There are many ways to grow your company, but you need to figure out the best one that works for you. Over the course of my career I have worked in several startups coming in at employee 6 and helped them grow to their respective exits. One followed the dotcom growth model of investing heavily in strategic partnerships and finding investment money early. Another followed a more cautionary path self-funding, but strategically hiring to ensure delivery of white-glove, high touch service. Yet another self-funded yet invested heavily in outsourced technical resources ultimately causing a downsizing and pivot. Today, I’m nine months into running my own venture trying to figure out the best way for us to grow. I’ll speak to these different experiences, highlighting some lessons learned and current challenges.

1. DC WEB WOMEN SPEAKER SERIES
DAGNY EVANS
SIZE MATTERS: HOW FAST TO
GROW YOUR BUSINESS

2. DC WEB WOMEN SPEAKER SERIES
DAGNY EVANS
SIZE MATTERS: HOW FAST TO
GROW YOUR BUSINESS

3. Contact Info
Dagny Evans
Managing Director, Digital Ambit
dagny@digitalambit.com
@dagnyevans
@digitalambit
www.dagnyevans.com
www.digitalambit.com

4. Enews.com
In the
beginning
• Sold magazine
subscriptions
online
• Employee #6
The
adventure
• Hired young,
smart people
• Worked hard,
partied hard
• VC funding
• Exuberant
spending
The fairy
tale ends
• Grew to 150 ppl &
2 locations
• Dotcom bubble
burst
• Layoffs ensued
• Dissolved into
BN.com

5. Soundpath Conferencing
In the
beginning
• Audio & Web
Conferencing
primarily for law
firms
• High-touch, white
glove service
• Wholesale
partner
The
adventure
• Self-funded
• Hired sales,
backoffice &
customer service
• Outsourced IT
development
• Strategic
application dev
The fairy
tale ends
• Sold to wholesale
partner
• 2.5x multiple for
services business
• Still exists as
separate line of
business

6. Office Desktop
In the
beginning
• Unified
communication
• Product
development
• Outsource
everything
• Small backoffice
team to manage
partners
The
adventure
• Self-funded
• Awarded a couple
of patents
• Long
development
cycle to “perfect
it”
The fairy
tale ends
• Pivoted to online
suite of desktop
apps
• Downsized
backoffice &
outsourced
resources
• Still exists as
small, boutique
offering

7. Digital Ambit
In the beginning
• Began as side business
• Gradually increased focus
over last 3 years
• Went all in March 2015
The adventure is
underway
• Self-funded
• 1 primary resource
• 1 ½ resource plus handling
all back-office functions
• Still trying to figure out
growth