Outsider Inc.

On this inaugural episode of Outsider Inc., host Ian Hathaway talks with Scott Dorsey, co-founder and former CEO of ExactTarget. Scott shares his journey from founding ExactTarget in 2000, through its $2.5 billion acquisition by Salesforce in 2013, to his current efforts in fostering entrepreneurship in Indianapolis via HighAlpha. Their discussion covers launching a company when the dot com bubble burst, early sales and fundraising strategies, and ExactTarget's transformative impact on Indianapolis' tech ecosystem. Scott emphasizes his philosophy of building a company and a community, revealing how leveraging local talent and fostering a strong company culture contributed to ExactTarget's success. He also discusses the importance of supportive ecosystems for tech startups and his continued mission to invest in and support local entrepreneurs.     Show Notes:   (03:15) Scott Dorsey's Early Career and ExactTarget's Founding (05:30) Challenges and Early Successes of ExactTarget (11:44) Raising Capital and Building a Sales Team (18:35) Transitioning to Enterprise and Securing Venture Capital (24:03) Navigating IPOs and Acquisition by Salesforce (30:23) Founding High Alpha: A New Venture Studio (32:19) High Alpha's Unique Approach and Methodology (36:06) Building a Tech Ecosystem in Indianapolis (41:49) The Orange Culture and Its Lasting Impact (47:16) Personal Insights and Leadership Philosophy (51:12) Beyond the Bio w/Scott Dorsey   ✅ Host: Ian Hathway - Co-Founder & Managing Partner, FOVC ✅ Guest: Scott Dorsey - Co-Founder & CEO, ExactTarget; Managing Partner, High Alpha   Produced by Spellbinder Media. Executive Produced by Bridge Five Ventures. Copyright ©️2025, Bridge Five Ventures, LLC, All rights reserved.   Listen & subscribe wherever you get your podcasts or at outsiderinc.substack.com.

Introducing Outsider Inc., the podcast that dives into the untold stories of visionary leaders from unexpected places and backgrounds who broke the mold of tech entrepreneurship to build generation-defining companies. In each episode, host Ian Hathaway facilitates a conversation that reveals how founders turned early setbacks into stepping stones, built resilient teams without a prototypical playbook, and transformed entire communities that today produce a lasting impact.  Get a preview of what’s ahead with highlights from guests like: ✅ Scott Dorsey – His $2.5 billion acquisition of ExactTarget by Salesforce helped birth a thriving tech ecosystem in Indianapolis ✅ Linda Rottenberg – Her non-profit, Endeavor, supports entrepreneurs in over 40 countries worldwide, transforming emerging markets into dynamic startup ecosystems ✅ Wade Foster – Co-founded Zapier, which was hatched in a Central Missouri hackathon and scaled to a more than $5 billion valuation through a fully remote and capital-efficient approach ✅ Michael Praeger – Left Boston to launch and scale AvidXchange, a B2B payments fintech in Charlotte, to a more than $5 billion valuation at IPO ✅ Jason Seats – Bootstrapped an influential startup to an improbable exit from a small office in St Louis before overseeing the investment in thousands of companies as CIO of Techstars Subscribe now and join us as we prove that great entrepreneurs can come from anywhere. Listen wherever you get your podcasts or at outsiderinc.substack.com.