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HOT TOPICS
- The Accelerator Conundrum
- The Startup Velocity Question
- Platform as a Service
- Man and Superman
- Web 3.0 = (4C + P + VS)
- The Future: End of Capitalism
- Capitalism 2.0
Bootstrapping Using Services
Best of Bootstrapping: Serial Entrepreneur Bootstrapped Using Services Repeatedly
If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page.
See how a serial entrepreneur used the ‘Bootstrapping Using Services’ methodology repeatedly to get companies off the ground. Krishna Kumar, Founder of App Orchid, I’ve learned, is sadly now deceased. From this conversation from 2014, you can imagine that he has left behind quite a legacy.
Sramana: Krishna, let’s start with the beginning of your personal story. Where are you from, what is your background? What leads up to your entrepreneurial story?
Krishna Kumar: I was born in India. I came to the US in 1996. I worked my way up the consulting chain from an SAP consultant to the Vice President of Ness, a consulting firm based in New Jersey. Ness was also primarily an SAP shop. It was a NASDAQ-listed company and I had exposure to both the strategy and product sides of the house.
Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped Sitecore Using Services to $1B Exit from Denmark
If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page.
Sitecore not only reached global scale, but was competing with Oracle, Adobe, IBM, and Salesforce.com when I spoke with then CEO Michael Seifert in 2014. European software companies were seldom reaching global scale at that time. Sitecore was acquired by EQT AB for $1.1B in 2016. Read on to learn how he navigated the market.
Sramana: Michael, where are you from? What is the background to your story?
Michael Seifert: I was born in the Copenhagen area where I lived until first grade. I then moved to a little island in Denmark with a population of about fifty thousand people. I lived there with my mother and her brothers through high school. My father moved to the US when I was 8 or 9. I spent my summer vacations in the Bay area with my father. My first flight to the US was at age 11.
Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped Using Services to $15M in Venture Capital
If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page.
We continue to see exciting enterprise software companies being built by entrepreneurs who have roots in the consulting business and who have taken their domain knowledge and customer insights to develop compelling products to solve specific problems. Gravitant is yet another case in point. Before Gravitant was acquired by IBM in 2015, I spoke with Gravitant CEO Mohammed Farooq about his journey.
Sramana: Mohammed, let’s start our discussion by reviewing your background. Where do you come from? What are the roots of your entrepreneurial journey?
Mohammed Farooq: I am originally from India, close to Hyderabad. I went to engineering school in India and came to the United States in 1991 to attend graduate school. I was born in 1967 and went to school locally in India. I attended Gulbarga University in India where I studied mechanical engineering. I attended graduate school in Oklahoma. In Oklahoma, I completed a dual degree in operations research and computer science. I then did an MBA in finance as well.
Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapping with Services, Two Products, Splitting and Scaling
If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page.
Bootstrapping with service, then building two products, then splitting up the company into two, and finally, scaling a sizable product company – not the kind of stories we hear often. This story is a rare window into the journey of a group of entrepreneurs who have achieved amazing feats. This conversation with Ajay Sharma, Co-founder and CEO of Srishti Software Applications, took place in 2014.
Sramana: Let’s start at the beginning of your story. Where are you from and what kind of family do you come from?
Ajay Sharma: I was brought up in a village in Bihar. My father was a college professor in a rural college. It was actually rather common at that time for professors to pass through rural areas at some point of their career to help bolster those smaller, rural colleges. I attended rural schools until the tenth class. I then moved to another small, sleepy agricultural town for the eleventh and twelfth classes.
Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped Using Services to Exit
If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page.
Krish Kupathil is the Founder of Mobiliya Technologies. When we spoke in 2013, the company was known as AgreeYa Mobility, an enterprise mobility and mobile system integration company providing solutions for collaboration and communication products for mobile platforms. QuEST Global acquired Mobiliya in 2018.
Sramana: Krish, let’s start with your personal story. Where are you from? What is the story to your personal journey?
Krish Kupathil: I was born and brought up in Delhi, India. I did my schooling and college in India. I started dabbling in software in 1987 and did some initial work in India. I got into software related businesses surrounding finance. I did some work out of Europe and Singapore before landing in the U.S. ten years ago. I was involved in a few startups in earlier years as well.
Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapping a Big Data Company Using Services to Exit
If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page.
We maintain that one of the best ways to identify complex problems worth solving inside enterprises is by offering services to them, thereby gaining exposure to the domain. DataSong is yet another case in point. After I spoke with Founder John Wallace, DataSong was acquired by MarketShare in 2015.
Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the beginning. Where are you from? What kind of a backstory leads up to the entrepreneurial story?
John Wallace: I grew up in the South from a pretty modest background.
Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped Avelead Using Services from Atlanta
If you haven’t already, please study our free Bootstrapping course and the Investor Introductions page.
As usual, we love Bootstrapping Using Services case studies. Avelead CEO Jawad Shaikh shares his journey. Streamline Health acquired Avelead in 2021.
Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born and raised? What kind of background did you have?
Jawad Shaikh: I was born in Pakistan. I came to the United States when I was four years old. I lived here in the States my entire life. My story falls under the Entrepreneur Journeys because my family is a business family. My father had his own business. I used to work with him. My story starts there.
Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped Unique Vintage Using a Paycheck
If you haven’t already, please study our free Bootstrapping course and the Investor Introductions page.
Founder CEO Katie Echeverry had a pharmaceutical sales job that she used to bootstrap with a paycheck for 5 years, before quitting to go full-time with her business, Unique Vintage. Here is her story from 2015.
Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Tell us where you’re from. Where did you grow up? Where were you born and raised?
Katie Echeverry: I was born in Burbank, California. I still reside in Burbank, California. I went to school and got my Bachelor’s degree in Sociology, but I ended up in sales. When I was about 26 years old, I ended up being a pharmaceutical sales rep, which I enjoyed. What I liked about sales is the harder I worked, the more money I made. I was a natural entrepreneur, but I just didn’t know the word for it. I worked really hard but that wasn’t enough for me.
