Web Masters

Jesse Lipson shares the story building ShareFile, the enterprise file sharing and storage SaaS company he bootstrapped and sold to Citrix.

Show Notes

As the ShareFile name implies, it's a software for sharing, storing, and otherwise managing files in the cloud. It's not a particularly unique service. In this episode, you'll hear ShareFile's founder, Jesse Lipson, mention some familiar competitors -- companies like Dropbox and Box and YouSendIt. Though, to be fair, in 2005, when the company launched. these types of services weren't so common. Still, cloud file management isn't exactly an obscure niche, meaning, there are a decent number of companies playing in the space, which makes for a challenging, competitive environment.

However, despite that challenging environment, Jesse managed to bootstrap his company to an impressive exit over the course of six years.

Bootstrapping enterprise SaaS apps isn't common. And it isn't easy, either. On this episode of Web Masters, we're going to hear how Jesse did it.

For a complete transcript of the episode, click here.

What is Web Masters?

Web Masters is an original podcast that explores the history of the Internet through the stories of some of its most important innovators. In each episode, host Aaron Dinin, a serial entrepreneur and digital media scholar, talks with Internet entrepreneurs who created important websites, tools, services, and features. Some are hugely popular, some you’ve never heard of, and all of them have impacted everything you do online. You’ll get a behind-the-scenes look at how the Internet has enabled -- and continues to create -- some of the greatest business opportunities in history from the people who have proven they know how to build successful Internet businesses.