John Tabatabai is the founder of bidibot.com, an online penny auction site. He is also a professional poker player and has worked an ambassador for Betfair’s poker division. John has combined these two elements by creating a PA site that only caters to the online gambling industry and is the only one of its kind.
Founded in August 2010, John had seen how the penny auction industry had boomed over the last couple of years and after seeing the high attrition rate of users they have decided to do what he always wanted too do; start his own business.
Bidibot now has 11 employees and are based out of Knightsbridge, London. Getting funding wasn't easy and John was turned down many times by those who felt it was too risky or that it was too late too enter the industry. But the 25 year old felt that it was just the beginning and kept looking for funding and soon enough received investment from a private VC.
Tabatabai feels that the biggest challenge so far has been, as with any business, 'getting the customers educated about our service and bringing them to the site.'
John's advice for budding entrepreneurs is "Seek a mentor, someone successful who can guide you and prepare you for the unthinkable. Regardless of how much preparation you do, how much you know about an industry, you cannot and will not be able to prepare for every eventuality, as events will occur that you simply would not have fathomed. Stay calm, focused and always remain adaptable to your changing environment."
John's plan for the future of Bidibot is too revolutionize the Penny Auction industry and become a pioneer by introducing new types of auctions, games and mechanisms.
