Sailesh Ramasray

Bob and Pat talk with BizFusion Founder Sailesh Ramasray about his online accounting solution geared towards small businesses with inventories.

Sailesh, a serial startup founder in the Netherlands, explains how they differentiate their accounting web service for physical product-centric companies from their competitors, and tier pricing through different subscription plans.

We talk with Sailesh about the Dutch Startup Scene, going after a series of national markets, advice for European startups and more.

Also, during the first 13:52 we talk about Bob’s newest project, FreelancerCashFlow.com, a cash flow web/mobile app for freelancers and the self-employed.

Thinking about doing a MicroConsult with Bob Walsh? Stop by 47hats.com and let’s chat a bit about your startup as a first step. I hold free “online office hours” Monday-Friday 6:30am-7:30am and 4-6pm PST UTC -8. Details at 47hats.com. Or, send me your startup question via AskBob, and let’s get a conversation going! Play it now!

Download Show #133 here: Show #133 Or if you prefer, Subscribe to the podcast in Apple iTunes.

Bob Walsh is at 47Hats, @bobwalsh or you can email him at bob.walsh@47hats.com. Patrick Foley blogs at PatrickFoley.com, is @patrickfoley or you can email him at patrick.foley@microsoft.com.

URLs mentioned/relevant to this show:

• PlaceKitten.
• Bootstrap, from Twitter (now even more awesome 2.0!).
• 7 Free Twitter Bootstrap Themes for WordPress.
• FreelancerCashFlow – sign up now for a special launch offer!
• Happy Birthday! Noah Kagan was born on 2/17/1982, so says Skype.
• BizFusion
• BizFusion Blog
• The other Dutch Startup Interview: Show #121: Marc Köhlbrugge, founder Betali.st

Thomas Hessler

Bob and Pat talk with serial entrepreneur Thomas Hessler about his newest venture, UFOStart, a new approach to funding startups.

Thomas, a successful European startup founder, has relocated to Silicon Valley to launch UFOStart, where experts can invest their skills in startups, startups can trade equity for expertise and investors can fund startups that have momentum.

We talk with Thomas about his latest venture and how it is among a rising tide of global startup funding models, the realities of where the money goes in a startup, and more.

And for about the first 10 minutes of the show, Bob and Pat discuss Tom Foremski’s Dirty Little Secret of Silicon Valley post, and the new backstory of startup acquisition increasingly becoming a matter of talent acquisition for large IT players.

Thinking about doing a MicroConsult with Bob Walsh? Stop by 47hats.com and let’s chat a bit about your startup as a first step. I hold free “online office hours” Monday-Friday 6:30am-7:30am and 4-6pm PST UTC -8. Details at 47hats.com. Or, send me your startup question via AskBob, and let’s get a conversation going! Play it now!

Download Show #132 here: Show #132 Or if you prefer, Subscribe to the podcast in Apple iTunes.

Bob Walsh is at 47Hats, @bobwalsh or you can email him at bob.walsh@47hats.com. Patrick Foley blogs at PatrickFoley.com, is @patrickfoley or you can email him at patrick.foley@microsoft.com.

URLs mentioned/relevant to this show:

• AskBob.
• The Dirty Little Secret Of Silicon Valley’s Startup Boom….
• UFOStart.
• Globumbus on Facebook.

David Feinleib

Bob and Pat talk with David Feinleib – VC, startup mentor and author of Why Startups Fail: And How Yours Can Succeed.

David’s experience as General Partner with a $2B VC firm, starting 4 startups (two acquired) and now author of a must-read book for founders gave us plenty to talk about.

We discussed finding the right Big, the one key metric that stands above all others, jumping the VC Chasm, why you should start with a 30-second marketing video, why you need to be very clear about what your building, taking the “sales learning curve” at a proper time and speed, and more.

Thinking about doing a MicroConsult with Bob Walsh? Stop by 47hats.com and let’s chat a bit about your startup as a first step. I hold free “online office hours” Monday-Friday 6:30am-7:30am and 4-6pm PST UTC -8. Details at 47hats.com. Or, send me your startup question via AskBob, and let’s get a conversation going!

Play it now!

Download Show #131 here: Show #131 Or if you prefer, Subscribe to the podcast in Apple iTunes.

Bob Walsh is at 47Hats, @bobwalsh or you can email him at bob.walsh@47hats.com.

Patrick Foley blogs at PatrickFoley.com, is @patrickfoley or you can email him at patrick.foley@microsoft.com.

URLs mentioned/relevant to this show:

• AskBob.
• New York Times: How the U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work.
• Joel Spolsky: Two things about SOPA/PIPA and then I’ll shut up .
• Brad Feld: A Few Last Thoughts On SOPA/PIPA From Last Week.
• David’s Blog.
• David is @vcdave on Twitter.
• Why Startups Fail: And How Yours Can Succeed at Amazon.
• Public video examples of what Dave meant by 30 second marketing video: here and here.

Notes from Pat:
· Sorry for some of our audio difficulties in the interview

· If you want to jump right to the interview, it starts at 12:16

· Biggest mistake is not doing it!
o Take the risk sooner because it doesn’t get easier
· Mentoring should be valuable to both parties
· DIY accelerator – when Dave finds an entrepreneur
· Great exercise is to make the 30-second marketing video before building the product.
o Why is anyone going to remember this?
o What does my product do?
o How am I going to get it out there so people care about it?
o Works equally well for consumer, business, whatever
o One of the toughest but most valuable exercises to recommend
o People love video – it’s quick, it’s fun, and it’s a forcing function
· Q: How to reconcile need to focus with need to go after big market?
· A: They’re different things
o Go after a big market because this is really hard – sometimes it’s precisely because there’s not much market to go after
o Focus comes down to being very clear about what your building, how you are going to get it to market, and what are the really core pieces you have to build to get it to market
· What’s the ONE thing you’re going to do better than anyone else
· Q: Do you prefer horizontal or vertical markets?
· A: There’s many different ways to go after a market. Horizontal vs vertical is often a question of timing. You might start with one and more to the other
· Your idea is a “big idea” if it’s going to reach a large number of businesses or consumers – it doesn’t have to be particularly fancy, but it needs to make a difference in a lot of people’s lives
· Q: How big does it have to be to get venture capital?
· A: It’s one thing to say it could be used by a lot of people, but HOW are you going to reach those millions of people or thousands of businesses.
o That’s what’s usually missing from a pitch – how are you going to take that idea to the next level that could result in a huge outcome
· Q: What degree of uniqueness is required?
· A: Quite often those who are later to market get to benefit from those who came earlier. You gotta have just the right product-market fit to be the one who hits it out of the park
· Often someone will have a great idea but won’t understand the market itself. Getting adoption is about building a product people want, but it’s also about doing the basics of getting the word out and understanding users of your product
· The kind of business you want to build is a very personal decision. Some people enjoy smaller or “lifestyle” businesses. Others are more interested in businesses that lots and lots of people will use.
· The “sales learning curve” – don’t try to accelerate sales before you’re ready
· “net promoter score” – will customers refer you to others?
· Cohort analysis is important, but you need to have enough customers to make it work. Ultimately, you have to test what works
· Q: how do you jump the “VC chasm”
· A: A mentor is really helpful … a lot of the work is PRACTICING your pitch and responses to likely questions. You also have to be genuinely enthusiastic about what you’re doing. Finally, you have to understand the profile of your investors – present them a story for why your company is going to provide them their desired outcome.
· Q: How do angel investors fit in?
· A: It depends on the angel – some are looking for big outcomes, some are not
· Getting VC funding can seem unapproachable but it’s not – if you have a good team, a good idea, and can tell your story well, you can get funding
· Q: Is this still a good time to raise money?
· A: Now is a great time
· Dave is a classical violinist (as is Patrick)

Timo Rein

Bob and Pat talk with Timo Rein, cofounder of Pipedrive – an online app for getting control of your company’s sales pipeline.

We talk with Timo how focus differentiates Pipedrive from generic CRMs, building a tool salespeople want to use, and selling to enterprise and small business. Timo shares his deep understanding of how to get your sales rhythm going, and more.

One interesting Pipedrive use case: planning and managing your startup’s equity fundraising initiative!

Thinking about doing a MicroConsult with Bob Walsh? Stop by 47hats.com and let’s chat a bit about your startup as a first step. I hold free “online office hours” Monday-Friday 6:30am-7:30am and 4-6pm PST UTC -8. Details at 47hats.com.

Play it now!

Download Show #130 here: Show #130 Or if you prefer, Subscribe to the podcast in Apple iTunes.

Bob Walsh blogs at 47Hats, is on Twitter at http://twitter.com/bobwalsh or you can email him at bob.walsh@47hats.com.

Patrick Foley blogs at PatrickFoley.com, is on Twitter at http://twitter.com/patrickfoley or you can email him at patrick.foley@microsoft.com

URLs mentioned/relevant to this show:

• Pipedrive.
• Pipedrive’s blog: The Blog of Selling More.
• Robert Scoble’s video interview/take on Pipedrive: “I wonder how long it’ll be before Marc Benioff (Salesforce.com’s CEO) will buy these guys? I think they are onto something.”