Joe Colopy @ Bronto Software: The Peace Corps Volunteer Who Pioneered Commerce Marketing Automation

In 2002, Joe Colopy launched a simple email newsletter tool, naming it Bronto Mail in reference to his favorite dinosaur. But Joe wasn't the only person trying to help companies with their email marketing. Pretty soon, Joe and Bronto found themselves facing a crowded market and better-resourced competitors. So Joe did a textbook MBA strategy shift. He identified an underserved niche market in need of better marketing tools, and he focused his company on it.

That niche market consisted of commerce and ecommerce companies who, at the time, didn't have any email marketing tools built specifically for their needs. By focusing on that niche, Joe and Bronto pioneered the commerce marketing automation space, becoming the market leader in the process and riding their growth to a successful exit.

In this episode of Web Masters, hear the story of how Joe built Bronto and managed the pivot. It's a perfect entrepreneurial lesson in how to best attack a large market when you're a small startup competing against bigger and better-resourced companies.

For a complete transcript of the episode, click here.