#145: Making Big Bold Bets with Patient Execution as a Bootstrapped Founder - Gopal Krishnamurthy

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May 23, 2025

Gopal Krishnamurthy, founder and CEO of Lumel, shares insights about his enterprise performance management startup that supports modern data platforms. He discusses the shift from traditional BI services to innovative product development, emphasizing patient execution and the challenges faced in a competitive landscape. Gopal reveals how bootstrapped funding has driven Lumel's growth to over $12M in annual revenue, while also highlighting the potential of no-code data applications to disrupt the industry. The conversation explores technology cycles and the impact of AI on the future of enterprise software.

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INSIGHT

Tech Waves Need Time to Mature

Technology adoption follows long wave patterns needing ecosystem and infrastructure maturity.
Early signals at the frontier can hint at future mainstream shifts years ahead.

ANECDOTE

Personal Crisis Sparks New Vision

Gopal sold his services business after his father's death triggered urgency to secure his family.
He chose to start fresh on a native app architecture focusing on the future of data platforms.

INSIGHT

Apps Must Live on Data Platforms

Apps built on data platforms reduce data silos and replication.
This architecture supports seamless real-time integration aligned with modern enterprise needs.

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Gopal Krishnamurthy is the founder and CEO of Lumel, which has a suite of products focused on enterprise performance management (EPM). Their apps allow users to plan, report, and analyze data using the modern native app framework vs. traditional SaaS on top of modern cloud data platforms such as Microsoft Fabric, Snowflake, Databricks, and others. Lumel’s products provide a full stack of integrated Planning, BI & data apps on the customers' data platforms.

He grew his enterprise services company, Visual BI, to over 200 employees and sold that company to Atos in 2021, as he described in his first Practical Founders podcast interview in 2023. Gopal self-funded Lumel with a VC-sized investment and has grown it to over 300 employees in four years. Lumel is already at a revenue run rate of over $12M ARR and is growing fast.

Lumel is building its apps using modern cloud data platforms, not siloed SaaS databases, allowing it to manage real-time data across applications. This bold new vision and architecture for enterprise software apps align with modern data approaches supporting AI, creating a billion-dollar opportunity for Lumel in the future.

In this episode, Gopal also discusses:

The challenge of transitioning from custom services to a no-touch product-led approach selling to enterprises
Why VCs wouldn’t understand their technology bet and why their patience is paying off
What it’s like to grow a fast-growth and innovative technology company as a bootstrapper

Quote from Gopal Krishnamurthy, founder and CEO of Lumel

“The main thing is it’s a big market. It’s not like we are just trying to get our first $10 million revenue. We have done that with Lumel already. We are looking at how we can get to a billion-dollar ARR business. That’s the big, bold vision. We have invested tens of millions already, and we are almost profitable.

“We think we can absolutely create a billion-dollar business based on our customer feedback and traction from 3,000 customers. So, it’s not a question of product market fit. We worked with hundreds of our enterprise customers and perfected our data app products.

“The other thing is that our products can work for smaller and medium-sized businesses because of our architecture and approach. It's completely horizontal: it works for all industries and all customers of all sizes.”

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