Bootstrapping with Services to $20M: Visiquate CEO Brian Robertson (Part 5)

Sramana Mitra: Let’s go back to 2009. Did you have clients from your previous business that you sold this concept to be able to sign on as your validation partners? How many were they?

Brian Robertson: Yes, we had three or four cornerstone clients. 

Bootstrapping with Services to $20M: Visiquate CEO Brian Robertson (Part 4)

Sramana Mitra: Until $80 million, it was a bootstrapped company and then Bain capital infused $15 million. Is that what you are saying?

Brian Robertson: Yes, it was mostly bootstrapped. There were friends, family, and angels in the early rounds. 

Bootstrapping with Services to $20M: Visiquate CEO Brian Robertson (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: Talk a little more about the evolution of MedeFinance in its software format. You were starting with the $4 million to $5 million revenue base and some of those clients transferred on to the software business. What was the business model? What was the average deal size? What kind of business did it turn out to be?

Brian Robertson: We had hit a sweet spot in terms of the product-market fit through a combination of direct organic development and also a strong channel relationship with a company called the Advisory Board out of Washington D.C.

Bootstrapping with Services to $20M: VisiQuate CEO Brian Robertson (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: What geography was that? Where were you based and where were you doing all of this?

Brian Robertson: I was based in Northern California. Most of my clients were from the West Coast. I was doing work for folks in Seattle, Oregon through Providence Health System.

Bootstrapping with Services to $20M: VisiQuate CEO Brian Robertson (Part 1)

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page.

Brian is a serial bootstrapper. In fact, he bootstraps using services. Terrific entrepreneur to learn from.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s go to the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born and raised? What kind of background did you have?

Bootstrapping a Virtual Company to $10 Million from Atlanta: Field Pros Direct CEO Matt Anderson (Part 6)

Sramana Mitra: The benefit you are offering is a flexible workforce of adjusters. They can pick people up as they need to as opposed to having everybody on the payroll. 

Matt Anderson: That’s a part of it. We can scale up and down. From a cost standpoint, it gives them flexibility. Here is an example that I use with my clients. When I was in Crawford & Company, at one point I was managing director for a service center in the state of Alabama.

Bootstrapping with a Paycheck and Scaling in Coimbatore: Kovai CEO Saravana Kumar (Part 5)

Sramana Mitra: How many people are in Coimbatore right now? Is London still small?

Saravana Kumar: We have about 130. London is still small. We have about 10 people there. We only keep the top management here. One of the biggest things that we have done this year is invest in a 250-seat office that amounts to a $1.2 million office. 

Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapping a Virtual Company to $10M from Atlanta

We’re big fans of bootstrapping, virtual companies, and domain knowledge. Field Pros Direct CEO Matt Anderson’s story has all those ingredients.

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?

Matt Anderson: I’m from a small town northeast of Tennessee called Rogersville. It’s a rural area in the foothills of the Smokies. It’s very beautiful there. I went to East Tennessee State University. I had an aspiration to play football. That’s what drew me to that college. I grew up in that rural town and went on to East Tennessee State. 

>>>