Located in Santa Monica, the heart of Silicon Beach, Nimble is on a mission to change how small businesses manage their customer relationships. Nimble may have been founded in 2009, but the idea for Nimble started more than twenty years ago. Founder and CEO Jon Ferrara is a customer relationship management (CRM) pioneer who is taking his years of CRM knowledge and combining it with today’s social tools to create Nimble.
In 1989 Jon Ferrara co-founded a software company called Goldmine Software. It was an early pioneer in customer relationship management. Ferrara and his team built Goldmine into an Inc. 500 company. By 1998, he sold it to FrontRange Solutions. But Goldmine wouldn’t be Ferrara’s life’s work. He is on a mission to transform CRM as technology progresses.
Nimble is a cost-effective social CRM that allows businesses to manage their communication, collaboration, calendar and social into one simple solution. Nimble allows users to message each other, schedule tasks/events, track sales leads, and unify their inboxes with email and social messages. Most importantly, Nimble automatically identifies contact’s social profiles. Engaging and connecting with important business contacts is much more efficient and effective, giving businesses a leg up on landing new business. Unlike a Salesforce product that costs much, much more, Nimble is a mere $15 a month.
It’s evident that Goldmine’s roots run deep in the Nimble culture. Nimble is located in Santa Monica because that’s where Goldmine first blossomed. The team stayed in Los Angeles because they believe they’re more open to rich ideas because they’re not in the Silicon Valley echo chamber. Nimble is not just looking to score a hit with the next buzz industry. Rather, Nimble is focusing on their passion and looking to build out their platform.
Nimble is focused on building a huge community of solutions that aligns with their philosophy serving small businesses for the future. The Nimble team is having a blast helping businesses grow by connecting people through their CRM. Their mentality is that the sky’s the limit as long as they stay transparent and work with passion.
I am a fan of any company that makes their product available to small businesses. I believe it’s an underserved market due to the difficult sales cycle and user adoption. Enterprise software might be more expensive and have a longer sales cycle, but the contracts are more lucrative and for longer periods of time. This is why SaaS companies shy away from small business customers. But Nimble currently stands at approximately 40,000 customers. With their $15 a month subscription price tag, Nimble has already built a million dollar company by serving small businesses.
Nimble might not be as sexy as some startups, but they are well positioned for big things. An experienced CEO, a clear business model, and notable investors definitely increase the probability for startup success. Silicon Beach is fortunate to have Nimble in the community. If you’d like to give Nimble a spin, you can learn more at Nimble.com.
