Bootstrapping an Ad Tech Company from Paris: Daniel Nathan, CEO of BidMotion (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: What did this company do?

Daniel Nathan: Groupon for video games. I went there for the summer. I said, “We’re going to become an incubator and build multiple companies around video games.” I said, “I’m going to build a mobile ad network specialized in video games.” We started with three people in 2012. After one year, we were about 100 people and raised $20 million.

I was a minority shareholder because most of the shares was owned by the incubator. I learned a ton. I met great people. I worked with Germans and Germans have a reputation for good reason. They know how to execute. I’m very passionate about technology so I wanted to dig more. That company was more of an agency than a product and tech company. I pitched another idea to the incubator which was more of a tech company to buy ads in real time. They liked the idea so they give me $100,000. I was with my co-founder. After one year, I went back to them with $2 million in profit. >>>

Bootstrapping an Ad Tech Company from Paris: Daniel Nathan, CEO of BidMotion (Part 2)

Daniel Nathan: After I studied Finance, I tried working in Finance. I did six months internship as an M&A Consultant in Deloitte. I really hated it. I was going to the restroom four times a day to sleep half an hour. They gave me a contract to work full time. I said, “I think I’m going to follow my passion and keep on doing Internet stuff.”

I went back to school and built another company. I did some research about the coffee machine. I understood that when you buy cheap coffee machines, 80% of the cost is actually the cup because the cup costs more than the coffee. I said to myself, “Why is it so expensive?” You had to pay somebody to change them, you had to build them, and import them. I said, “I’m going to call the coffee machine companies and tell them that I’m going to offer, for free, the service of changing the cup.” >>>

Bootstrapping an Ad Tech Company from Paris: Daniel Nathan, CEO of BidMotion (Part 1)

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

Europe is imploding. Entrepreneurs are its only hope. Daniel Nathan is building a really cool company based in Paris.

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?

Daniel Nathan: I was born very close to Paris. I was born in 1988. My parents were not entrepreneurs, but I always wanted to create my own business. I started my first company when I was pretty young. Our city was not such a great city to live in. To go to Paris, you had to take a train. It was pretty dangerous to take that train. >>>

A Serial Entrepreneur’s Lessons Learned: .CLUB CEO Colin Campbell (Part 1)

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

Colin, in one of his ventures, worked 10 years, and made no money when the company was exited. Subsequently, his perspective has evolved, and in this interview, he offers lessons on what to watch out for.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your personal journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background?

Colin Campbell: I’m actually a farmer from Canada. It was very tough work. Even though I worked on a farm, I still lived in the suburbs of Toronto. I was able to get the best of both environments. I went to the University of Toronto and graduated from there. As soon as I graduated, I went right back to working in the farm for about four to five months. >>>

Long Journey Over 20 Years: Paula Tompkins, CEO of ChannelNet (Part 6)

Sramana Mitra: How did the revenue move from a million dollars in ’87. Where are you now?

Paula Tompkins: We have been through three major downturns. The first in the 1990’s where we had to reinvent ourselves. Then there was the 2001 dot-com collapse where one of my major clients came to me and said, “We need to reduce our spend by 33% in five days.” Literally, I had to lay off hundreds of employees. Then in 2006, three major clients of ours – General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler – got into major trouble. By the time the bankruptcies were done and the dust settled, we were pretty much starting over. I had reinvented the company three times over its history and we are now over $20 million in revenue.

Sramana Mitra: Is there anything else from your journey that you want to share? >>>

Long Journey Over 20 Years: Paula Tompkins, CEO of ChannelNet (Part 5)

Sramana Mitra: When you moved to create this platform, what year was it and what was the competitive landscape into which you were coming with this platform?

Paula Tompkins: It was non-existent at that point.

Sramana Mitra: What year was it?

Paula Tompkins: 1999. What you really have to understand is, we have always done the same thing. We’re an enabler. Our job is to help bring a buyer and a seller together through technology. What we’re about is helping a consumer and a business user go online and research. Most of the work we do is in conjunction with sales channels. This is  all about working in an industry where they have a direct sales force, where they have a distribution network, where >>>

Thought Leaders in Cyber Security: Thycotic CEO James Legg and Founder Jonathan Cogley (Part 1)

Password management is a nightmare. See how the industry is evolving.

Sramana Mitra: Can one of you give us a background of the company and also please introduce yoruselves?

James Legg: I’m the CEO. Just to give you a background, Jonathan built and founded Thycotic and then decided he wanted some assistance in taking the company from roughly $25 million to $100 million. We’re fairly sizeable. He and I teamed up a year ago. Now we’re growing at a tremendous pace. I brought in several members of my team. This company today is growing at roughly 100% and we’re EBITDA and cash flow positive. We’re extremely profitable.

Sramana Mitra: Where are you located? >>>

Long Journey Over 20 Years: Paula Tompkins, CEO of ChannelNet (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: What year is that?

Paula Tompkins: 1985.

Sramana Mitra: Tell us a bit about the idea and how you came up with it.

Paula Tompkins: As I mentioned, the idea was that personal computers were gaining popularity. In 1985, there were about 10 million personal computers. There was the Macintosh, which had just emerged on the market, and then there was the IBM PC. Most of the IBM PCs were used in the business environment and about 50% of IBM PCs had a color card that would allow the computer to display four colors. >>>