How One Man Used Artificial Intelligence to Generate Genuine Sales LeadsA CRM startup gets the hookup to find leads via machine learning about its best customers.

If there's one thing software company Ebsta understands, it's customer relationship management. The San Diego- and London-based company sells a $10 per month per user Chrome browser extension that syncs customers' email accounts to the Salesforce database to streamline the onerous task of updating a CRM system. But finding new prospects for Ebsta is difficult and, as vice president of sales Bernhard Peters points out, expensive -- especially for a company with roughly $1 million in annual revenue. "We're still a tiny company," Peters says. "We have to be careful who we chase; we don't have a lot of money or manpower to spare. Buying lists never works; they're out of date. And data-mining companies charge at least $25,000 upfront, with no guarantee of ROI."

The Fix

Peters was in a San Diego restaurant when he overheard Olin Hyde, co-founder and CEO of Englue, explaining how his artificial intelligence product LeadCrunch could mine the web to uncover leads based on names of a company's best customers. It's the same technology Englue developed for a Lockheed Martin contract with the U.S. Navy.