Building a High-Impact EdTech Venture from Alabama: QuantHub CEO Josh Jones (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: Were you using third party software for these projects? What was the lay of the land in terms of tools and technologies for doing this work at that time?

Bootstrapping a Generative AI Venture Using Services: Abhinav Girdhar, Founder CEO of Appy Pie (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: Out of the 10,000 registrations, how many converted into paying customers?

Abhinav Girdhar: Mostly these were small customers, so people were coming in on a freemium model. I would say the conversion rate from freemium to paid was pretty low – 1 or 2 out of hundred users.

Sramana Mitra: 1-2% conversion rate. That’s normal in freemium. If you can get to 4% conversion in freemium, you’re doing great.

1Mby1M Udemy Courses with Sramana Mitra: Artificial Intelligence

At 1Mby1M, one of the most popular courses these days is the Artificial Intelligence segment. These courses include case studies that involve discussions on opportunities and challenges in Generative AI domain.

The Startup Velocity Question: The Churn Issue

The market is full of companies facing velocity issues due to high churn.

Somehow or the other, they may have managed to sell subscriptions to enterprises, SMBs or individuals.

The Startup Velocity Question: Inability to Explain the REAL Value Proposition

Another scenario I am encountering in my discussions is that of the inability to explain what the company does.

In the best case, the company is able to close deals.

Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped an IoT Company from NC

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

North Carolina, at one point, had a large concentration of cellular technology companies. Some of that talent then came together around IoT, including Bob Witter, Co-founder of Device Solutions. He shared his journey with me in 2016.

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 circumstances?

Bob Witter: I was born in Springville, New York. It’s in the western part of New York. I grew up in central New York. I went to school at State University of New York and graduated in 1981 with degrees in Computer Science and Mathematics. I started my career in Rochester with Eastman Kodak company in the medical products division that was brand new at that time. I learned a great deal about how to do medical products that has certainly served me well even today at Device Solutions.

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Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped an Online Education Company

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

Tod Browndorf, CEO of Coggno, has built an interesting online education company focused on specific niche course types. Read on to learn more from our conversation in 2016.

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?

Tod Browndorf: Wow! We’re really going way back. I’m originally from the east coast. I was born in South Carolina but was raised in New York and New Jersey for most of my life. I lost my father when I was 10 and a half years old. I started working very early in life. He was in the manufacturing business. I started working early through school. I travelled the world pretty extensively. I lived in Australia for quite a while. I lived in the Middle East and eventually started my career in Finance. I started off as a trader on Wall Street, then later here in San Francisco.

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Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped to $15M in 3 Years

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

Extraordinarily tight, disciplined strategy and execution has enabled Connatix Founder CEO David Kashak to build a tremendously fast growing company with a small team. A lot to learn from our conversation in 2016.

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?

David Kashak: I was born in Israel. I grew up in Israel and studied engineering at Tel Aviv University. After studying, I started as a programmer in a cyber security company in Israel. At one point, they offered to relocate me to New York. That offer was very interesting because I wanted to get more exposure to business. I moved to New York.

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