We eventually built out other big features like colorizing the points on the map, putting in filters, building out the routing & scheduling tool, and bringing in other data sources for lead gen. We improved the app over time by adding more features and changing the UI to make it more intuitive and easier to use. Reps wanted to be able to visualize where their customers were, what customers were around them, and how all the roads connected.

The key features for us to actually sell the product started with us giving reps the ability for them to see their territory on a map. We started out with a web-based version and then a basic version of the app. He architected and developed Badger's software product from its MVP days, to market, and beyond. Since my expertise is on the business side, I brought an engineer in as a co-founder, Gady Pitaru. I left Google in 2012 to focus on developing this idea. Take us through the process of building the product and launching the business. Over the years we built a robust software application and now have thousands of paying customers who are able to be better salespeople because of our service. In 2012, all these things were coming together, and I was uniquely positioned to solve the problem given my background in sales. It was a good time for me to start a business since I was about 33 years old, didn’t have any kids, had a fair amount of flexibility, and some savings from my job at Google, so I was in a good spot financially and personally to really give it my all. This had been a problem that salespeople have had for hundreds of years, but the reason it had not been solved before was because you needed computer-based mapping, computer-based calendar capabilities, internet connectivity on a mobile device, the ability for a computer to interact with where the salesperson's customer database was, and a mobile device that could serve as the platform to do this in real time. The problem was to combine a map, a routing algorithm, a calendar, and a salesperson's customer data. You tend to learn all you are going to learn in large organizations very quickly, then once you can do the task that you are going to do, it becomes ‘rinse, wash, repeat’. You should work for large companies for only a very short amount of time. I started this company to solve the problem I had faced as a rep. My background was in field sales, so I understood the problem than this end user had. I started the company in 2012 because I saw a problem that I thought could be solved with software.

What's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?

Sales route planning app