Startup of the Day on Azure -- SubtleData

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Meet SubtleData, a company helping app developers to easily connect their mobile applications with Point of Sale systems. Check out our interview with Richard Bagdonas, founder and CTO of SubtleData:

Richard Bagdonas, Founder and CTO of SubtleData

BizSpark: Tell us who you are and your role in the company:

Richard Bagdonas: My name isRichard Bagdonas and I am the founder and Chief Technology Officer of SubtleData – a BizSpark One company that connects mobile applications with Point of Sale systems.

BizSpark:   What did you do before creating your company?

Richard Bagdonas: I have been a life-long entrepreneur, having started my first company at the age of 14 - a voice recognition hardware company.  Since then I have founded mostly software and technology companies with the last 10 years focused on creating software-as-a-service companies.

BizSpark: What is your company’s mission?

Richard Bagdonas: SubtleData’s mission is to bridge the gap between Point of Sale systems and mobile applications by allowing mobile application developers to focus on the building their app, rather than building a platform for integration with the Point of Sale.

 

Video courtesy of SubtleData

BizSpark:   In 140 characters or less, tell us what your company does:

Richard Bagdonas: SubtleData connects mobile applications to Point of Sale systems using a standard set of APIs that allow for quick app development.

BizSpark:   How did you get the idea for your company?

Richard Bagdonas:  My last company was a mobile application company that had challenges integrating the mobile application with the 600+ Point of Sale systems in the market.  The first POS we tackled was tough and every one that followed was just as challenging - if not more.  Point of Sale companies were not letting many developers integrate their apps with the POS systems because the POS companies were afraid that their remotely deployed POS servers were going to crash with the increased number of connections from all of the mobile applications talking to the POS.  I realized that there had to be a better way to enable the numerous apps that were entering the market, so I started building the SubtleData platform from scratch, pivoted from the application company and built a backend integration platform. 

BizSpark:   Tell us about your funding history. Are you currently looking for funding? If so, how much?

Richard Bagdonas:  SubtleData started life as a bootstrap company and has since received funding from several prestigious Austin investors including the founders of Perficient (NASDAQ: PRFT) and the Capital Factory.  We are currently in the middle of a round of funding and would enjoy speaking with interested investors.

BizSpark:   How many employees do you have? How many developers?

Richard Bagdonas: We currently have six employees.  Four of them are developers.

BizSpark:   Are you hiring?  If yes, what are you hiring for and where?

Richard Bagdonas: Yes we are hiring c# experts who know Windows Azure.

BizSpark:   Which platform are you building on?  Why?

Richard Bagdonas: Webuilt SubtleData on Windows Azure from the very beginning.  I have had great success deploying solutions on Azure for the past 3 years and the platform continues to offer new and exciting features.

BizSpark:   Where do you see opportunities today in the Software/Internet area?

Richard Bagdonas: SubtleData is focused on integration with Point of Sale systems and so the majority of my alerts come from within that space.  I feel there is a large opportunity in building apps for hospitality and retail.  That market has been underserved for many years.  New consumer-grade hardware is making it easier and easier for companies to build exciting new apps that can drive significant increases in revenues for merchants.  We hope that these companies consider using SubtleData as their platform of choice.

BizSpark:   What do you think about the BizSpark Program?

Richard Bagdonas: I am a big fan of the BizSpark Program.  It has made a world of difference for our company and we get the power that Microsoft brings to the startup world.

BizSpark:   Do you have any advice for young Software entrepreneurs?

Richard Bagdonas: As a young entrepreneur, your focus is a difficult thing to manage, especially when you are just getting started.  It is easy to lose focus when people try to push you in other directions or having you look at other things.  Continue narrowing your focus and identify the things you do well, can execute, and can make money doing and that will allow you to leverage that success into new things.

BizSpark:   Who’s your role model?

Richard Bagdonas: My role model is Warren Buffet.  He has been my role model for years.  Even though I am a technologist, I am a businessman too.  I enjoy his style, approach, and creativity with his businesses.  On a side note, my goal is to have a company acquired by Berkshire Hathaway before Warren steps down.

BizSpark:   What’s the ONE THING you would like readers to take away from this interview?

Richard Bagdonas: SubtleData has completed the difficult task of integrating with the leading Point of Sale systems and has made the life of the app developer much easier.