EP 151 : Bootstrapping to Acquisition - Aman Goel (Co-founder, Cogno AI) | SaaS | Conversational AI

Aman is the co-founder of Cogno AI, an AI powered cloud communication platform. Aman started Cogno right out college and recently got acquired by Exotel. In this episode he spoke about Weighing the opportunity cost of starting up, the nuances of selling to large enterprises, dealing with funded competitors and more in his conversation with Roshan Cariappa. Topics: 01:15 Founding story of Cogno AI 03:28 Weighing the opportunity cost of starting up 05:47 Transitioning from services to products 08:30 Shift in mindset from services to product 10:13 Nuances of selling to large enterprises 14:13 Cogno's Distribution strategy  18:45 Aligning stakeholder's priorities 21:10 Building with the enterprise v/s innovating 23:35 Advantages of Bootstrapping   26:45 Dealing with funded competitors 29:48 Choice of verticalizing 32:13 Cogno's acquisition by Exotel 38:37 The journey ahead  41:04 Persisting through problems 43:53 The most difficult thing to learn in this journey 46:19 Common mistakes founders should avoid 48:53 Books and Podcasts Recommendations ------------------------------------- Click here to get regular WhatsApp updates: https://wa.me/message/ZUZQQGKCZTADL1 ------------------------------------- Connect with Aman : Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/goel-aman/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/amangoeliitb ------------------------------------- Connect with Us:  Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/startup-operator ​Twitter: https://twitter.com/OperatorStartup​​ ------------------------------------- If you liked this episode, let us know by hitting the like button and share with your friends and family. Please also remember to subscribe to our channel and switch on the notifications to never miss an episode! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/startup-operator/message