Bootstrapping to $14M, Solving Serious Pain in IT Lead Generation: DiscoverOrg Cofounder Henry Schuck (Part 3)

Sramana: Did you focus only on IT, or did you focus on IT only to validate your concept and use the IT list as a minimal viable product?

Henry Schuck: We stayed very focused. People would ask us to create our service for finance, engineering, and marketing. The company was bootstrapped with our savings money and our credit cards. We were in the black almost right away because we primarily put in sweat equity. We sold our first deal to a Comsys, and that deal alone almost put us in the black. We reinvested a significant portion of our proceeds from that point on. That is what enabled our growth and what enabled us to pass on opportunities to expand into other areas and remain focused on IT.

Sramana: How much were you charging?

Henry Schuck: Our first deal was in the $15,000 to $20,000 range.

Sramana: What did they get for that price?

Henry Schuck: Access to an online database that had IT org charts and contact information. It had 5,000 contacts at about 1,000 companies. Today we cover 13,000 companies and have 215,000 contact profiles.

Sramana: What is your current pricing strategy?

Henry Schuck: It depends on what data sets you get and how many users you have. We have four distinct data sets. We have the enterprise set, which is 5,000 or more employees. There is a mid-market list which is companies with 1,000 to 4,999 employees. There is a SMB list, which is fewer than 1,000 employees. Our fourth list is government and higher education. Depending on which data sets you choose and how many users you have, the price will vary.

Sramana: Is the focus still on IT buyers?

Henry Schuck: Yes, definitely.

Sramana: You started the company in 2007 and your first deal was $20,000. Your subsequent deals put your company in the black, with room for reinvestment. What happened next in your story?

Henry Schuck: We were constantly building our database of IT buyers. We hired two employees in the beginning of 2008. They were all working out of our house in Columbus, Ohio. We had a two-story home and the entire second story was basically DiscoverOrg.

Sramana: How did the company wind up in Columbus, Ohio? You were going to law school there, but where was Kirk?

Henry Schuck: Kirk moved to Columbus. He left his job, packed a truck, and moved to Columbus.

This segment is part 3 in the series : Bootstrapping to $14M, Solving Serious Pain in IT Lead Generation: DiscoverOrg Cofounder Henry Schuck
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