The city of Reno is the lighthouse customer shining a light for Dimitre Dintchev’s Galena Hill

Designing Successful Startups

Summary

Dimitre shares his fascinating life journey, from growing up in Bulgaria and Nigeria to playing basketball in the United States and eventually founding Galena Hill. He discusses the pain points he experienced as a business owner and how it led him to develop an accounting intelligence system that integrates with Intuit QuickBooks. He also explains the shift towards using blockchain technology for document management and automation, with the city of Reno as a lighthouse customer. Dimitre highlights the potential market in other cities and the importance of strong recommendations and warm introductions. Dimitre discusses the application of document management workflow in various industries, not just government entities. He shares examples of startups and businesses that can benefit from this technology. Dimitre also talks about his investment strategy and the use of offshore software developers. The conversation concludes with a discussion on grit and its importance in startups and life.

Bio

Born in Bulgaria, he grew up across multiple countries including over a decade in rural Nigeria, Botswana, and South Africa. This diverse background instilled resilience and adaptability. In 1993, a basketball scholarship allowed him to relocate to the United States. His studies focused on quantitative business analysis, economic modeling, and finance.

His private-sector career from 1998-2014 spanned automotive, travel, construction, manufacturing, and consulting. As a trader, operations manager, finance director and more, he led teams, drove change, and oversaw profitable exits. This applied his expertise in process automation and business intelligence.

Since 2014, his SaaS innovations include co-authoring blockchain patents for secure data handling and message certification. He created blockchain web apps for transparent public access. His models compared solar technologies for South African energy projects. He pioneered digital prototypes for accounting, document transmission, and medical consent.

In 2018, he founded Galena Hill Inc. to provide affordable, scalable, eco-friendly digital solutions for small businesses and government. This merged his research with pragmatic solutions to foster sustainability.

Takeaways

Dimitre's life journey took him from Bulgaria to Nigeria to the United States, where he eventually founded Galena Hill.

He developed an accounting intelligence system that integrates with Intuit QuickBooks to address the pain points he experienced as a business owner.

Galena Hill has shifted its focus towards using blockchain technology for document management and automation.

The city of Reno is a lighthouse customer for Galena Hill, and there is potential for market expansion to other cities.

Strong recommendations and warm introductions from influential figures, such as the mayor of Reno, can help facilitate business opportunities. Document management workflow can be applied to various industries, not just government entities.

Startups and businesses that deal with a lot of documents and need to guarantee their provenance can benefit from this technology.

Dimitre's investment strategy has been private investment, and he has not approached VC firms.

He uses offshore software developers, but emphasizes the importance of having a close relationship and ensuring the protection of intellectual property.

Grit is essential in startups and life, and overcoming challenges and obstacles is a continuous process.

Sound Bites

"The market niche for Galena Hill: small to midsize business owners using QuickBooks."

"The shift towards using blockchain technology for document management and automation."

"What we have is extremely convenient in terms of being able to manage that information in a way that is shared in between a city employee or a government employee and a public viewer."

"There are other organizations that deal with a lot of documents and have to guarantee the provenance of these documents."

"The painful issue is really how to get your foot in the door and have at least some initial traction."

Links

Please leave us a review: https://www.podchaser.com/AdventuresOnTheCanDo

Dimitre's Galena Hill site: https://www.galenahill.com/

The book Think Like a Startup Founder (early access): https://www.manning.com/books/think-like-a-startup-founder

Jothy’s site for speaking, podcasting, and ruminating: https://jothyrosenberg.com

Jothy’s non-profit foundation The Who Says I Can’t Foundation: https://whosaysicant.org

Chapters

00:00 Dimitre's Fascinating Life Journey

11:19 Addressing Pain Points: Developing an Accounting Intelligence System

28:40 The Power of Recommendations: Leveraging Influential Figures

35:04 Offshore Software Developers and Intellectual Property

45:34 The Importance of Grit in Startups and Life