Startup Funding is a Low Probability Game

Startup funding is a low probability game. LESS than 1% GET funding. Over 99% get rejected. How do you play this game and win? Learn from great Unicorn founders like Fred Luddy (ServiceNow), Christian Chabot (Tableau), and Greg Gianforte (RightNow). Entrepreneurs typically go to VCs like beggars. Is there a better way? You bet there

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Thought Leaders in Mobile and Social: Interview with Borge Hald, CEO of Medallia (Part 5)

Sramana Mitra: Do you have any other thoughts on open problems? Borge Hald: I think a lot of companies are used to a model where PR comes out of the marketing department or maybe specialists in their contact centers.

Thought Leaders in Mobile and Social: Interview with Borge Hald, CEO of Medallia (Part 4)

Sramana Mitra: Move yourself up to a bird’s eye view of your industry segment and talk about what you are seeing, particularly about open problems you would like to see solved but have not been solved by Medallia. Borge Hald: There are plenty of problems. I think this may be too abstract, but what is

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Thought Leaders in Mobile and Social: Interview with Borge Hald, CEO of Medallia (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: When you say “you can be notified and you can take action,” who is the “you?” Borge Hald: Typically this involves a front line manager or employee. Let’s say you are the general manager of a hotel. Somebody writes something about you on TripAdvisor or Google+ Local. If it is complimentary, you might

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Thought Leaders in Mobile and Social: Interview with Borge Hald, CEO of Medallia (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: I remember that you were bootstrapped for a long time. Borge Hald: That is right. We were about 110 people and had $30 million in revenue when we finally decided to take the investments.

Thought Leaders in Mobile and Social: Interview with Borge Hald, CEO of Medallia (Part 1)

Borge Hald is the chief executive officer of Medallia. Borge graduated from the University of Michigan’s Stephen M. Ross School of Business and the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. He previously worked for Procter & Gamble and the Boston Consulting Group in Stockholm, London, and Oslo. In this interview, he paints a picture of

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Can You Do It All? Amy Pressman, President of Medallia (Part 7)

Sramana: Your customers seem to be your best form of marketing. Amy Pressman: We think about things like client services as a form of marketing. If you really wow your customers, they will take care of you.

Can You Do It All? Amy Pressman, President of Medallia (Part 6)

Sramana: As an entrepreneur, how do you balance the equity stake of founders and early employees with the inevitable exit? Amy Pressman: Silicon Valley is very much about technology and innovation. There is also a lot of innovation in how companies are started, run, and dealt with. If you look at more traditional liquidity events

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