Founder Spotlight — Rebecca Clyde, CEO & Co-Founder of Botco.ai
This month’s Founder Spotlight highlights Rebecca Clyde, CEO and Co-Founder of Botco.ai!
How did you come up with the idea for Botco? Has it changed along the way?
We wanted to create a marketing automation service that was more reflective of the on-demand experiences that consumers prefer today. We saw AI chat as being the answer, and have always believed in the power of conversational interfaces. Initially, we were very broadly focused — but eventually found that specific industries such as healthcare, where immediacy was of the essence, could be a strong area of focus for us.
How did you meet your Co-Founder(s)?
I met Anu Shukla at a Girls in Tech Catalyst conference in 2016. She was a speaker, and I was a sponsor with my previous company. She came off the stage after speaking and realized her phone needed to be charged. She approached me to borrow a charger and we struck up a conversation about our interests and backgrounds, which turned out to be very complementary. We started working on the idea shortly after that session, and then she brought Chris Maeda into the mix as the CTO, who had been a co-founder with her at a previous company, Rubric. Soon we formed Botco.ai and we have been at it ever since!
Where did you find your first 5 customers?
Our first customer was obtained through my network, a former client from my previous company. Our second customer resulted from a speaking engagement, after I spoke at a marketing conference and was approached afterwards by one of the other speakers in the lineup. Customers 3–5 came through a variety of network introductions and cold sales outreach using a combination of LinkedIn, emails and calls.
What is the one piece of advice you ignored back then but wish you’d taken now?
To focus more. When in fundraising mode, focus on fundraising. When in sales mode, focus on sales. In the past, I tried to split my energy too often and it never worked well for me.
Learn more about Botco.ai at https://botco.ai/
Thanks again to Rebecca for sharing your story!
Sterling Road invests in idea stage and pre-seed B2B startups based in the US, Canada and UK.
