An SEO-Driven Bootstrapping Success: Benchmark Email CEO Curt Keller (Part 7)

Sramana: You are not in a location that is known for entrepreneurship. Can you talk a bit about that experience? We are very interested in entrepreneurship development in areas where there is not a lot of entrepreneurship going on. When we see companies like yours that have been successful in a region that is not historically known for entrepreneurship, we like to know what is going on in that region to spur entrepreneurship. Are you doing anything to help spur it on?

Curt Keller: I am in the Long Beach area. I have not reached out to help other entrepreneurs in terms of going to conferences and giving back. Part of that is because Benchmark has not reached the point where I feel that my story is exciting enough to tell. I just don’t know that my story would inspire any other entrepreneurs. Unfortunately, I can’t say that I am doing a lot to help entrepreneurs other than sharing my story with you. I know that you are going to put this story online, so hopefully someone is able to benefit from it.

In terms of my own entrepreneurial energy and how I get inspired, and how others in the world might get inspired, I find the Internet is a great source of motivation. I am watching videos and seeing what other people are doing. I share those findings with my staff and they share things with me. There is real energy there. If we were in Silicon Valley, we would probably be meeting with other groups of people like us. However because of where we are geographically, we have turned to online sources for that community.

Sramana: That is exactly what we have designed 1M/1M as a virtual program. Each week we have an online roundtable where we invite entrepreneurs to come and pitch their ideas. In some cases we run pitch contests where sponsors are running contests. We have a vibrant online community on a global scale.

Curt Keller: That is awesome. Where do you see the entrepreneurial spirit coming from overseas?

Sramana: India is a very big one. It is our second-largest region. We also are doing a lot of work in Israel and the UK. We have members all over the world including, Malaysia, Italy and Greece. It truly is a global program.

Curt Keller: That is fantastic. There is one point that I want to make. In my particular case my wife has been instrumental. Obviously not every entrepreneur has a spouse who is the better half. I was fortunate in that case.

Sramana: Absolutely, it is very important to have a real partner in all of this. It is very, very, stressful and demanding. Congratulations on your success.

This segment is part 7 in the series : An SEO-Driven Bootstrapping Success: Benchmark Email CEO Curt Keller
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