Rami Salman (Wrappup, Cisco) - Why his Lebanese roots impact him to this day, how he is able to make something out of nothing, what prompted the Voicea acquisition, and how he overcame countless failures

In this episode, we talk with Rami Salman, the Co-Founder of Wrappup, a meeting-based productivity app with intelligent voice recording that helps inside sales managers make better decisions. Now, Rami is the Director of M&A, Strategy, & Partnerships at Cisco, after Wrappup's acquisition by Voicea, and concurrently by Cisco.

This was an in-depth conversation on Rami's entrepreneurial journey, from when he learned the entrepreneurial tools and mindset from childhood with his family, to Co-Founding Wrappup and raising multiple rounds for his startup, ultimately getting acquired. Now at Cisco, we talk with Rami to look back on his journey and the deep lessons he learned throughout this time. He was honest in sharing his challenges, worries, and success raising funds for Wrappup and the conversations he's had with investors, so there is plenty to unpack here if you are a founder going through the same journey.

We'll talk about:

• The frameworks and strategies Rami used to shift Wrappup in a direction to profitability and ultimately attracting investors
• What to really do once you get market validation for your product, and how to respond to it effectively
• The hardest moment of being a founder on the verge of closing down the business
• How to structure your startup so that you are fit for acquisition

Enjoy!

Timestamps

• 2:28 Intuitive, Analytical: How Rami would describe himself growing up
• 7:41 Rami's first taste of entrepreneurship through his family
• 11:11 Tinkering as a key trait of a founder
• 16:07 Starting off an experiential career after graduating
• 18:38 Working at Bain & getting the tools to tinker with business and strategy
• 19:57 How Rami's wife encouraged him to get an MBA for entrepreneurship
• 21:38 How Rami Salman learned more at a hackathon than the last 1.5 years of his career
• 26:50 "I really wanted to do something that didn't exist before" Rami Salman's ethos on Wrappup
• 28:17 Choosing the right customers for Wrappup and how to close larger rounds
• 33:57 "Impossible is was just a temporary position for them" Getting app developers for Wrappup
• 36:19 Using the matrix of use cases to figure out strategic direction
• 39:07 How Wrappup was acquired by Voia through organic connection
• 41:04 Why you should get someone to steal your idea
• 44:30 Getting market validation and 200k app downloads
• 47:20 The challenges of transitioning into getting acquired
• 50:11 The different criteria of getting acquired as a startup
• 52:39 What VCs really look for when investing in businesses
• 53:11 The hardest moment in Rami Salman's entrepreneurial journey
• 56:16 What qualities Rami Salman thinks a good investor should have
• 1:00:23 Deciding to be an entrepreneur again or not
• 1:01:50 Redefining impact now that Rami Salman is more of an investor and advisor

Links

• Rami Salman's LinkedIn: https://ae.linkedin.com/in/ramisalman

About the Host

• COTU Ventures Website
• Amir's LinkedIn
• Amir's Twitter