QuickLaunch has considered the budget constraints for Higher-Ed institutions and built a technical and cost-effective solution. They’ve developed a single sign-on (SSO) product to reduce the number of logins while increasing security and reducing costs.
CEO, Neeraj Kainth
Name: QuickLaunch
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Website: www.quicklaunchsso.com
Product / Service Offering: Identity and Access Management Solutions
Co-founder Interviewed: Neeraj Kainth (CEO)
Other Key Management Team Members: Bala Thiruvengadam (VP – Engineering), Andrew Malhotra (VP – Customer Success), Sam Sundhar (VP – Marketing)
This article is part of our Business Startup Spotlight series featuring entrepreneurs and their companies. We hope that these founders’ interviews will inspire and motivate you as you undertake your own entrepreneurial journey.
Tell us a little about yourself with a focus on what motivates you.
For me, entrepreneurship is not just about risk and reward, opportunity windows, or disruptive brands. It is about change. Sometimes that change is dramatic; sometimes it is subtle. Entrepreneurs can change entire markets, industries, and institutions. Entrepreneurs create something new instead of perpetuating the old. It means to push against the status quo.
My strongest source of motivation is my vision for the future for myself, my family, and my community. The change I will make in the world is what gets me out of bed.
When did you establish your company and where did the idea originate?
QuickLaunch was established in July 2013. We saw a problem that was common across many Higher-Ed institutions. Most had several IT applications in use, and students/administration had to remember all those usernames and passwords just to gain access. We saw this problem and built our own single sign-on (SSO) product to reduce the user’s effort by reducing the number of logins while increasing security and reducing costs.
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What need or needs does your company seek to fill for its customers?
QuickLaunch is sensitive to the fact that there are budget constraints for Higher-Ed institutions. We built a solution that would be both technical and cost-effective. We also involved our initial customers in the development process to identify the core needs.
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What is the one thing that sets your company apart from its competitors?
To be honest, QuickLaunch differs from competition in so many ways.
- 100% SaaS-based and self-service while most other players in this space make millions of dollars in revenue through merely technical consulting and implementation fees
- Our post-implementation support has been phenomenal with less than a minute spent per call
You need a system that can secure employee, external partner and customer access to information. It should be simple, scalable and easy to use. We can help!
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What was the biggest challenge you faced while getting your company up and running, and how did you overcome it?
The biggest challenge that we have faced over the past two years has been managing growth without wasting resources. We have too much work as a small team, but after we add teammates, we have to maintain a steady stream of work to pay new teammates.
QuickLaunch is working on overcoming this challenge by promoting more recurring work. We are also working on a referral system to get more qualified leads through existing clients.
What resources have you utilized that other founders might find compelling or useful?
One of the things QuickLaunch has is the context of the Higher-Ed space that we are in. It helped us a great deal to achieve market penetration. It is important to get the right set of people who can help you achieve the collective goal. Invest in the right people, get the right team, have a shared vision and a roadmap. If you have these things in-place, nothing can stop you from winning.
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What steps have you taken to secure funding for your company and what, if anything, would you do differently if you had to start over?
Single sign-on market is estimated to grow from USD 845.6 Million in 2016 to USD 1599.8 Million by 2021, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 13.6%. Despite the sluggish economy, modern-day institutions and companies are looking to raise their IT spend. The Security and Data concerns are not going anywhere, which means that our discount pricing and quality service give our business a strong competitive edge.
I truly believe that execution is more important than idea, and our execution was next to flawless. If I had to start over, I would do exactly the same.
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What questions have you had as an entrepreneur of a fledgling startup that you had a particularly hard time finding the answers to?
Handling scale with limited resources we had at one point. That is something every SaaS company faces at some point. Yet, the answers are so different.
What challenges, if any, are you grappling with?
I am challenged to find the spot between firefighting and focusing on slow but high-value items such as innovation etc.
What is the most helpful tip or “hack” you’ve ever learned, stumbled across, or been given?
Even the greatest hobby can easily turn into work when it becomes your full-time job and livelihood. Nurture and encourage your team! Employees are so much more engaged when they are consistently shown that their ideas and contributions are valuable.
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Is there anything else you would like to share about your company?
QuickLaunch is passionate about technology and using it to solve problems in the identity domain. We are planning to come up with some technology that is highly relevant in today’s age of AI, machine learning and bots, which would take the game to the next level in our industry.
Are you familiar with other startups you believe should be spotlighted? If so, we would like to hear from you. Tell us about them in the comments below!
Sandra Sloan
Sandra has previous supply chain and business operations experience which she is leveraging as an author with FundingSage focused on spotlighting entrepreneurs and their startup efforts.
