Bootstrapping to 8 Million from Brittany – Digitaleo CEO Jocelyn Denis (Part 3)

Sramana: How big was your business in 2006?

Jocelyn Denis: In 2006 I hired my first employee and rented my first office. The business was profitable and has been profitable since the beginning.

Sramana: How much revenue did you do in 2006?

Jocelyn Denis: It would have been around 300,000 euros. In 2006 my assistant asked me if she could help me with sales. She really enjoyed doing sales by phone and was very good at it. During that year we sold a lot of contracts, many of which we still have. We found a huge market with the French Ministry of Education. They wanted an API to send text messages directly from their school management software. The use case was for parents to receive text messages when their sons or daughters were not in school.

We were the first company to propose that concept to them. It was the beginning of a new vertical for us. It was far more technical, and it required me to hire an engineer. That was a big step forward for me because prior to that I had contracted all development. This was the first time we did development from within the company. By the end of 2007, I had hired two more sales people and another engineer.

In 2008 our employee count grew to eight. In 2009 we had 15 employees and we reached $1 million in revenue. The company had no debt. I was very conservative, in part because I had to become more confident in myself. In 2008 I came to the U.S. for a trip, and upon returning to France I was much more confident and ambitious. I decided to rename the company into something that I could build a brand around. We changed the name to Digitaleo. In 2010 we started getting into multi-channel solutions. In 2008 and 2009 the iPhone revolution came, so we moved beyond just text messaging. The market and user base were changing.

Sramana: What were the primary market verticals you were focused on?

Jocelyn Denis: Automotive, education, and tourism, which was primarily travel agencies.

Sramana: What is the use case for travel agencies?

Jocelyn Denis: There were several use cases. The first was to send confirmation notices via text message. Clients would also send text messages to customers right before their flights wishing them a safe and pleasant trip. It was really centered on customer relations. They were also sending text messages for marketing purposes.

Another vertical was for professional sports. Clients would send real-time alerts when the team was playing away from home. They would send their sponsors and fans who subscribed the results of the game. The text message was paid for by a sponsor, so the fans did not have to pay for anything, and it was a good way for the sponsor to get in front of fans. We also found a large vertical market in retail. Clients would advertise promotions and sales. Their use cases centered on marketing. We also worked with the banking and insurance industries.

This segment is part 3 in the series : Bootstrapping to 8 Million from Brittany – Digitaleo CEO Jocelyn Denis
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