Founder Stories #5: Nimbata
Nimbata is the ultimate call tracking and analytics software to measure calls, optimize inbound marketing, and increase ROI on online and offline marketing actions. The company serves a multi-sectored clientele in more than 40 countries and 4 continents.
Do you want to learn more? Dimitris Pournarakis, co-founder and head of business development, gives the answers.
Why did you choose to become an entrepreneur?
I don’t really see myself as an entrepreneur. I enjoy tackling complex problems in business settings and academic research areas, so, in this sense, I spend my time between both. It is pretty rewarding to come up with a solution that either tackles a customer pain point or advances theoretical knowledge and I guess that’s what keeps me going.
How did the idea come about?
At the time, my co-founders and I were working for some Fortune 500 companies as IT consultants and had the chance to meet with clients from different verticals. The need to have knowledge about the customer’s online journey, when visitors convert over the phone, came directly from clients we were consulting at the time.
How did the team come together?
It’s very important to have co-founders who complement the skills you lack and have fun spending time with. We met during our MBA and our passion to build a solution to the problem companies were facing, made us work as one.
What is innovative/ different about your product/service?
The ability to uncover the digital footprint of every caller! Every call has a story to tell and we are now at a state to know exactly what made customers pick up their phone before calling a business.
What has been your most difficult challenge?
Starting and running a business is like raising a child. It requires your full attention and love to keep going. One of my biggest challenges has been to manage time between work and personal life. Being a dad and working at a start-up has definitely tested my strengths, but I could never ask for more!
Biggest success/failure?
The biggest success is hearing from your customers how the tool you built, solved their problems. Being able to jump on a quick online call with them and listen to their feedback is so much rewarding. On the other hand, failures are much more frequent in a startup’s daily life. If I had to choose one, that would be 5-6 years ago, when we launched a complementary service which never really took off and we had to pull the plug.
Most significant lesson learned?
A significant factor for success is growing your network. Don’t be afraid to connect with others, share ideas, talk about pain points, and engage with people with different ideas and backgrounds.
What has been your most satisfying moment in business?
Seeing your product solve a complex problem that couldn’t be tackled before. Nothing more rewarding than that, and this is what keeps us going.
Who has been your greatest inspiration?
The people I spent most of my time with. My co-workers, my family, and friends. I am really happy I get to share every moment with them.
What business-related book has inspired you the most?
Allow me to re-phrase the question to “What books are you currently reading?”.
- David Easley & Jon Kleinberg – Networks, Crowds, and Markets: Reasoning About a Highly Connected World
- Ryan M. Milner, Whitney Phillips – We are here
- Matthew O. Jackson – The Human Network
- Oliver Jeffers – Stuck (Oups!)
- Brandon Stanton – Humans
