Gopi Mattel - CEO of Again Technologies
[Originally published 10/4/99]
Since founding Again Technologies in 1995, Gopi Mattel has carved out a niche for sales-force incentive plan administration software. The San Mateo, California-based company has grown slowly during its first four years but is poised for rapid growth. In fact, it was named one of Red Herring's 1999 "Ten to Watch".
How would you describe your path to entrepreneurship?
I was a Director at the Gap in the Information Systems (IS) area, and they needed incentive plan software. One of the things that IS management does is go out and see what products are available, so I did the market research and really didn't find any products. There was one product available, but it didn't do what we needed so I proposed that we develop the system in house. For a couple of different reasons - other management's perception of risk, politics, etc - we went with a vendor that I found unacceptable. So I just went out and started a business.
What major challenges did you face when you were starting up your company?
Starting a company was a sudden thing - a baptism by fire - and I had to figure out what to do. I wasn't fully prepared to start something like this. I didn't have a lot of savings. I just had an idea and a real passion to do something about it.
The problem was that the company was literally a single person for the first year. I built the product and went out and sold it. I did things I had never done before like selling, doing demos and all of those things. By the second year, there were two of us. And at the same time, we were constantly trying to appear large.
So, even though we were profitable starting our first year, we definitely didn't have enough money. We also didn't have enough understanding of what it takes to be successful - such as doing good financial work, etc. None of that was fully done. If you were going to VC's, they wouldn't even consider you if you took that approach to business development. But a lot of companies are successful that way regardless of what the VC's say.
How did you overcome those challenges?
Working with Christine Comaford has helped. It's really been about learning what investors expect. Before, it didn't matter if we had someone doing sales, as long as we had sales. Now, it's very important to have a VP of Sales to do channel strategies, etc. Christine has also helped with contacts. We had literally no contacts for the first four years.
After we got funding, we also set up a board of advisors comprised of six well-recognized industry executives. They get options, but they're actually helping us because they like us. The VP of Sales we just hired came from one of the advisors. Having someone that you trust refer a job candidate is worth a lot. I'd say it's about 90% of the valuation of a prospective employee, with the other 10% being the interview and other references. So that's very valuable - plus you don't have to pay the recruiter. Our advisors have also helped with references and prospects. Also, being able to say that a certain person is on your board of advisors gives the company respect and credibility. So having a board of advisors is an idea that Artemis gave us. Which is probably something that all companies do once they have gotten involved with VC's. But if you're not part of that loop, you just don't know that. You can get a couple of books like High Tech Startup but you won't find that said there.
Based on your experiences, any other words of advice for aspiring entrepreneurs?
You don't need money or anything else as long as you have a good market space, a company with passion, and a good product. But if I were to do it again, I would learn about the startup process. I would set up a lot of contacts. I would talk to a lot of VC's. I would explore ideas and get a track record behind me.
The other thing I'd suggest, if you can swing it, is to pair up with someone with a complementary background. If you're a marketing person, pair up with a developer (or vice versa). You need two that work together - that's ideal. You kind of bolster each other. At some point, you'll hit a downturn and, if you're not prepared, you can take your company down with you.
Since founding Again Technologies in 1995, Gopi Mattel has carved out a niche for sales-force incentive plan administration software. The San Mateo, California-based company has grown slowly during its first four years but is poised for rapid growth. In fact, it was named one of Red Herring's 1999 "Ten to Watch".
How would you describe your path to entrepreneurship?
I was a Director at the Gap in the Information Systems (IS) area, and they needed incentive plan software. One of the things that IS management does is go out and see what products are available, so I did the market research and really didn't find any products. There was one product available, but it didn't do what we needed so I proposed that we develop the system in house. For a couple of different reasons - other management's perception of risk, politics, etc - we went with a vendor that I found unacceptable. So I just went out and started a business.
What major challenges did you face when you were starting up your company?
Starting a company was a sudden thing - a baptism by fire - and I had to figure out what to do. I wasn't fully prepared to start something like this. I didn't have a lot of savings. I just had an idea and a real passion to do something about it.
The problem was that the company was literally a single person for the first year. I built the product and went out and sold it. I did things I had never done before like selling, doing demos and all of those things. By the second year, there were two of us. And at the same time, we were constantly trying to appear large.
So, even though we were profitable starting our first year, we definitely didn't have enough money. We also didn't have enough understanding of what it takes to be successful - such as doing good financial work, etc. None of that was fully done. If you were going to VC's, they wouldn't even consider you if you took that approach to business development. But a lot of companies are successful that way regardless of what the VC's say.
How did you overcome those challenges?
Working with Christine Comaford has helped. It's really been about learning what investors expect. Before, it didn't matter if we had someone doing sales, as long as we had sales. Now, it's very important to have a VP of Sales to do channel strategies, etc. Christine has also helped with contacts. We had literally no contacts for the first four years.
After we got funding, we also set up a board of advisors comprised of six well-recognized industry executives. They get options, but they're actually helping us because they like us. The VP of Sales we just hired came from one of the advisors. Having someone that you trust refer a job candidate is worth a lot. I'd say it's about 90% of the valuation of a prospective employee, with the other 10% being the interview and other references. So that's very valuable - plus you don't have to pay the recruiter. Our advisors have also helped with references and prospects. Also, being able to say that a certain person is on your board of advisors gives the company respect and credibility. So having a board of advisors is an idea that Artemis gave us. Which is probably something that all companies do once they have gotten involved with VC's. But if you're not part of that loop, you just don't know that. You can get a couple of books like High Tech Startup but you won't find that said there.
Based on your experiences, any other words of advice for aspiring entrepreneurs?
You don't need money or anything else as long as you have a good market space, a company with passion, and a good product. But if I were to do it again, I would learn about the startup process. I would set up a lot of contacts. I would talk to a lot of VC's. I would explore ideas and get a track record behind me.
The other thing I'd suggest, if you can swing it, is to pair up with someone with a complementary background. If you're a marketing person, pair up with a developer (or vice versa). You need two that work together - that's ideal. You kind of bolster each other. At some point, you'll hit a downturn and, if you're not prepared, you can take your company down with you.
posted by gnp at 8:46 PM
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