Mr.
Ken Gullicksen and Mr. Troy Malone
What does it take for an app to
become a billion dollar company? What are the dynamics of the global app
ecosystem? In today's technologically advanced society, there exists a huge
market for apps that simplify our lives. How does one build a successful app
business?
Mr. Ken Gullicksen and Mr. Troy
Malone, senior managers at Evernote Corporation addressed the above questions
and discussed the start-up journey of Evernote in an interactive session
organised by the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Cell at IIM Bangalore on 21st
August 2014. Evernote Corporation develops a collection of apps designed for
note taking that make it easy for users to stay organised and productive.
The session revolved around the
key challenges faced by a start up in the initial years including growth and
funding. The guest speakers highlighted the importance of a start-up investing
in building a strong product rather than investing in marketing the product.
Evernote’s unique marketing through word of mouth, phenomenal growth trends
over the last 6 years and current position formed a major part of the
discussion. The focus was on analysing the value of the app to the consumer,
revenue model of a ‘freemium’ app, consumer retention and valuation of the
company.
The speakers went on to discuss
several stories associated with Evernote’s logo, the company’s first investor
and why the company decided to launch a customised product for executives. They
also mentioned the role of luck in any start-up by giving their own example.
The unconventional aspects of Evernote such as the high average age of users
and the lack of having a niche target group made interesting points of
discussion.
The audience, which consisted
largely of budding entrepreneurs at IIM Bangalore, discussed topics such as how
Evernote tackled its competition, its expansions strategies and how it would
approach the Indian market which is Evernote’s next growth opportunity. The
hour long session was highly interactive and inspirational and lent an insight
into the world of tech-entrepreneurship.
Mr. Ken Gullicksen is the Chief
Sales Officer heading Evernote Business, the company's SMB and team-focused
service. He is also responsible for investor relations, corporate development
and the global sales and support teams. Mr. Troy Malone is the General Sales
Manager, Asia Pacific Region at Evernote and is responsible for growing the
user base in nine different countries and organizing the company infrastructure
in South East Asia, South Korea and India.
Evernote Corporation is one of
the fastest growing internet companies from the Silicon Valley today. The
Evernote app was first launched in 2008 is now valued at over 1 billion US
dollars with more than 100 million users worldwide.
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