Pioneering Online Bookings: A Talk with Nachum Kligman, CEO of Book Like A Boss

In an insightful and interesting Q&A conversation, Hackernoon contributor Brian Wallace interviews Nachum Kligman, co-founder & CEO of Book Like a Boss, an online booking platform.

#1. What do you currently do and what’s your favorite part about it?

I am the co-founder & CEO of Book Like A Boss, a booking platform that makes it simple for anyone to sell a service in less than an hour. We launched in 2017 and have tens of thousands of users in over 100 countries.

My favorite part is when we get unsolicited 5-Star reviews from our customers or when I’m on a Demo with a customer and they just say “Wow”. It makes all the hard work and challenges worth it when you know you are having a positive impact on a person and their business.

#2. What are you currently excited about at BLAB?

We recently announced the launch of our Enterprise Product. We launched as a solution for individuals and in 2021 we released our company plans for those with medium sized businesses from 3-300 employees or sales reps. We have now released the ability to white label and blend into other existing platforms and can handle from 5,000 to millions of users. With this launch we also announced a partnership with Duda, a leading Website Builder with over 20,000 Agencies as customers and powering more than a million active websites. You can now turn any Duda website into a booking system for appointments, memberships, selling services, events and more. You can read more about that here:

#3. How did you get started with your Tech Career?

My first tech experience was an idea I had back in 1998. It was my first start-up, a company I called FunRaze - The Fun Way to Raise Money. It was a platform that enabled companies to donate products to a charity of their choice. They would receive free publicity and a tax write off for their donation. We would then post the item on our site where anyone could put in $1 or more depending on the item and at the end of the auction we would randomly choose a winner from everyone that entered. We would take a 15% platform fee for every auction and it was the perfect win/win/win situation.

I had celebrities lined up to get involved and raised some initial funds and had a large law firm taking care of all the legal work for a percentage of the company. Unfortunately, after 4 months, the law firm told us the bad news and that what we were trying to do was illegal and considered gambling. We would need to get a license for every county in every state for every auction, basically an impossible task. This was 25 years ago. I was shocked back in 2012 when Omaze was the first to introduce what I tried to do back in 1998. The way they got around the legal issue was that they had a way for anyone to enter any of their auctions for free without needing to purchase a ticket.

They way the government couldn’t call it gambling if you could enter for free and only pay for additional tickets or because you wanted to. I didn’t think this was a good business model and it seems they are having some issues now in the USA.

#4. Tell us more about the things you write/make/manage/build!

I love taking ideas from nothing and bringing them to life. In 2002 I started an Interoperable Instant Messaging company called IMVITE. I was the first to put an RSS feed into a messenger and created a built-in mall with a built-in affiliate program. I left in 2005 over a disagreement with my partners. I wanted to take our messenger and integrate with our own Social Network. My partners didn’t think Social Networking would be anything so I left. I then started a company called Qoof, a video shopping player.

There are 4 technology patents in my name for coming up with the idea to put overlays on top of videos. I left in 2010 when an investor gave me an ultimatum, either allow him to buy 85% of the company for $500k (there was a downturn in the markets and we needed funds) or fire my 12 employees and close up shop. I sold my shares and was left with less than 4%. So I left the company after saving them and the company later exited under the name Viewbix based on my ideas to turn the company around.

Then I had a few more projects as most good entrepreneurs, mostly failures with a couple of successes until I came up with the idea for Book Like A Boss at the end of 2015. I pitched my partner on the idea and we launched in June 2017. It’s been my biggest success to date and has been mostly bootstrapped with tens of thousands of happy users all around the world.

#5. What’s your favorite thing about the internet?

It’s probably what everyone would say, but the truth is the ability to keep in touch with old friends and family is unparalleled. The ability to share videos, photos or just a simple hello to let people know you care is something that was not so simple 20 years ago. Now with a click of a button you can share your children’s birthday party pics with your family all over the world.

#6. What is your least favorite thing about the internet?

Definitely the addiction. There is always another email, another message, another article, another customer service ticket waiting to be answered etc.. I try to get back to people as fast as possible, especially to my employees who are waiting for answers from me. I find it hard to just totally turn off my phone for deep work or even for family time. I’m getting better at it, but I still look back at quieter times when you actually had to speak to someone in person and you would be able to give your undivided attention.

#7. If you were given $10 million to invest in something today what would you invest in and why?

Is it cliché to say my company? Lol. Truth is there is a HUGE game changing project I would like to do that involves AI and the way we communicate with those we need. I don’t want to say more right now, but I hope to break ground on this project in 2023.

#8. What’s something you’re currently learning or excited to learn?

I’ve been following the online newsletter industry for about a year now and I love the new software companies (shoutout to Beehiiv) that are coming out as well as the courses and newsletters about newsletters. I don’t have the time to start one right now, but I do love picking up tips and seeing how people are becoming successful. It’s all in the list!

#9. Would you rather travel 10 years into the past or 10 years into the future? Give reasons for your answer.

For sure 10 years in the past. Everyone wishes they could change something from their past that would create a brighter future. Why go 10 years ahead and miss out on things you could have changed as well as all that time spent with loved ones and friends.