where you have good adoption. You have a horizontal platform product. What vertical is your strongest? Joel Lessem: Investment banking is 30% of our business. Sramana Mitra: What’s the next one? Joel Lessem: Law firms are 20%. Sramana Mitra: Is there any other dominant vertical?
Scaling with Angel Money Only in Canada: Joel Lessem, CEO of Firmex (Part 4)
Joel Lessem: I didn’t like the venture capital model. I sold my house to take this job. I have a wife and a child. I put too much into this to play venture casino. I’m here to make money. I don’t care how big the company is. I just want to make money and build
Scaling with Angel Money Only in Canada: Joel Lessem, CEO of Firmex (Part 3)
Sramana Mitra: Is this the company that we are talking about right now? Joel Lessem: Yes, I wrote the business plan 10 years ago. There was no documentation of who owned this IP. Then I had to go to the client and say, “I want to sell this to all your competitors.” I had to structure
Scaling with Angel Money Only in Canada: Joel Lessem, CEO of Firmex (Part 2)
Sramana Mitra: Very quickly, how long did you work for this entrepreneur? Joel Lessem: That was a year and a half here and a year for another one. I worked for many of them. Sramana Mitra: When was the first startup that you did? Joel Lessem: The first startup I did was in 1999. Sramana
