Testimonials

“1M/1M is a very helpful program, and Sramana is very well connected in the industry. When we were looking to talk to investors, Sramana introduced us to multiple investors, and also acted as an advisor helping us navigate complex term sheet clauses like tranche financing and liquidation preferences. 1M/1M also helped us win the $40,000 Microsoft BizSpark Startup Challenge Grant by helping us refine our pitch, market sizing analysis, and other details. I would enthusiastically recommend Sramana’s 1M/1M program for first time entrepreneurs and technical founders who need help with understanding other aspects of running a business.”

-Girish Mathrubootham, Founder & CEO at FreshDesk (Chennai, India) – Raised Series A from Accel Partners

“I am definitely a curriculum-junkie!”

-Rex Ferguson, Founder and CEO of LinguistaLogix (Cleveland, Ohio)

“1M/1M is a fantastic resource for new and experienced entrepreneurs alike. I found 1M/1M useful:
-As a refresher on validation before spending thereby conserving valuable capital: seeing the creative b2b lean validation approach was particular eye opening.
-As an idea fountain: entrepreneurs who have achieved supreme success share successful strategies that you can duplicate. Sramana’s “case studies” share a wealth of information.
-As an inspiration: where else can you find a community of global entrepreneurs deeply committed yet struggling against large odds but steadily moving ahead thru skillful coaching?
-As a sanity check by presenting at 1M/1M roundtables: better to course correct before diving off the deep end and spending countless hours and valuable money.
-As a resource: this is being expanded all the time and getting better. As an example, I learned how powerful Retargeting can be for a startup.
-As an accelerator: learn from the tribe, don’t reinvent the wheel.
-As a possible network center: we are talking to another 1M/1M member about working together since we have overlapping markets. We are always exploring synergies to cross-sell.
-As a door opener: we are developing strategies to engage thru the 1M/1M PR channel which is much easier than doing it alone.

For me this is what 1M/1M delivers. And this is just to start! In the future we hope to engage 1m/1m for strategic customer and other contacts.”

-Glen Scotzen, entrepreneur in residence for a stealth operation (Seattle, Washington, U.S.)

“In my first six months, I have used the 1M/1M curriculum quite a bit to fine tune my business plan and I am still doing so. I’ve attended a few roundtables and pitched at two. We will start our marketing campaign soon and will need confirmation from Sramana if we are headed in the right direction, when to correct, etc. I need to correct early on so I can get better results before our bootstrapping funds run out. I’m sure that is an issue with most start-ups! 1M/1M provides great mentoring support. I especially like knowing there’s someone there to give me insightful answers to my questions when I need them.”

-Melanie Kusmik, Founder and CEO, StoryCube LLC (Seattle, Washington, U.S.)

“I didn’t expect Sramana to be so approachable. I have never experienced mentorship like this in Malaysia where I am based. I also appreciate the online experience where I don’t need to go someplace to participate. In a few months, I have learned to think differently and after speaking to Sramana at a private roundtable have corrected my course.”

-Talat Fakhr, Game Programmer, Designer and Founder of Quantips Sdn Bhd. Business: Games and Gamification related software production (Selangor, Malaysia)

“I read all of Sramana Mitra’s books, which led me to the 1M/1M program. I really appreciate Sramana’s no-nonsense style and feedback. This was most useful while I was doing my market research. Through her I met and hired a programmer, also a 1M/1M member. I have attracted a co-founder and board members from industry leaders. I could not have done this without Sramana’s guidance.”

-Joan Parsons, Founder and CEO of High Mileage Living (Hawaii, U.S.)

“I like the methodology and social approach of the 1M/1M program. Access to well elaborated tools and processes for proper market building and to a large network are especially appreciated.”

-Mark Heifets, Technology Entrepreneur, CEO at Inphodrive (Netanya, Israel)

“The value of your program is amazing. For perspective, I also joined a $12,000/year CEO-roundtable group, with professional speakers and full day, once-per-month meetings. At 1/12th the cost, 1M/1M provides far more value. I was looking for what you teach back in January of 2007 and couldn’t find it anywhere. We had just launched our first tech venture and would have saved countless thousands in trial and error education if 1M/1M was available.”

-Dan Stewart, CEO, Happy Grasshopper (Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S.)

“With Sramana, we sprinted from vague product concept to a customer-driven business with real, reference customers in just six months. Any startup that wants to fast-track to being ‘Silicon Valley VC ready’ should participate in this program.”

-Taariq Lewis, Founder & CEO at Stanzr (San Francisco Bay Area, California, U.S.)

“OrangeScape has benefited greatly by being part of Sramana Mitra’s 1M/1M program. As a company, we were able to lean back on Sramana’s vast experience in enterprise GTM processes. She has been driving specific aspects for our GTM just like another member of the OrangeScape team. Also, her interface between OrangeScape and Persistent Systems relationship has greatly helped us in progressing the partnership in a positive direction at all times. Overall, it has been a phenomenal positive for OrangeScape.”

-Suresh Sambandam, Founder & CEO at OrangeScape (Chennai, India)

“The 1M/1M program has been a phenomenal help to us. Within days of joining, Sramana introduced us to some key folks in the industry and helped open new doors for us. Her advice is real, focused, and actionable. I would highly encourage entrepreneurs, especially first-time entrepreneurs, to leverage the program.”

-Vikrant Mathur, Co-Founder at iFood.tv (San Francisco Bay Area, California, U.S.)

“I have presented twice at the private roundtables to Sramana, and what stands out is her incredible intelligence, and the trouble she takes to ensure she communicates her message to you in a way that makes it so easy to accept. Sramana is the kind of advisor every entrepreneur would love to have.”

-Ajit Narayanan, Engineer and Founder at Invention Labs (Chennai, India)

“1M/1M is great to accelerate the penetration in a rich but challenging market like the United States. It takes time to build a sales and product proposition tailored to a new market and usually requires money and time, especially if the company has an innovative proposition. Within the 1M/1M network and with the great support and coordination of Sramana Mitra, CrowdEngineering has been able to quickly adjust the selling proposition, find a channel partner and reach high value prospects for its crowdsourced customer support offering.”

-Gioacchino La Vecchia, CEO at CrowdEngineering (Pisa, Italy)

“Sramana’s vision and mission for One Million by One Million is becoming a reality. As a serial entrepreneur and now a participant in the 1M/1M premium program I’ve received direct and relevant feedback from Sramana during my roundtable presentation. Sramana’s mentoring along with the online lecture series has helped me perfect my presentation and pitch as I prepare to raise capital under difficult economic conditions.”

-Michaeline Daboul, President & Co-Founder, MMIS, Inc. (Portsmouth, New Hampshire, U.S.)

“Since joining 1M/1M we have gained some invaluable insights from Sramana and her team. I sincerely believe established businesses, as well as startups, trying to reach the next plateau in their business have a lot to gain from participation in 1M/1M. Sramana and her team take considerable interest, and in my view a lot of personal satisfaction in their clients’ successes.”

-Scott Clark, VP Business Development at Value of Insight Consulting (Miami, Florida, U.S.)

“I have found the 1M/1M premium program extremely useful in multiple ways. First, it gave us clear direction on how to move from a pure-play services business to a products business. It was very important for us to learn that we need to build a product that a customer needs rather than trying to convince the customer to think along the lines of our idea. Second, the number of connections we get from the 1M/1M program has been many and we have been successful in converting a few of them into our customers. Third, we get invaluable advice from Sramana on all aspects of business. When we were faced with a tremendous resource crunch, her advice to tap into the freelance community was extremely useful for us. All in all, we find the program very effective for us.”

-Ashok Jagathrakshakan, Founder and President at Azuyo (Bangalore, India)