The Montana Mogul: RightNow CEO Greg Gianforte (Part 7)

SM: In your opinion, what are some of the typical problems entrepreneurs have?

GG: I think the biggest problem is they think they have to a perfect product before they can go to market. The reality is that learning does not start until you have some value proposition. When you go through the process of selling a product before you actually have a product, you learn a lot about the wants and desires of your target customer base. >>>

Deal Radar 2008: Pandora

Pandora Media, based in Oakland, California, is an Internet radio web site. Founded by Tim Westergren in 2000, it was formerly known as Savage Beast Technologies. Pandora uses the Music Genome Project, a collection of songs that have been analyzed by trained musicians. >>>

The Montana Mogul: RightNow CEO Greg Gianforte (Part 6)

SM: Have you taken any venture capital funding with RightNow, or has it been solely bootstrapped?

GG: We raised about $27 million in 1999 and 2000. The first key is that our partners were really good. We also were a good size, we had about 160 people on board. We had a $6-million-a-year business and they gave us a $130 million valuation. On those terms, I would probably raise money again today. >>>

SAP Looks Strong

SAP released their second quarter earnings last Tuesday. The company’s revenue surged 18%, beating Wall Street expectations and causing the stock to close up nearly 10%. Since the results were released, the stock has been trading in the same price band, which is near its seven-month high. The stock closed at $57.86 yesterday, just two dollars short of its 52-week high. >>>

Deal Radar 2008: Metacafe

Metacafe is a popular video sharing site where users can upload and view video clips. The company was founded by Eyal Hertzog and Arik Czerniak, with early funding from Ofer Adler, in July 2003 in Tel Aviv. In September 2006, the company moved its headquarters to Palo Alto, California and currently has offices in Tel Aviv and New York. >>>

The Montana Mogul: RightNow CEO Greg Gianforte (Part 5)

SM: Is there any particular market segment that you have targeted, or do you simply focus on companies by size?

GG: We have about 1,800 clients who tend to be larger organizations. Over 60% of our business is with corporations that have over $1 billion in revenue. Some of our larger verticals are telecommunications, which accounts for 19% of revenues, and technology which, accounts for 17% of our revenues. >>>

Deal Radar 2008: Appirio

Appirio was founded in October 2006 by Narinder Singh and Glenn Weinsten to help companies integrate Software-as-a-Service (Saas) solutions. Headquartered in San Mateo, California, the company has a strong advantage because of its partnerships with Google and Salesforce.com. A cloud integrator with a focus on cloud applications working well together, Appirio ‘practices what it preaches’ and runs its own business without any servers on premise. >>>

The Montana Mogul: RightNow CEO Greg Gianforte (Part 4)

SM: How did you conduct sales at RightNow?

GG: Primarily through telesales, which was combined with Internet-based demonstrations and trial periods of the product. >>>