This
is a different kind of venture capital story. Tables are turned in this
story where, rather than the company founders desperately chasing after
investors with deep pockets, the investors pursue a highly successful
startup.
Qualtrics is a data collection and analytics company that grew from
a father and son basement operation in 2002 to $48M in sales in 2012.
They boast such clients as Barnes & Noble and Zappos. Ryan Smith,
the son, decided in 2009 to chum the investment waters and was overwhelmed
with responses (I'm not going to call the VCs
sharks... not here, anyway). This short article in Inc. magazine
recounts his selection process. The old adage about everyone loving
a winner rings true here.
RF Cafe began life in 1996 as "RF Tools" in an AOL screen name web space totaling
2 MB. Its primary purpose was to provide me with ready access to commonly needed
formulas and reference material while performing my work as an RF system and circuit
design engineer. The World Wide Web (Internet) was largely an unknown entity at
the time and bandwidth was a scarce commodity. Dial-up modems blazed along at 14.4 kbps
while tying up your telephone line, and a lady's voice announced "You've Got Mail"
when a new message arrived...
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