What if you have an idea for a product, but are unsure whether there would be much demand? Do what Kabir Shahani did — ask the people who could most benefit from your product whether they would buy it.

Shahani is the co-founder and CEO of Appature , a Seattle-based technology firm that specializes in cloud-based marketing solutions for health-care companies.

While Shahani had the idea for his service, he wasn’t sure how much of a need there would be. So he went door-to-door to major pharmaceutical and health-care firms to pitch his product. He found that the demand was enormous — so enormous that his customers said they would provide the first round of equity funding for Shahani to use toward launching operations.

That was the beginning for Appature, a firm that helps health-care marketers easily extract data, launch campaigns, and get actionable insights to drive deeper customer relationships and market share. Shahani talks about how he did it and what comes next for Appature.

Where did the idea for your company come from?

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