Ghislain Kaiser is the CEO of and co-founder of Docea Power, a new startup that provides with Aceplorer the first electronic system level (ESL) solution for the modeling, exploration and optimization of power and thermal behavior of any electronic systems architecture. The company is based in France. He was recently interviewed by Sean Murphy of EEtimes about how Docea Power was successfully bootstrapped as a new EDA player. He had this to say to these two questions about bootstrapping.
What are the two or three things that you have been able to accomplish that you take the most pride in or satisfaction from?
First, we bootstrapped Docea for almost 4 years. Our first round of funding was done only this year. It was not an easy exercise to develop a product, get the first customers and drive our solution to industrial maturity.
Any other remarks or suggestions for entrepreneurs?
Three things I have learned in the last four years:
* Cash flow is key when you are bootstrapping: understand where you are spending money, what commitments you have made on your cash, and when you are likely to see revenue.
* People make the difference, not the technology.
* Be more than a vendor, be a partner to your customers: you must collaborate with your customers, not just sell to them.
