“We couldn’t be more impressed with the company’s growth and the impact that Creatio’s platform brings to its customer community,” said Sean Cantwell, Managing Partner at Volition Capital and a Creatio investor. “Creatio addresses the complexity and inflexibility of traditional software vendors and enables organizations to seamlessly replace legacy technologies, delivering market-leading ROI.”
Bootstrapping A CRM And Workflow Automation Platform
Her decision to bootstrap led to what Kostereva describes as the most challenging period in Creatio’s journey. Bootstrapping meant operating with limited resources and relying on profits to fuel development. This required immense discipline, frugality, and a laser focus on delivering value to early adopters. Kostereva had to make tough decisions, often with incomplete information, and learn from every setback.
“It took us a while to get to the point where we understood exactly what the product-market fit is and the types of organizations who need our technology,” explained Kostereva.
This phase involved countless hours of trial and error, navigating a landscape where no-code workflow automation and CRM were still nascent concepts. The challenge lay in building a powerful platform that allowed businesses to build custom solutions without coding and identifying their ideal customer’s specific needs and pain points.
This period demanded resilience and a deep belief in the company’s mission. Kostereva had to persevere through doubts, setbacks, and the constant temptation to take the easier route of external funding. It tested her leadership, vision, and commitment to building a sustainable business that could transform companies’ operations.
Ultimately, this bootstrapping phase forged a strong foundation for Creatio. It instilled a culture of resourcefulness, customer-centricity, and a deep understanding of market needs.
CRM And Workflow Automation: Navigating Challenges
Building enterprise-grade software without code sounds great, but it requires robust security and privacy measures, scalability, reliability, compliance with industry regulations, seamless integration capabilities, and advanced user access controls to ensure secure, efficient, and adaptable operations across complex organizational environments. Kostereva understands this all too well.
In the dynamic world of entrepreneurship, challenges like these are not merely obstacles but the essence of the journey. “In reality, I feel like at least nine out of 10 events that happen during the day are bad news. Only one is good news,” Kostereva reflected.
This constant barrage of challenges, from personnel issues to client demands, requires entrepreneurs to possess unwavering grit, and determination. Kostereva’s ability to persevere through these challenges, fueled by her mission to bring no-code solutions to organizations worldwide, has been instrumental in Creatio’s success.
Immigrant entrepreneurs like Kostereva often possess a heightened sense of resilience, adaptability, and determination due to their experiences navigating the challenges of settling in a new country and building a life from the ground up. She is from Ukraine. These qualities, coupled with a strong work ethic and a drive to succeed, can contribute significantly to their entrepreneurial success.
How have your life experiences helped you build your business?
