Best of Bootstrapping: Scaling to Over $10M by Bootstrapping Using Services

We’re big believers in Bootstrapping Using Services, as you know. Here’s the story of CEO James Kane who scaled RWS to over $10 million in revenue using the method. Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background? James

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Bootstrapping Using Services: James Kane, CEO of RWS (Part 6)

Sramana Mitra: In 2011, you had scaled significantly. Where are the revenues at this point? James Kane: I want to say they’re right around $4.5 million or so. My recollection gets a little bit fuzzy there. Sramana Mitra: What are the next strategic moves? What was the thinking behind those moves? James Kane: We entered

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Bootstrapping Using Services: James Kane, CEO of RWS (Part 5)

Sramana Mitra: How did revenue ramp during this two-year period? James Kane: We went from about $500,000 to a little under $3 million. Sramana Mitra: That brings us to what? 2008? James Kane: Yes, roughly speaking – about when the housing crash started. Sramana Mitra: How did that impact your business?

Bootstrapping Using Services: James Kane, CEO of RWS (Part 4)

Sramana Mitra: As you identified that opportunity, what then did you do to execute on it? What changed? James Kane: We identified that the opportunity was significantly large here. We then reimagined the company to pursue a much larger opportunity. We moved the business from a small, sleepy college town in New York to Phoenix,

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Bootstrapping Using Services: James Kane, CEO of RWS (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: What was specifically the customer acquisition strategy? Were you calling these people? Were you visiting these people? Was it direct? Was it channel? How did you sell? James Kane: The primary customer acquisition strategy was in-person sales at trade shows. The appliance retailing industry is cyclical. They have two buying seasons – in the late

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Bootstrapping Using Services: James Kane, CEO of RWS (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: After two years of piloting, it brings us to 2003. What happens next? James Kane: I decided that I had to get back to what my avocation in life was, which was the design and creation of software. I made the decision to sunset flying and to begin the search for a new

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Bootstrapping Using Services: James Kane, CEO of RWS (Part 1)

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. We’re big believers in Bootstrapping Using Services, as you know. Here’s yet another story of an entrepreneur who has scaled to over $10 million in revenue using the method. Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were

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