Building a Fast-Growth Marketplace: Stefania Mallett, CEO of EZCater (Part 4)

Sramana Mitra: How did you get involved with EZCater?

Stefania Mallett: In early 2000 when people were looking for someone with gravitas, the investors of a company called BuzzPad reached out to me and asked me if I would come in as someone with gravitas to help the younger entrepreneurs who had founded that company.

One of the two co-founders there is a fellow named Briscoe Rogers. The co-founders and I have worked together to try to put BuzzPad on a more profitable path. We didn’t succeed in saving that company, but I was impressed with how Briscoe handled the >>>

Building a Mid-Market Security SaaS Company from Canada: J. Paul Haynes, CEO of eSentire (Part 7)

Sramana Mitra: When you looked at your business through that lens, what were some of the salient points?

J. Paul Haynes: Our retention rate was 99%. When I shared that with our next investor, they had never seen anything that high. Our customer acquisition cost was too low. From our perspective, you got to get out in the market. You’re missing opportunities because you’re not spending enough on marketing.

I didn’t really have an appreciation for how well we were performing compared to our peers. Those retention rates were off the charts. I quickly learned that that was a differential thing when you’re raising financing. When I was reviewing these with a much more >>>

Building a Fast-Growth Marketplace: Stefania Mallett, CEO of EZCater (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: What happened to that company?

Stefania Mallett: That worked really well. We had multiple clients. Then we sold the company to SILKNET Software, who merged with Kana Systems in California. It was a merger of two public companies. I think Kana has since changed its name to Kana Software. Honestly, my product disappeared. It was one tool in the toolbox of what SILKNET sold. In the end, it turned into more of an aqui-hire situation.

Sramana Mitra: Very common.

Stefania Mallett: Right. >>>

Building a Mid-Market Security SaaS Company from Canada: J. Paul Haynes, CEO of eSentire (Part 6)

Sramana Mitra: What was the growth rate from there on? Once you got to building the SaaS business, you zeroed in on the mid-market financial services vertical. You’ve defined your target audience very precisely. You’ve got this whole community of influencers around you. What kind of growth rate were you hitting?

J. Paul Haynes: This is going back a few years. We were probably in the 75% y-o-y range. It was higher in the earlier days. We’re at about 65% right now.

Sramana Mitra: What are some of the other strategic moves that you’ve made in building the business that are >>>

Building a Fast-Growth Marketplace: Stefania Mallett, CEO of EZCater (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: What year does that bring us up to?

Stefania Mallett: That was 1989.

Sramana Mitra: That’s still pre-Internet.

Stefania Mallett: It was still pre-Internet. I worked there until 1993. Then in 1993, I decided that it was time to try consulting. I had always worked for companies. I had never done any consulting. I think of consulting as sleeping around. I decided that it was time to sleep around. I was tired of being in these companies where I had been married to them. I went to work for a management >>>

Building a Mid-Market Security SaaS Company from Canada: J. Paul Haynes, CEO of eSentire (Part 5)

Sramana Mitra: How long did it take you to launch the SaaS version of this product? When did you start selling that product?

J. Paul Haynes: A year.

Sramana Mitra: We are talking 2011.

J. Paul Haynes: Yes.

Sramana Mitra: So in 2012, you were a SaaS  company? >>>

Building a Fast-Growth Marketplace: Stefania Mallett, CEO of EZCater (Part 1)

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

Two-sided marketplaces are perpetually difficult to build and scale. EZCater is approaching a billion dollars in gross marketplace value of transactions. Learn more from Stefania about working through the chicken and egg challenge.

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?

Stefania Mallett: I was born in Boston. My parents had come to United States after the war. They came from Europe and there >>>

Building a Mid-Market Security SaaS Company from Canada: J. Paul Haynes, CEO of eSentire (Part 4)

Sramana Mitra: Where did you raise money? You said you worked with some investors that you had prior relationships with and who wanted to get in early. Are these Canadian investors?

J. Paul Haynes: The first investor was Venture Link, which was Toronto-based. They came in fairly early. They have another affiliate firm. The government put a program in place that encourages venture investment. We were able to take advantage of an interest-free loan that was non-dilutive. There’s a window of eligibility that we just happened to take advantage of. The first round was in June of 2011.

Sramana Mitra: You said something which is a bit unusual. I want to explain that to the people who are reading >>>