Gust

OCTOBER 26, 2014

When someone asks me for the best way to fund a startup, I always say bootstrap it, meaning fund it yourself and grow organically. Bootstrapping avoids all the cost, pain, and distractions of finding angels or VCs, and allows you to keep control and all your hard-earned equity for yourself. Reinvest gross profit. Do it yourself.

Bootstrapping 176

Bootstrapping Startup Merger Salary 176

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 7, 2022

Angel investors will perk up if you have a prototype or a few real customers, while venture capitalists will likely choose to wait until you have achieved several million in revenue or customer count. Here is where projections of cost, pricing, volumes and cash flow are critical. How much equity ownership are you willing to offer?

Preferred Stock 304

Preferred Stock Exit Strategy Equity Angel Investor 304

Hippoland

OCTOBER 18, 2018

Should you raise money or bootstrap? (By By bootstrap, I actually mean raise < $250k from individuals / angels). Having run a startup that raised money and now in running a VC, ironically, if I were starting a product company today, I would start out with the mentality of bootstrapping for as long as I could.

Bootstrapping 90

Bootstrapping Cap Table Salary .Net 90

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 26, 2010

When someone asks me for the best way to fund a startup, I always say bootstrap it, meaning fund it yourself and grow organically. Bootstrapping avoids all the cost, pain, and distractions of finding angels or VCs, and allows you to keep control and all your hard-earned equity for yourself. Reinvest gross profit. Do it yourself.

Bootstrapping 240

Bootstrapping Merger Salary .Net 240

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 18, 2012

I come from a high-tech software background, and only a few years ago, it would cost at least a million dollars ($1M) for a team of professionals to produce any commercial software product. Now, with open source software components, and low-cost development tools, the same job can be done by one good hacker for a few thousand dollars.

Cost 255

Cost Burn Rate SEM Startup 255

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 4, 2020

Angel investors will perk up if you have a prototype or a few real customers, while venture capitalists will likely choose to wait until you have achieved several million in revenue or customer count. Here is where projections of cost, pricing, volumes and cash flow are critical. How much equity ownership are you willing to offer?

Startup 337

Startup Preferred Stock Exit Strategy Equity 337

Hippoland

OCTOBER 18, 2018

Should you raise money or bootstrap? (By By bootstrap, I actually mean raise < $250k from individuals / angels). Having run a startup that raised money and now in running a VC, ironically, if I were starting a product company today, I would start out with the mentality of bootstrapping for as long as I could.

Bootstrapping 48

Bootstrapping Cap Table Salary .Net 48

www.readwriteweb.com

OCTOBER 7, 2007

This is typically called “bootstrapping&# and it is fraught with potential pitfalls and dangers. What is bootstrapping? So, what does it mean to bootstrap a company? Bootstrapping involves launching a business on a low budget. Why bootstrap? Either way, bootstrapping is a viable model.

Bootstrapping 41

Bootstrapping Offshore Startup EC2 41

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 29, 2020

People are trapped at home, they are not getting a salary, and they are afraid to touch another person because no one knows who is and isn’t infected with the virus. In other words, you must start bootstrapping an online startup , because the future of the global business world is online. Ways to bootstrap a startup.

Bootstrapping 85

Bootstrapping Global Startup Hungary 85

Up and Running

AUGUST 11, 2015

How ironic that it seems like more than 90 percent of the online information on startups is about getting financed—but more than 90 percent of startups are bootstrapped. What does bootstrapping mean? ” See Also Should I Borrow Money, Seek Investment, or Bootstrap My Business? .” How many startups are bootstrapped?

Bootstrapping 60

Bootstrapping Startup Angel Investor Small Business Administration 60

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 23, 2013

When someone asks me for the best way to fund a startup, I always say bootstrap it, meaning fund it yourself and grow organically. Bootstrapping avoids all the cost, pain, and distractions of finding angels or VCs, and allows you to keep control and all your hard-earned equity for yourself. Reinvest gross profit. Do it yourself.

Equity 241

Equity Bootstrapping Startup Merger 241

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2015

The cost of entry to entrepreneurship is lower than ever, due to smartphone apps and powerful free tools to create websites and ecommerce offerings. Bootstrapping not only reduces cash needs, but increases commitment. With most solutions, infrastructure cost is overhead you don’t need. A desire to roll out on a massive scale.

Bootstrapping 120

Bootstrapping Cofounder Equity Agile 120

Gust

JUNE 10, 2012

I come from a high-tech software background, and only a few years ago, it would cost at least a million dollars ($1M) for a team of professionals to produce any commercial software product. Now, with open source software components, and low-cost development tools, the same job can be done by one good hacker for a few thousand dollars.

Cost 139

Cost Burn Rate SEM Startup 139

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 25, 2016

But they only require “the back of an envelope” to figure out how you are going to make money, how much it is going to cost to run your business, and how soon you will generate a profit and reach breakeven. Having these estimates in hand will help you decide if you can bootstrap your business or if you will need to raise funding.

Bootstrapping 100

Bootstrapping LLC Equity Revenue 100

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 5, 2016

The media tends to highlight experienced entrepreneurs who succeed with early new venture funding, like Uber’s Garrett Camp , but fail to point out the more common bootstrapping successes. Don’t quit your day job until the revenue is flowing. Bootstrapping doesn’t mean that you don’t share equity.

Bootstrapping 120

Bootstrapping Entrepreneur Startup Exit Strategy 120

David Teten

JANUARY 21, 2021

This essay is part of a series on alternative VC: I: Revenue-Based Investing: a new option for founders who care about control. II: Who are the major Revenue-Based Investing VCs? III: Why are Revenue-Based VCs investing in so many women and underrepresented founders? IV: Should your new VC fund use Revenue-Based Investing?

Equity 78

Equity Revenue Cofounder Colorado 78

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2011

I come from a high-tech software background, and only a few years ago, it would cost at least a million dollars ($1M) for a team of professionals to produce any commercial software product. Now, with open source software components, and low-cost development tools, the same job can be done by one good hacker for a few thousand dollars.

Entrepreneur 235

Entrepreneur Burn Rate SEM Social Network 235

YoungUpstarts

JULY 25, 2016

Others completely bootstrap their businesses without borrowing a cent. With time comes better knowledge of your business’ operating costs. It’s often hard to predict the true costs of running a business until you’ve been at it for a few years. by Priyanka Prakash, Fit Small Business and Fit Biz Loans.

SBA 100

SBA Bankruptcy Finance Revenue 100

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JUNE 19, 2012

My company is profitable, and has been from day one. – every high-tech bootstrapped founder I know what you really mean. The first and biggest error is thinking you can ignore your own salary. When your business throws off $1500/mo (without salaries), that’s not the case.

Salary 246

Salary Bootstrapping Web Distribution 246

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 7, 2015

Angel investors will perk up if you have a prototype or a few real customers, while venture capitalists will likely choose to wait until you have achieved several million in revenue or customer count. Here is where projections of cost, pricing, volumes and cash flow are critical. How much equity ownership are you willing to offer?

Preferred Stock 120

Preferred Stock Exit Strategy Equity Angel Investor 120

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2010

I come from a high-tech software background, and only a few years ago, it would cost at least a million dollars ($1M) for a team of professionals to produce any commercial software product. Now, with open source software components, and low-cost development tools, the same job can be done by one good hacker for a few thousand dollars.

Burn Rate 125

Burn Rate SEM Social Network Angel Investor 125

The Entrepreneurial Mind

AUGUST 16, 2011

Bootstrapping is the name of the game for most startups. By keeping their expenses low, particularly overhead costs, entrepreneurs are able to start businesses with limited initial funding. In the bootstrap world you fight to survive. But the extreme bootstrapping approach can only take a business so far.

Bootstrapping 72

Bootstrapping Cofounder Salary Business Model 72

Hippoland

JULY 24, 2018

To be clear, this isn’t your salary – this is your budget to run your company. Your salary does come from this number, but you also need to cover salaries of everyone else on your team (if there are others on your team). And, if you travel, those costs come from this number too.

Salary 48

Salary Capital Call Bootstrapping Cofounder 48

Hippoland

JULY 24, 2018

To be clear, this isn’t your salary – this is your budget to run your company. Your salary does come from this number, but you also need to cover salaries of everyone else on your team (if there are others on your team). And, if you travel, those costs come from this number too.

Salary 48

Salary Capital Call Bootstrapping Cofounder 48

ConversionXL

NOVEMBER 6, 2019

For this article, we asked 14 SaaS CEOs a simple question: “How much did you spend on your MVP before you had your first dollar of revenue?”. We also got lucky and qualified for some startup benefits with companies like Rackspace, who covered our infrastructure costs for the first year,” continues Arsenault. “We Image source).

Sweat Equity 78

Sweat Equity Software Review Vesting Cofounder 78

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 30, 2010

First up was Robert Woltz with Application Services International , whose product EMPAS will provide an on-line low cost solution that benefits medical institutions searching for qualified, credentialed and verified candidates. Instead, let me talk about the other three businesses we discussed today: Application Services International.

India 115

India Silicon Valley Incubator Bootstrapping 115

Up and Running

MAY 28, 2015

There’s a lot of questions about what do you actually need in terms of information, if you’re going to do your forecasting, and how does one put together a revenue forecast if you’ve never started a business or your business is brand new. These ones I went through, and we get to direct cost. How important is that?

Lean 60

Lean Business Plan Video Software Review 60

ConversionXL

NOVEMBER 6, 2019

For this article, we asked 14 SaaS CEOs a simple question: “How much did you spend on your MVP before you had your first dollar of revenue?”. We also got lucky and qualified for some startup benefits with companies like Rackspace, who covered our infrastructure costs for the first year,” continues Arsenault. “We Image source).

Sweat Equity 50

Sweat Equity Software Review Vesting Cofounder 50

Small Business Force

FEBRUARY 21, 2014

Follow the "gospel of cash flow" and it starts with revenue generation. So, the biggest focus, early on, is driving revenue.and then collecting on that revenue, the earlier the better. They help defray purchasing of parts, if you're in a manufacturing business or pay critical salaries and contractors if you're in the services business.

Finance 37

Finance Management Forecast Entrepreneur 37

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 13, 2020

Even if you are bootstrapping the business, and not looking for outside investors, the “rules of thumb” that smart investors look for should be the same ones that you use to assess your own risks and set reasonable expectations for progress and success. > Market penetration and revenue targets related to opportunity size.

Liquidity Event 308

Liquidity Event Forecast Exit Strategy Bootstrapping 308

Software By Rob

SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

Who says a bootstrapped startup can’t succeed? Here are 10 bootstrapped companies that did it on their own with no outside funding. Looking back on their previous experiences working at startup companies, the founders decided to bootstrap their business in lieu of seeking outside funding. Startup #1: Goldstar.

Bootstrapping 78

Bootstrapping Startup Cofounder Salary 78

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JULY 24, 2012

It’s quite simple, which is when you had systems where you had limitations on distribution or transportation of products, it enabled you to operate with a certain cost structure. That cost structure for traditional industry, for historic reason, remains high. I bootstrapped it on my own. Trying to learn this environment.

Silicon Valley 204

Silicon Valley Software Review Internet Technical Review 204

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MARCH 11, 2014

And standing out to a company that got $10 million dollars in funding even before they started Asana is going to be very hard if you bootstrap it with your savings. I think another thing you wanted to talk about was the whole keep bootstrapping or raise money question. Jason: That’s called bootstrapping, right.

Technical Cofounder 220

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Software Review Management 220

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 7, 2015

Many companies are successfully bootstrapped from the outset and the list of major expenses fairly predictable, for example salaries and office rent. When we started our business, SecureDocs, we underestimated the cost of dedicated marketing software and also the potential value of marketing software.

Cap Table 100

Cap Table Intellectual Property Salary Bootstrapping 100

techcrunch.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Options and future value are great ‘add ons’ but not for a welfare check salary until ‘this great idea makes it.’ The project was so low cost they did not even want to bother with it. Thus why I decided to wait until the market allowed for low cost investment. Worst yet wasted 2-3 years in the process.

Technical Review 84

Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder Software Review 84

www.singlefounder.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

The goals of a venture capitalist are to maximize the return on investments that pan out and minimize the costs of investments that will not. Go ahead and laugh, but over 95% of Moon River Software’s revenue this year has been from consulting services. Some will fail quickly, others will flail for a while, and a few will succeed.

Software Review 40

Software Review Software Startup Massachusetts 40

online.wsj.com

SEPTEMBER 23, 2012

If failure is defined as failing to see the projected return on investment—say, a specific revenue growth rate or date to break even on cash flow—then more than 95% of start-ups fail, based on Mr. Ghoshs research. Low Cost Franchises. Child Related. Cleaning And Maintenance. Computer And Internet. Food And Restaurant.

Venture Capital 107

Venture Capital Software Review Rhode Island North Dakota 107