From The Basement To $17 Million In Revenue with Instant Technology

Rona Borre is the president and CEO of Instant Technology, an IT staffing and recruiting firm. After running a $30 million book of business at a global recruiting firm, Rona left to start Instant Technology with the goal of adding a personal touch to the staffing industry.

What began as a startup in her basement has grown to more than 30 employees and almost $17 million in revenue. I interviewed Rona to learn the story of how she built Instant Technology from the ground up.

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By Techli

Creating A Buyer Powered Market With Zaarly

Bo Fishback is the founder of Zaarly. Previously, Bo was the Vice President of Entrepreneurship for the Kaufman Foundation. Zaarly was created a LA Startup Weekend just a few months ago in February 2011, and is moving at the speed of light building a team, raising tons of capital, and preparing to create an innovative new e-comemrce platform.

I interviewed Bo to learn the story of Zaarly and share experiences from his vast history as an entrepreneur.

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By Techli

From Six Figure Corporate Salary To $0 And A Co-Founder

Adam Siegel is the co-founder of Inkling Markets, a company that creates prediction market software for large companies. He’s also recently founded Cityposh, a competitive local shopping site.

I invited Adam here today to share why he left a successful job at a large consulting firm to start Inkling Markets and what he’s learned along the way.

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By Techli

Funding Your Idea: From Grandpa To Waiting Tables To Raising $500,000

Desiree Vargas Wrigley is the co-founder of GiveForward, a website that allows people to crowd fund money for medical expenses.  GiveForward recently raised $500,000 in funding.

But that funding came after a lot of bootstrapping and alternative funding sources (like Desiree’s grandpa). In this interview, Desiree shares the unique ways she bootstrapped GiveForward in the beginning, where the idea came from, and how she pushed forward no matter what.

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By Techli

PerkSpot: From Dining Room Table To Doubling Revenue Every Year

Christopher Hill is the founder of PerkSpot, a company that manages discount benefit programs for employers. Chris started Perkspot out of his condo four and a half years ago, and Perkspot has been doubling revenue every year since.

I invited Chris here to today to share the story of how he built Perkspot to the success it is today and why he bootstrapped rather than sought funding.

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By Techli

Funding Your Business & Mistakes You Should Avoid

Carol Roth, business strategist and author of The Entrepreneur Equation. Carol has helped a wide variety of clients raise more than $1 billion in capital.

Today she shares why venture capital could be good for your business, how to know if your business is even fundable, and common mistakes creative entrepreneurs make when seeking funding.

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By Techli

From A Desk And Chair In A Server Room To $116 Million In Revenue

Shawn Riegsecker is the founder of Centro, a company that makes the buying and selling of online media easy. Last year, Shawn’s company pulled in $116 million in revenue.

But things weren’t always that good. Shawn started the company back during the recession in 2000. He was drowning in debt, behind on rent, and his office consisted of a desk, chair, blanket and pillow in a server room.

In this interview, Shawn shares how he started Centro during a recession and how he kept himself motivated during those trying early days.

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By Techli

How 2 Shoe Enthusiasts With No Programming Experience Built An iPhone App

When shoe enthusiasts Brandon Williamson and D.J. Grant decided they wanted to create an iPhone app to locate boutique sneaker shops, they called around to see how much it would cost. Turns out it would cost a bit more than they could afford.

So Brandon and D.J. built the Sole Search app themselves. They learned how to program for the iPhone from scratch and the app has been downloaded over 20,000 times. I interviewed these guys to learn how they did it and why.

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By Techli

Difference Between Having A Problem And Building A Business Around It

When Sean Harper needed a credit card processor for his first company, he signed up for the first one he saw. He ended up being swindled into tens of thousands of dollars of charges and paid almost twice the amount they expected to the first year.

That’s when Sean knew there was a problem. And after some initial research, he realized it was a problem he could build a business around. So Sean and his co-founder created FeeFighters.com.

I interviewed Sean to learn how he’s working to solve this problem for small businesses and about the recent rebranding his company went through.

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By Techli

Why Braintree Founder Bryan Johnson Doesn’t Hire Traditional Managers

Chicago based credit card processing company Braintree has an impressive roster of customers – 37signals, Airbnb, github, OpenTable, and more. And that’s with a team of under 20 people.

That’s not why I interviewed CEO Bryan Johnson though. I wanted to learn why their company culture is so unique, why he doesn’t hire traditional managers, and why he’s so adamant about hiring rock star e

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By Techli