Bootstrapping: Weapon of Mass Reconstruction - Conversation with Sramana Mitra

Doing More with Less? Getting Started with Little or No Capital? Validating the Market on the Cheap? Is it really possible to business this way? Doesn't it cost money to make money? Sramana Mitra has been a serial entrepreneur and a strategy consultant in Silicon Valley since 1994. Her fields of experience span from hard core technology disciplines like semiconductors to sophisticated consumer marketing industries including fashion and education. As an entrepreneur CEO, Sramana founded three companies: Dais (off-shore software services), Intarka (sales lead generation and qualification Software; VC: NEA) and Uuma (online personalized store for selling clothes using Expert Systems software; VC: Redwood). Two of these were acquired. As strategy consultant, Sramana has consulted with over 80 companies, including public companies such as SAP, Cadence Design Systems, Webex, KLA-Tencor, Best Buy, MercadoLibre and Tessera among others. Her work has also included numerous startups and VCs, and she played interim VP Marketing roles for seven such ventures. Sramana has a proven track record in turnarounds, both small private companies (Example: think3, with Joe Costello) and divisions of larger companies (Example: a $100 million business unit of Cadence, with Lavi Lev). She has also created major growth strategies through new market penetration, M&A, industry roll-ups, etc. Sramana has a Masters degree in EECS from MIT and a Bachelors degree in Computer Science and Economics from Smith College. Sramana is author of Entrepreneur Journeys, a series of books focused on demystifying entrepreneurship. Listen to Sramana as she discusses her book Entrepreneur Journeys Volume Two about how to succeed in business.(www.sramanamitra.com)