Jon Ferrara of Nimble #189

Tuesday

Sep202011

Tuesday, September 20, 2011 at 08:33PM

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If you were in sales or customer relations in the 90s, GoldMine was probably indispensible to you. So what's the founder Jon Ferrara been doing in the eight years since his massive exit? You'll have to watch to find out but we'll give you one hint--he's back and he's building a bigger, better or more robust CRM platform than ever before.

0:00-1:00 Welcome to TWiST everyone!
1:00-3:00 We make be taking this show on the road to London and Paris, right Tyler?
3:00-4:00 If you want all the TWiST insidery goodness, join the TWiST Backchannel! Go to twistlist.co to join right now.
4:00-6:00 Thank you to GoToMeeting for sponsoring the show.
6:00-7:30 We’re here today with Jon Ferrara, CEO of Nimble and former founder of GoldMine.
7:30-10:30 What was it like back in the day at Banyan?
10:30-11:30 How did you fund the company when you were just 27?
11:30-13:00 Life was simpler in the 90s, wasn’t it? People were actually willing to pay for software.
13:00-15:15 So you got the VARs (value added retailers) to manage their own sales people and then the clients used it too?
15:15-16:15 The CRM software put a hand around the neck of the sales people? So it’s babysitting them?
16:15-18:30 How do you separate the relationships that the employees have with their clients from those that the company has with the clients?
18:30-19:30 Let’s take a tour of Nimble.
19:30-20:30 Jon shares the premise behind Nimble: platform unity.
20:30-23:30 How long have you been working on this project?
23:30-25:00 Explain how you came up with that golden feature.
25:00-26:30 What if I start dating someone and it pulls that info it? Is it buyer beware?
26:30-28:00 What are you charging for this?
28:00-32:30 Thank you to Hiscox for sponsoring the show. Let’s take a look at a Q&A session I had with Jim Whetstone from Hiscox about how they help protect small businesses.
32:30-35:00 So during your break, Salesforce.com really took out. When you think about it, what do you think?
35:00-35:45 If someone won’t tell you the price of something, don’t you think it’s a good indication that you’re about to get ripped off?
35:45-37:30 Insight from Tyler: It’s like being a graveyard security guard at a mattress shop.
37:30-39:15 What hasn’t changed about running a company today?
39:15-41:30 So you get the person who doesn’t have a lot of experience and train them up?
41:30-43:15 Jon: I’m curious how much it costs Salesforce to maintain each user.
43:15-46:00 Are you a single founder this go-around? Are you funding this yourself?
46:00-47:45 Jason recounts his experience with seeking funding when he founded Mahalo.
47:45-50:00 Jon recounts when he met a VC at Sequoia who went above and beyond to connect.
50:00-52:15 Question from the chat: How did Jon get Nimble.com and how much did it cost?
52:15-53:30 What was the hardest moment in the history of GoldMine?
53:30-56:00 Jon tells a story about when he was 90 days into GoldMine and his future wife moved in with him and his co-founder.
56:00-57:30 What do you do when there’s tension between you and a co-founder?
57:30-58:00 Jason: I’m asking everyone to go try Nimble.com.
58:00-58:15 If you’re a developer who wants to work at Nimble, email jon@nimble.com.
58:15-01:01:15 Thank you to GoToMeeting and Hiscox for sponsoring the show.
01:01:15-01:04:30 If your kid asks for money for either college or to start a business, would you give him the choice?
01:04:30-01:04:45 Jon: We’re going to announce the MailChimp and Nimble integration soon.

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