Podcast
Practical Founders Podcast
Hosted by Greg Head · EN
Tune into the Practical Founders Podcast with host Greg Head for weekly in-depth interviews with founders who have built valuable software companies--without big funding.
45episodes
Episodes
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#124: From Services to SaaS Products to a Successful Acquisition in India - Sunando Bhattacharya
Dec 27, 202401:05:41Tap to summarizeSunando Bhattacharya spent 13 years as a business leader in managed IT services companies in India before starting his own cloud tech services business. This company grew slowly and an opportunity arose to create a software product for one of their clients. Two years later, in 2019, they had a few more Apiculus product customers and focused more on the product. Apiculus is a complete "cloud-as-a-service" software platform for data centers to offer, sell, deploy, and manage cloud data services for their own customers. They focused on smaller data centers in emerging markets, including Nepal, Oman, Rwanda, and others in the Middle East and Africa. The Apiculus business grew as it turned into a product-first company. They overcame many challenges during COVD and with customers and partners that didn't work out. In 2024, the company was acquired by Yotta, and Indian cloud technology company, in a strategic acquisition. Quote from Sunando Bhattacharya, founder of Apiculus "Somebody asked me what one thing you want for your company. I said I wanted my company featured on Great Places to Work. It's very important that the team that works with me finds this a great place to work. "The only secret ingredient for tech companies is people. It's people who make the technology. And if you take care of your team, you take care of your people, you will always do well. "This isn't just for services companies. Talent and ability are important. But for somebody to bring their best every day to work and deliver something world-class, which is world-beating, it needs a very different level of passion. And that passion will only come from your team if you take care for them." Links Sunando Bhattacharya on LinkedIn Apiculus on LinkedIn Apiculus website Yotta Data Services website Podcast Sponsor - Cypress Growth Capital This week’s podcast is sponsored by my friends at Cypress Growth Capital. For 15 years, Cypress has provided non-dilutive growth funding to bootstrapped SaaS founders, including many successful founders I’ve interviewed here on this podcast. The Practical Founders Podcast Tune into the Practical Founders Podcast for weekly in-depth interviews with founders who have built valuable software companies without big funding. Subscribe to the Practical Founders Podcast using your favorite podcast app. Get the weekly Practical Founders newsletter and podcast updates at practicalfounders.com/newsletter.
Transcribe →#123: How Practical Founders Are Winning Big with Growth Equity Funding – Growth Street Partners
Dec 20, 202400:57:37Tap to summarizeSteve Wolfe and Nate Grossman are co-founders at Growth Street Partners, a growth equity firm focused on investing in early-stage B2B SaaS companies between $2M-$6M in ARR. They discuss how growth equity funding works for SaaS founders and how it allows entrepreneurs to maintain control while still benefiting from investment and liquidity. In this expert episode, Steve and Nate get specific and share real examples of how SaaS founders use growth equity to win bigger, when it can be a good fit for founders, and how founders scale their businesses and win with multiple exits. They also describe: Why Growth Street Partners focuses on practical founders with growth equity. How growth equity is different from traditional private equity and venture capital. Why successful founders are “learn-it-alls” with a growth mindset. How founders can achieve multiple exits through strategic partnerships. Why building a strong team is essential for scale-up success. Quote from Steve Wolfe, co-founder of Growth Street Partners “We know that when entrepreneurs have fun, their companies do much better. When founders continue to feel real ownership in their business and in the success of their company, they do a lot better, too. “So we set up our whole firm to enable that. We are investing to own just 20% to 50% of a business, so the founder still controls the company. We go to them with execution ideas and proven frameworks and approaches, but we are really just giving them the tools to make better decisions themselves. “They know they make the decisions in the end, so they will make sure that it’s successful. There’s something beautiful about that relationship and about helping that founder get to where they want to go while still feeling like they did it.” Links Steve Wolfe on LinkedIn Nate Grossman on LinkedIn Growth Street Partners on LinkedIn Growth Street Partners website Podcast Sponsor – Full Scale This week’s podcast is sponsored by Full Scale, one of the fastest-growing software development companies in any region. Full Scale vets, employs, and supports over 300 professional developers, designers, and testers in the Philippines who can augment and extend your core dev team. Learn more at fullscale.io. The Practical Founders Podcast Tune into the Practical Founders Podcast for weekly in-depth interviews with founders who have built valuable software companies without big funding. Subscribe to the Practical Founders Podcast using your favorite podcast app. Get the weekly Practical Founders newsletter and podcast updates at practicalfounders.com/newsletter.
Transcribe →#122: Going Long With Profitable Embedded Accounting Software After 13 Years – Raj Bhaskar
Dec 13, 202401:02:14Tap to summarizeRaj Bhaskar is a successful two-time practical software founder with one exit. In 2000, he started his first software company, VisualHOMES, to provide a comprehensive financial management software to public housing agencies. With no outside funding, the business grew to serve 65 regional providers serving 2 million residents before Yardi Systems acquired the company in 2010. After he left Yardi two years later, Raj and his brother launched Hurdlr to reach the wider small business market with a simpler accounting and tax management software than Quickbooks. They started selling their online accounting software to small businesses, but eventually they returned to their original vision to build embedded (white label) accounting that works inside other software. Hurdlr has grown steadily and has served over 1.3 million small businesses in its 13-year history. Raj invested his own money for many years and a little outside investment. The company is now “lifetime profitable” and growing quickly with 25 employees. Raj loves his work and has no intention of selling the business anytime soon. Quote from Raj Bhaskar, cofounder and CEO of Hurdlr “I ran my previous software business for 10 years before I sold it. And Hurdlr is now over 10 years old. These days, I’m talking about the next 10 years and the next 10 years after that. The next decade and two decades from now, because it’s relevant and because I think we’re just getting started. “I’ve seen inflection points in markets, and our market is finally ready. That’s the part we didn’t have any control over. So, in my view, there is no finish line. This is the starting line where we now have all these assets and need to let more people know we exist. “It’s crazy to say after 10 years that this is just the beginning. So I could say probably 20 years from now, looking backward, OK, these are the phases, but I’m in new territory and I know this will be a sustainable and growing business for a long time.” Links Raj Bhaskar on LinkedIn Hurdlr on LinkedIn Hurdlr website Podcast Sponsor – Full Scale This week’s podcast is sponsored by Full Scale, one of the fastest-growing software development companies in any region. Full Scale vets, employs, and supports over 300 professional developers, designers, and testers in the Philippines who can augment and extend your core dev team. Learn more at fullscale.io. The Practical Founders Podcast Tune into the Practical Founders Podcast for weekly in-depth interviews with founders who have built valuable software companies without big funding. Subscribe to the Practical Founders Podcast using your favorite podcast app. Get the weekly Practical Founders newsletter and podcast updates at practicalfounders.com/newsletter.
Transcribe →#113: Grew and Sold a Simulation Learning Platform for Higher Education - Stu Draper
Oct 4, 2024Tap to summarizeStuart Draper founded Stukent, an innovative ed-tech company that provides simulated internships for business students. Stukent started by focusing on high-quality digital marketing education for colleges and universities using up-to-date digital textbooks and content. They then added a simulation system for students to practice their digital marketing skills. Stukent grew steadily with less than $1M in outside funding, which helped them bridge the long and seasonal buying cycles of big schools. The team grew to over 100 employees and nearly $10 million in revenue serving marketing professors and their students. In 2021, they engaged with Vista Point Advisors, an M&A advisor firm, to shop the company to prospective buyers and investors, eventually getting a majority investment from Tritium Partners. Stuart describes the M&A process, what worked well, and how he transitioned out of the company after two years of continued growth. Podcast Sponsor – Cypress Growth Capital This week’s podcast is sponsored by my friends at Cypress Growth Capital. For 15 years, Cypress has provided non-dilutive growth funding to bootstrapped SaaS founders, including many successful founders I’ve interviewed here on this podcast. Quote from Stuart Draper, founder of Stukent “When we officially sold a major part of our company to investors, we had a brief celebration. My CFO and I called each other and screamed as loud as we could on the phone in a fun moment. We got there, we did this. My family also took a big trip and I got a break. “But then it was back to work. I was still the CEO and I still run this thing and I’ve got new investors that also need returns. I’m going to go deliver for these guys. They gave me a big payday, so I’m going to make sure they have a win too. “After the second board meeting with our investors, I realized this is way harder than I thought. After eight board meetings and doubling the business again, I wasn’t enjoying this as much anymore. The board meetings were hard for me. Prepping for them was super stressful. “So we found a new CEO for Stukent, and he’s doing great. Now I get to sit back in my chair at the board meeting, listen in, share my advice and opinions and come back in three months.” Links Stuart Draper on LinkedIn Stukent on LinkedIn Stukent website Tritium Partners website The Practical Founders Podcast Tune into the Practical Founders Podcast for weekly in-depth interviews with founders who have built valuable software companies without big funding. Subscribe to the Practical Founders Podcast using your favorite podcast app. Get the weekly Practical Founders newsletter and podcast updates at practicalfounders.com.
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#60: Created a Practical Venture Studio After Selling His SaaS Company – Oliver Low
Sep 8, 2023Tap to summarizeOliver Low worked for Microsoft and then MySpace in London before creating a successful digital agency in 2010 with two friends. Their agency grew fast and was profitable, so they invested in building software apps to solve problems that they faced helping big brands promote on the web. One of those products, Platform360, turned into a real SaaS product business which became their focus in 2013. Platform360 was a programmatic ad platform for large brands to manage digital advertising in the changing digital privacy environment. They grew quickly with extreme effort and no outside funding, but eventually decided to sell the Platform360 business in 2018 for a modest exit. Oliver is a savvy and practical “0 to 1” entrepreneur and business builder. He now runs Tiny Studio, the venture builder inside Tiny.com. Tiny is one of the largest “buy and hold” acquirers of bootstrapped and profitable SaaS companies, continuing to run those companies as independent and sustainable businesses. We talk at length about what we are both seeing in the big wave of successful practical software companies that are starting, growing, and thriving without any VC funding. Bootstrapped SaaS Topics Discussed on This Podcast with Oliver Low Why Oliver created a digital agency in 2007 after working at Microsoft and Myspace How they built and grew a programmatic ad-tech platform without outside funding Why they chose to sell the company at a challenging time rather than raise big VC funding How Tiny.com works as a holding company that acquires bootstrapped SaaS businesses and holds them long-term as independent companies What Oliver sees in the world of practical SaaS founders from his global perspective Why he started a venture studio inside Tiny.com to incubate practical SaaS businesses Learn more at practicalfounders.com.
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