An Enterprise Techie to Bootstrapped StartUp : Onwards and Upwards

Techie to a Founder: Then COVID, Then… Rapid Growth

“You need three things to create a successful startup: to start with good people, to make something customers actually want, and to spend as little money as possible.” ― Paul Graham

Recently I was reading about Benoit Dageville, Co-founder of Snowflake. He was an architect at Oracle before he stepped out of the shadows of a large enterprise to build Snowflake. Court Lorenzini was the Director of Software Programs at Cisco, before building DocuSign into the popular platform it is today. David Teare was a software engineer at IBM Canada, and his partner in crime, Roustem Karimov, came from Sony.?

They were all engineers and product leaders, who recognized that their big idea could not, and would not be realized within Oracle, Cisco, IBM, or Sony. They had to step out.?

And so did I, with my co-founder Venu, we started Sonet.io. In a couple of months, I went from being an engineer to a legal expert, an accountant, an expert filer, a salesperson, and a UX designer.?

The "Why?"

We wanted to solve the problem of access, security, and observability with a simple but powerful solution. A problem that most companies encountered even before COVID-19, and most large companies appeared to not be taking on. How can you enable your employees to access what they need, when they need it, without hindering productivity or compromising security? How can this be done without cost-prohibitive VDI’s and without having to ship devices in a gig-economy-led world?

The problem cropped up with freelancers, contractors, and new hires, and none of the large companies wanted to solve it in a scalable manner.?

As Paul Graham rightly said:?

"Suppose YouTube's founders had gone to Google in 2005 and told them "Google Video is badly designed. Give us $10 million and we'll tell you all the mistakes you made." They would have gotten the royal raspberry. Eighteen months later Google paid $1.6 billion for the same lesson, partly because they could then tell themselves that they were buying a phenomenon or a community, or some vague thing like that."

Therefore, we set off on our path. After all, there’s a reason why Snowflake, 1Password, and Docusign didn’t emerge from Oracle, Cisco, IBM, or Sony.?

The Next Step: Finding the Right Co-Founder

As many, many startup founders before me have said publicly, and then advised me individually: finding the right co-founder is a pretty significant part of the journey. It is the thing that propels you to take that action step - beyond having a great idea.?

And, on that front, I got lucky. I had known my co-founder for ages, worked extensively with him before, and truly enjoyed working together. We both came from fairly technical backgrounds, so our first few conversations were centered around what role would each of us play in this new Sonet.io world.?

And that clarity, those pivotal conversations have kept us aligned and moving forward with speed and rigor. We have each other’s back in this crazy ups-and-downs-filled journey. I probably spend more time with him than I do with any single person at home, and there is something to be said for that.?

Making the Transition

Venu and I decided to start Sonet.io, we had the product idea in mind, and did the work to establish technical feasibility — and then just around when most companies get ready to raise funding, COVID hit.?

Startups and VCs would take another 6 months to figure out how to do this whole thing remotely, but we were already in it. So, we decided to bootstrap. I went from Director of Engineering to learning how to file company registration documents, doing cold outreach, creating smart pitch decks, understanding the nuances of user experience, and so much more.?

And the hardest part was reaching out and asking for help.?

Asking for advice from those who have done this before.?

Hearing about different paths to take, different journeys that have led others to success.?

And making decisions about which one we might want to start with.?

Then hoping like anything that it was the right thing to do.?

That we made the right move.?

Most times, it has worked out. Sometimes differently than we had originally planned, but our customers are happy and growing every day.?

In fall 2022, we launched our product, and the response was exactly what we had hoped for. We started reaching out to find early adopters. With every conversation, we discovered more about the potential of our product, this amazing solution that we were building, that is going to be integral to the “future of work” - whatever that holds.?

We are competing against industry giants, those that have established a way of doing this, and Sonet.io is disrupting their foothold with every conversation we have.?

Every day we consciously make the decision not to pursue an opportunity, as much as choose to pursue one. We choose to always prioritize what will bring the most value to our customers, today, and solve their most immediate problems.?

Fundraising…

I believe that fundraising is hard for every first-time founder. Even those who have connections.?

It might come more naturally to some, but it didn’t come naturally to me.?

It is not something either Venu or I had done before, but that’s another day in the life of a startup founder. Doing things we have not done before.?

The product won out. The solution won out. We built a great product that addressed the need of the hour.?

We went to our VCs with design partners and a proven use case, instead of just an idea. We went to our potential customers with an in-use product.?

In early 2023, we stepped out into the light, out of stealth mode.?

We raised our $6 million in seed from Westwave and The Hive.?

We are back to the grind. Listening intentionally to every customer conversation. Building features that are right for them.?

And watching closely for what is the next connected problem and use case should we be solving.?

What Keeps Us Going?

Blue Coat and Symantec taught me well. We understood the industry, the customers, the technology and it’s incredibly cumbersome limitations, and the use case intimately. As a result, we were extremely confident that we are solving the right problem, and that keeps us going.?

And then there are those moments of absolute clarity and affirmation. Soon after we raised funding, we were at RSAC 2023. And, on the stage there, in the early stage expo section in Moscone South, we watched and took delight in the fact that our presentation had standing room only within 3 minutes of starting the demo.?

A few weeks back, one of the CIOs we were speaking to told us: “You are the solution people don’t know how badly they need yet.” And then there was last week when the CEO of a mid-sized company wanted to onboard us after the first demo.?

“You’re our perfect vendor. This is exactly what we need,” he said.?

We’ll take those wins. We’ll celebrate. And use them to fuel our way forward.

The downs are omnipresent, even in the highs. It’s stressful. It’s hard. And, it’s confusing on most days.?

But those days of clarity, affirmation, and validation, when they come, fuel our determination to move forward. And keep expanding the use cases we solve.?

Making lives easy for IT departments in companies, one capability at a time.??

Learning from the Been-There-Done-That-Crew

I've found my fair share of inspiration from industry leaders but one name that stands out is Paul Graham. His takeaways are simple, yet powerful.?

So, to all those who are contemplating the leap from enterprise to startup, my advice is: to buckle up, prepare for the uncertainty, and enjoy the ride—it's the best and the worst. But it’s a journey that I am thoroughly excited to continue on.?

P.S. If you are on this journey with me, ping me, and I’d love to exchange notes.?