True visionaries & pioneers are rare. This week I'm excited to share my conversation with my friend and mentor, Jon Ferrara - the category-creating entrepreneur who trailblazed the CRM category with Goldmine Software. Jon bootstrapped Goldmine in the late ’80s, scaled it in the ’90s, and sold the business for $125M cash during the dot com boom. Jon is now the Founder & CEO of Nimble.com - the CRM I’ve been using for ten years now- and I just love Nimble. Nimble is a relationship-focused CRM for your entire team- not just salespeople. Jon is brilliant- he’s both a right and left-brain thinker. This is an inspiring and honest interview, as Jon candidly shares the highs and lows of his life and career. Jon is also a wonderful role model for balancing personal and professional success. He’s a literal gold mine of knowledge - and it’s such a delight to have him in this episode! This episode has a lot to offer anyone interested in a legendary case study of “how to create a new category of software,” plus the art & science of sales. Please go to KurtyD.com to subscribe to my newsletter and see some special content I’ve created. HOOK: Bootstrapped category creator of CRM
What we covered:
Tweetable Quotes:
“I think my purpose on this planet is to grow my soul. And I think I do that best by helping other people grow theirs. And if I could help other people achieve their dreams by building relationships to key relationships they need at scale, then I'm doing my job.”
“I'm a testimony to the brave souls who got on boats and came to America and allowed me to realize the dream.”
“If your intention is to help the person you're engaging with to grow and achieve their goals or dreams, I think you're doing your job as a salesperson.”
“Leveraging the trusted advisor of your prospect is key to scaling a business, especially if you're going to do it in a bootstrap way.”
“It's a long game in technology, and you just gotta keep putting one foot in front of each other daily. And it's a lot of believing.”
“Our purpose on this planet is to grow in the time that we're here, and the best way to grow is by helping other people grow, and that's my biggest reward.”
“I love to hire liberal arts majors ideally from Midwest schools or even hairdressers because they know how to listen and communicate, and in life and business is about listening and communicating effectively.”
“An entrepreneur is a certain beast; I think they need to evolve and grow.”
“The best way to grow your soul is by being present with people who love you, especially your kids.”
“If you go to school, you should do internships or work throughout that time to get experience and knowledge.”
“I actually recommend that you lean into community colleges because you can save two years of costs, and you have much smaller classrooms and much more intimate, and you could transfer into university.”
Links Mentioned:
California State University, Northridge