How Rafat Ali Found a Job (Part 1)

Rafat Ali is a journalist, pioneering blogger, and entrepreneur. Editor & Publisher has called Rafat “journalism’s poster boy for career independence from news companies”. I am very pleased to share his story of persistence and success.

SM: Where are you from? Where did you grow up?

RA: I was born in the UK, but my family is from the northern part of India. My father was a professor and lived in the US, the UK, and other parts of Europe. For the first five years of my life, I grew up in Denver. Then we moved back to India, where I lived until I was 25. >>>

Deal Radar 2008: LifeSize

High definition (HD) videoconferencing and communications developer LifeSize was founded in 2003. The company is headquartered in Austin, Texas with subsidiaries in the Americas, EMEA, and APAC. The company provides high quality communication solutions for large enterprises, academia and mid-market enterprises. >>>

Deal Radar 2008: GirlSense

Continuing our coverage of online gaming, today I discuss GirlSense, the online tween social network for girls. Part of the Israel-based tween community StarNet Interactive, GirlSense allows girls to play dress up games, create their own designs, and build and interact on their own networks. >>>

More Bootstrapping: VirtualTourist.com Co-Founder J.R. Johnson (Part 6)

SM: When you hired people, did they have equity in the company?

JJ: Yes, that was one way to entice people to join us. >>>

Top 10 Outsourcing Stocks

Anything I write about outsourcing seems to lead to a heated debate. My article on the Death of Indian Outsourcing was one such piece. The more recent Obama and Outsourcing received a similar welcome. Regardless of what happens to the outsourcing industry as a result of the US elections in November, outsourcing firms will remain key contributors to a changing global economy. Here is my analysis of the top 10 outsourcing stocks to watch. >>>

More Bootstrapping: VirtualTourist.com Co-Founder J.R. Johnson (Part 5)

SM: You had to be cash flow positive for the majority of your business, correct? When did you start breaking even?

JJ: It is easy to break even when you are not paying yourself anything. It was not a typical scenario where we had a million dollars, ran with negative cash flow for a while, and eventually turned the corner. This was something that was positive cash flow on a monthly basis. >>>

Deal Radar 2008: Realtime Worlds

Realtime Worlds is an entertainment software company that produces hit video games like Grand Theft Auto, Crackdown and Lemmings. Their latest game is the community-based All Points Bulletin (APB), which is expected to be released soon. The company is also currently developing new software technology that will have applications in various other industries. >>>

More Bootstrapping: VirtualTourist.com Co-Founder J.R. Johnson (Part 4)

SM: What type of traffic levels are you currently seeing?

JJ: We are seeing 5-6 million unique visitors a month. >>>