SM: Back to you, Sumanth and Kaushal. Once Sabeer became your mentor and your financing partner, how did the company’s strategy evolve? SR and KC: Up to that point we were very conservative because we did not have a lot of money. We had shut down our services group completely because it didn’t make strategic
SM: How large did you build your service business in terms of revenue? SR and KC: At the end of five years, we were well past $1 million in an annualized run rate. We had grown the team to just under 50 people. At that point, we realized that it was as good a time
Kaushal Cavale and Sumanth Raghavendra are childhood friends from Bangalore and the cofounders of InstaColl. After graduating from BMS College of Engineering and the University of Phoenix (Thunderbird), respectively, they worked in technical IT positions in the United States. They returned to India in 2000 to fulfill their dreams of starting a business. In 2005,
SM: What is your take on GigaOM? They have raised a lot of money. How does that story play out? They have open source, clean tech, and a lot of niche sites. RM: At one point ReadWriteWeb was doing a similar thing wherein we were trying to build separate branded blogs off our main blog.
SM: Are you hoping to sell the company in the end? RM: We are hoping to. That would be the goal. Either that or grow it into a much more profitable business, but I think acquisition is probably the likely scenario at some point.
SM: What happened to cause that growth? RM: The business structure is stronger now. In the past six months I have put a lot more work into making sure the business structure is solid.
SM: You have always stayed focused on quality content and good analysis. RM: From the very beginning I have believed that analysis is important. I strive for thoughtful posts about technology that illustrate where technology is going. I highlight trends and the latest products. Throughout ReadWriteWeb’s history that has been the focus, and it remains
SM: The nice thing about having an influential audience is that people are willing to pay to access that audience. The consulting and sponsorship revenues gave you time to build up your blog. Were you working entirely on your own at that point? RM: I was definitely on my own by then.