Sramana: What was it that you made available in late 2011? A goal-based system that could recommend career options based on your career background? Adeyemi Ajao: That was the ambition, but normalizing that amount of data is a huge project. We figured out that we could classify people into professional categories, and we could tell
Sramana: What was the process for getting companies to start using your platform? Adeyemi Ajao: I was lucky enough to have made a lot of connections at startups over the years. Brendan was the one who took the main responsibility of bringing companies to our platform. He brought on big companies like McKinsey, Google, and
Sramana: So, you basically bootstrapped the early stages of the company? Adeyemi Ajao: Brendan and I developed a prototype with the assistance to two engineers. Once we had the prototype in place, we put it in front of some investors. Our first investors were professors and classmates at Stanford. One of my professors has been
Sramana: Was it difficult for you to come to Silicon Valley? Adeyemi Ajao: I contemplated three options. One option was for me to come here on trips using a tourist visa; however, I was concerned that I would not have enough time to really start anything. Another option was for me to come and work
Sramana: How did the story with Teunti end? Adeyemi Ajao: I ran it as the CEO for two years, and it was sold in 2010 to Telefonica. It was the biggest startup transaction in the history of Spain. We sold for $100 million. Sramana: Were you with the company all the way through the transaction?
If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. Adeyemi Ajao is the co-founder of Identified.com, a way for professionals to manage their identities on the Internet. Prior to co-founding Identified, Adeyemi founded Tuenti.com and JobandTalent.com, the largest social networks and executive job sites, respectively, in Spain. Sramana: Adeyemi, let’s start with your personal story.
Sramana: A lot of the education space is moving toward educational apps. We are no longer in a domain where books alone suffice. How does that trend impact your business? Tony Pfister: It depends on what your definition of what the app is. When you look at Inkling, you will see that each of their
Sramana: If a student buys a physical book, you ship it from the warehouse. However, what happens on the back end, if the school has implemented iPads and students need to get books that are readable on iPads, How are you procuring digital books for an iPad format given that Apple normally sells them through