- Joe Colopy recounted his journey founding Bronto, a marketing automation company headquartered in Durham, NC that grew to over $300 employees and $50M in revenue. - Bronto was acquired by NetSuite in 2015 for $200M, and NetSuite was later acquired by Oracle. - Colopy divided Bronto's journey into five phases: the early struggles (The Before), getting the idea off the ground (The Genesis), grinding through hard work (The Grind), establishing sustainability (The Graduation), and his next venture (The Next).

1. Stories from the
Bronto Journey
Joe Colopy
12 September 2017

2. Bronto Headlines
! #1 in Commerce Marketing Automation. Leader to the
Internet Retailer 1000 since 2014.
! Headquartered in Durham, NC. Add’t offices in London,
Sydney, NYC and LA
! Grew to over $50m in Revenue and 300 people
! Acquired by NetSuite in June 2015 for $200m (5x LTM). Left
in early 2016. NetSuite acquired by Oracle in late 2016
! Bootstrapped since founding in 2002.

3. Five Leg Journey
The Before
The Genesis
The Grind
The Graduation
The Next

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ires,
The Genesis

7. The Grind

15. The Graduation

18. The Next

22. Lessons from the Journey
! It’s a journey. Not a transaction. “Karate Kid”
experiences in the Before help.
! The Genesis is rough and gritty. Passion and
encouragement matter.
! The Grind is about focus and execution with an
engaged + committed culture.
! Graduation is about architecting sustainability and is
bittersweet.
! Vacations end in weeks. Do something you’re
passionate for the Next.

23. Thank You!
bronto.com
colopy.com
peoplelove.io