ExactTarget (acquired by Salesforce) with Scott Dorsey

ExactTarget began in Indianapolis in December 2000, after the internet bubble had burst and venture funding had dried up. Scott Dorsey, Chris Baggot and Peter McCormick were first-time software founders without technical backgrounds. The company therefore started with both a capital constraint and a location outside the established technology center. Dorsey describes the counterweight as a clear customer thesis, developed in large part by Baggot: permission-based email could help small businesses understand customers, form more personal relationships and send relevant material that supported sales.

The founders did not treat the geographic disadvantage as a reason to wait. Dorsey left an internet incubator job in Chicago; he and his family moved to Indianapolis to try the idea. The story is evidence of conviction, but it is also a narrow account told retrospectively by the founder and a host who is his cousin and former intern. The interview gives the founders’ reasoning and later outcome, not an independent account of the market or the alternatives they considered.

Fundraising reflected the company’s circumstances. After local venture firms and angel investors did not move quickly, the founders raised about $200,000 from family and friends, often through $5,000 or $10,000 checks. Dorsey says they deliberately kept checks small so that a failed business would not damage family relationships. Some early investors held their shares through the Salesforce acquisition; he recalls that a $5,000 investment became worth well over $1 million. That outcome illustrates the upside of holding equity, but it is a survivor story, not a typical return for the broader investor group.

The founders worked without salary for six months before Bob Compton became their lead angel investor and Dorsey’s mentor. Compton brought both capital and credibility, after experience in Indiana software and venture investing. Dorsey presents that credibility as a turning point: once Compton invested, raising more capital became easier. The interview thus links financing to more than the amount raised; a respected local investor also helped the company overcome questions about its market and location.