![]() I kept waiting until the business was generating the same revenue as my job, but I was under a lot of stress trying to manage my full-time job and trying to get the business off the ground.”Īs it turned out, being ‘let go’ was the best thing that could have happened. Today, the business that was born on a train commute over a decade ago is worth more than US$100 million, after securing US$35 million in funding in 2014 from two top venture capital firms, Accel Partners and Ribbit Capital – the backers behind the likes of Facebook, Spotify, Dropbox and Angry Birds. “It’s scary to let go of that regular income. “I was never sure if the business would take off and I had a really good job, so the hardest thing was how to get out. “Literally the only spare time I had was during the commute to and from work I was living with my in-laws in western Sydney and commuting into the city for at least an hour each way, so that gave me some time to play around with my idea.”Ĭhris quickly recognised that his little idea – a mobile app that helps sole traders and small businesses manage their cash flow through easy-to-use invoicing, expense tracking and simple reporting tools – had serious legs.īut it wasn’t until his unceremonious firing from his comfortable job that he was forced to see just how successful his idea could actually become. “That’s when I came up with the idea for Invoice2go, but I didn’t have a lot of time, as my job was full on,” says Chris. With few affordable, suitable options to choose from, Chris did what any software developer would do: he set about creating his own convenient invoicing app. The accounting packages were expensive and fully-featured, but all I wanted was to create a simple invoice,” says Chris. “I thought I’d just go on the internet and find an app to help me create an invoice, but there was nothing available that worked the way I wanted it to. ![]() Indeed, he had found himself in a situation most entrepreneurs can relate to. He’d just begun working for Macquarie Bank as a freelance software developer in 2002 and was preparing to send his client an invoice, when he became disappointed with his options: between either a basic, unprofessional-looking Word invoice, or an expensive accounting program. It was, Chris Strode admits, among the least proud moments of his career.Īfter working for Macquarie Bank as a software developer for almost a decade, he was given his marching orders following “a few too many drinks at a work cocktail party”. “I was basically pushed out of my job due to bad behavior – but it was actually a blessing in disguise,” explains Chris. ![]()
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