When Jud Bowman first considered entrepreneurship, he had to ask his history teacher how to raise funding. Since then, he has found success helping others sell their phone apps, reports The Herald-Sun.
Bowman is now the CEO and founder of the Durham-based technology company Appia that builds online storefronts where businesses can sell mobile phone applications. On Wednesday, the company announced it had secured a $10 million investment from a venture capital firm to help it grow. That announcement followed a $15 million round of funding raised by the company last year.
Appia, formerly known as PocketGear, is based in offices on the American Tobacco Campus and is not Bowman’s first venture. He led the acquisition of Appia from another business that he helped to found called Motricity, which went public last year.
“If I can make it, anybody can do this,” Bowman said on Thursday, as he shared some honest insight into what it’s like to be a serial entrepreneur as part of an event for new entrepreneurs, business leaders and investors.
The event, aptly called Startup Madness, was expected to draw about 250 people to the American Tobacco Campus on Thursday to talk everything start-up.
In answer to a question about what he would do differently if he could turn back time, Bowman said entrepreneurs do make mistakes.
He also said that one of the lessons he’s learned is prioritization. He said his management team meets weekly, and they create a list, picking three to five items to work on.
“Which means a lot of stuff falls on the ground,” he said. “You’re not going to pick the right things every time, but as long as you do your best job.”
Screenshot from Appia