A Case Study in Equity Crowdfunding: Cary Breese, CEO of NowRx (Part 4)

Sramana Mitra: Where were these customers coming from? What was the customer acquisition strategy?

Cary Breese: We knew that the point of sale or service for pharmacies is inside the doctor’s office. When I was in the doctor’s office, he was the one who decided that I was going to get a prescription. It wasn’t me or the consumer that decides if they are going to get the prescription.

A Case Study in Equity Crowdfunding: Cary Breese, CEO of NowRx (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: When you started digging into this problem, what did you learn about the competitive landscape because, today, online pharmacies are present. 

Cary Breese: What struck me immediately was that the products themselves that pharmacies maintain in their inventory are fairly non-perishable commodity items.

A Case Study in Equity Crowdfunding: Cary Breese, CEO of NowRx (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: In 2010, you gained some significant domain knowledge in the insurance domain. What happens next?

Cary Breese: I got interested in the broader startup industry. Although I had some deep experience in insurance, I was always an engineer by background. I was interested in technologies of various industries.

A Case Study in Equity Crowdfunding: Cary Breese, CEO of NowRx ( Part 1)

Equity Crowdfunding has matured significantly. In this case study, we get to learn some interesting nuances.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born and raised? What kind of background did you have?

Bootstrapping Using Services: George Anderson, CEO of Ninth Wave (Part 6)

Sramana Mitra: Who did you raise money from?

George Anderson: It was from a company called Soros private equity. 

Sramana Mitra: How much revenue was the software business generating when you brought this firm in?

George Anderson: I don’t want to get it wrong, so I’d rather not say that one. 

Bootstrapping Using Services: George Anderson, CEO of Ninth Wave (Part 5)

Sramana Mitra: When did that episode happen? Was it when you did this repackaging?

George Anderson: Yes, when I did the repackaging. It was in 2001. 

Sramana Mitra: From 2001 to 2008, you ran as a bootstrapped company. How far did you get between your services, training, and software?

Bootstrapping Using Services: George Anderson, CEO of Ninth Wave (Part 4)

George Anderson: Here is a lesson I learned. It’s very relevant to bootstrapping using services. I said, “How do we take this business to the next level?” The answer was to go out and raise some capital. I hired Jeffries and we put together an information memorandum and a package, and we went out and started to pitch to companies.

I heard two things from people that were frustrating. The majority of the people that I pitched to said, “We love the software, but we hate the services. Services are unscalable.”

Bootstrapping Using Services: George Anderson, CEO of Ninth Wave (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: How long did you do the high-end data teaching business?

George Anderson: Up until 9/11. My learning center was in Broad Street in Lower Manhattan. They called it the Silicon Valley. I was in the information technology center during 9/11. 9/11 put it out of business. 

Sramana Mitra: Did your technology consulting business remain?