Q&A with Dr. Suresh V. Chari, CEO, 8K Miles
As a follow-up to the company pitch that ran last week, StartUp Beat conducted a Q&A with 8KMiles' CEO, Dr. Suresh V. Chari. Comments are welcome below!
SUB: Who do you consider your primary competition?
Chari: Our main competition includes oDesk and Elance on the match-making part of the business. Cloud-computing vendors can also be considered as indirect competitors. 8KMiles brings together several best practices as part of one consolidated platform: people, hardware, software and tools.
SUB: How many customers do you currently have?
Chari: The company has signed on over 6,000 members since its launch in April 2009.SUB: How do you differentiate yourself from outsourcing marketplaces like Elance, for example?
Chari: While it offers a vast network of highly-skilled professionals like other match-making sites, 8KMiles is unique in that it also offers an added layer of cloud computing infrastructure and services. This includes tools such as software, developer toolkits, development environments and collaboration services in the cloud, enabling SMBs and start-ups to launch and manage their projects entirely online without making any heavy capital investments.
SUB: How does 8KMiles make money? What is your business model?
Chari: 8KMiles currently has 2 revenue streams. The first is commission-based according to project contract value. This is currently 7.5 percent of the value of the project executed through the 8KMiles portal. The second is virtual infrastructure—a subscription-based fee for the Virtual Computing Environment, or VCE, based on the hours of usage.
SUB: What is your vision of the company for, say, a year from now?Chari: Our vision is to become one of the largest online employers in the world and provide opportunities for skilled and committed professionals; and become a company that best understands and satisfies the resource, hardware/ software infrastructure and collaboration needs of SMBs and start-ups globally.
