Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 19, 2013

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. After bootstrapping, friends and family are the most common funding sources for early-stage startups.

Intellectual Property 309

Intellectual Property Technical Review Venture Capital Startup 309

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2018

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Nevertheless, it’s an option that doesn’t cost you equity. Solicit funds from friends and family.

Intellectual Property 134

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 134

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

So you’re interested in raising capital from a Revenue-Based Investor VC. A new wave of Revenue-Based Investors (“RBI”) are emerging. For background, see Revenue-Based Investing: A New Option for Founders who Care About Control. Our wheelhouse is bootstrapped (or lightly capitalized) SMB SaaS. Bigfoot Capital.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

” How many times have you heard someone agree that “it would be great if someone did X,” but when show them someone did do X, but it costs $39.99, they don’t buy? Consider the consequences of these monthly pricing possibilities: $0/mo means your goal is to maximize growth (trust and usage) instead of revenue.

Bootstrapping 294

Bootstrapping Technical Review B2C Sales Cycle 294

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

Yet in this age when customers have a thousand alternatives, and are overwhelmed by a multitude of messages, sales efforts can make or break a business. In fact, I believe modern entrepreneurs need to be super sales people, in the most positive sense, to their team as well as customers. No pain usually means no sales.

Sales 120

Sales Entrepreneur Bootstrapping Technical Review 120

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2023

Yet every business requires revenue and volumes, as certainly as it requires a product to sell. External investors will demand a financial forecast, but it’s equally valuable to you, even if bootstrapping. Per-unit cost less cost of goods sold is your gross profit or margin. Forecast sales-volume expectations.

Forecast 290

Forecast Burn Rate Widget Business Plan 290

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 8, 2015

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Nevertheless, it’s an option that doesn’t cost you equity. Solicit funds from friends and family.

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 120

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 3, 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. Do it yourself. Marty Zwilling.

Bootstrapping 278

Bootstrapping Startup Merger Salary 278

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 31, 2018

Here are some tips for bootstrapping your business. Another important way to save money during the early years is to avoid payroll costs by employing virtual assistants. There are subscription services like this for email, sales planning, CRM, project management, accounting and cloud storage. Work in a Spare Room.

Software Review 187

Software Review Cloud Social Media Bootstrapping 187

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 5, 2021

Yet every business requires revenue and volumes, as certainly as it requires a product to sell. External investors will demand a financial forecast, but it’s equally valuable to you, even if bootstrapping. Per-unit cost less cost of goods sold is your gross profit or margin. Forecast sales-volume expectations.

Forecast 369

Forecast Burn Rate Startup Widget 369

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2012

For example, with any outside investment, you give up some ownership and control, and with bootstrapping your growth curve will likely be longer and more organic. Following is my prioritized larger list of sources, with some “rules of thumb” which may save you a lot of time and energy: Bootstrapping. Friends and family.

Technical Review 257

Technical Review Bootstrapping Venture Capital Incubator 257

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

APRIL 29, 2013

One of the root questions you have at the start, which is supposed to be data-driven (but you don’t have data) is: What’s the maximum I should bid for CPC (cost-per-click) campaigns like Google AdWords? ” Easy for them to say, but what about a bootstrapped, profit-driven business?

Bootstrapping 285

Bootstrapping Affiliate Cofounder Channel 285

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2020

The primary source of your funds should be your paying customers, i.e., your business should generate enough revenues and profits to fund the growth and expansion. It is going to cost a lot of money just to get the initial batch of products to test the market and would definitely require external funding. Bootstrapping.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 29, 2022

While you may be enamored with becoming an entrepreneur and bootstrapping your business, don’t quit your day job. There’s actually a lot of value in bootstrapping your business. You can be increasing revenue, growing sales, and maybe even cutting costs. Don’t quit your day job. Have enough cash on hand.

Forecast 154

Forecast Software Review Bootstrapping Finance 154

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 24, 2015

By bootstrapping, bartering, reducing overheads (rental and manpower), and leveraging technology (especially the web), one can start one’s own business almost on a dime without being beholden to creditors or venture capitalists. This spanned the following areas: #1 Generate Higher Revenue. Growth & Sustenance Strategies.

Technical Review 100

Technical Review Software Review South Carolina Startup 100

Gust

APRIL 27, 2014

This will include the first version of many critical processes that can be split out later, including market opportunity, requirements, product definition, business model, sales process, and organization. Billing and revenue collection. Here is another often overlooked area of process that kills many startups, both in cost and time.

Startup 187

Startup Institutional Investors Angel Investor Bootstrapping 187

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. Do it yourself.

Bootstrapping 176

Bootstrapping Startup Merger Salary 176

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 16, 2011

For example, with any outside investment, you give up some ownership and control, and with bootstrapping your growth curve will likely be longer and more organic. Following is my prioritized larger list of sources, with some “rules of thumb” which may save you a lot of time and energy: Bootstrapping. Friends and family.

Technical Review 233

Technical Review Bootstrapping Startup Venture Capital 233

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2016

Yet in this age when customers have a thousand alternatives, and are overwhelmed by a multitude of messages, sales efforts can make or break a business. In fact, I believe modern entrepreneurs need to be super sales people, in the most positive sense, to their team as well as customers. No pain usually means no sales.

Bootstrapping 120

Bootstrapping Sales Technical Review Social Media 120

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

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 9, 2016

Bootstrap was term coined from the computer lingo ‘booting’ which means starting a computer or starting a chain of processes which eventually starts up the operating system. In the startup world, bootstrapping essentially means funding your own venture and not being too dependent on external sources. Spend Wisely. Experiment.

Bootstrapping 100

Bootstrapping Cofounder Startup Sales Cycle 100

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 4, 2016

Starting a new business on a limited budget without investor involvement is called bootstrapping, and it’s the only way to go if you don’t want to spend months on the investment pitch preparation and delivery circuit. There are unwritten rules in every business, and your lack of insider’s knowledge will cost you dearly.

Bootstrapping 120

Bootstrapping Social Media Equity eCommerce 120

Hearpreneur

AUGUST 11, 2021

With their affordability, you can invest in several and gain more return by earning customer trust before a sale occurs. With a simple 30 second video posted on social media, business owners have the opportunity to build major traffic and revenue from their sites. 17- Saturated with bootstrapped businesses. 4-Progressive.

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Technical Review Social Media Bootstrapping 126

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. Do it yourself. Marty Zwilling.

Bootstrapping 240

Bootstrapping Merger Salary .Net 240

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 29, 2024

Revenue streams are another critical component of your business model. Will you opt for direct sales, subscriptions, or a freemium model? Content marketing, social media, and email campaigns can be cost-effective ways to engage your audience and build brand awareness.

Intellectual Property 130

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Business Model Bootstrapping 130

Gust

JUNE 17, 2012

For example, with any outside investment, you give up some ownership and control, and with bootstrapping your growth curve will likely be longer and more organic. Following is my prioritized larger list of sources, with some “rules of thumb” which may save you a lot of time and energy: Bootstrapping. Friends and family.

Technical Review 164

Technical Review Bootstrapping Venture Capital Incubator 164

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 16, 2011

For the uninitiated, Zoho introduced a CRM system that was one-tenth the price of Salesforce.com and penetrated the lower end of the market using an Indian cost structure. They charge $9, $29 and $59 per agent per month and I am eager to see bootstrapped, scrappy Freshdesk morph their pricing structure to aggressively compete with them.

India 123

India Bootstrapping Non-Compete Entrepreneur 123

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

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 8, 2018

A sales team is the lifeblood of any B2B organization. It is one of the few ‘profit centers’ in your company that is responsible for bringing in revenues. To put this in other words, the success of a business depends to a great extent on their sales team. Modify the sales process. Here are a few tips to achieve that.

Sales 113

Sales Startup Bootstrapping B2B 113

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

OCTOBER 11, 2010

WhenBusy is a bootstrapped startup that lets people schedule meetings with you in currently-available time-slots without you having to share your calendar [disclosure: I'm an advisor]. Yeah yeah, nowadays marketing is about "relationships" and "authority" and other things which cost time but not money. Infection built-in, not bolt-on.

Software Review 261

Software Review Technical Review Viral Software Developers 261

Tim Keane

MARCH 9, 2011

How to prepare a sales forecast for a business plan » March 09, 2011. The overarching idea, of course, is to reduce the cost of capital while maintaining appropriate flexibility for the venture.  Can you bootstrap your way to positive cash flow? 2]   Aligning interests in structure: cost and risk.

Finance 83

Finance Bootstrapping Startup Equity 83

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 1, 2010

For example, with any outside investment, you give up some ownership and control, and with bootstrapping you growth curve will likely be longer and more organic. Following is my prioritized larger list of sources, with some “rules of thumb” which may save you a lot of time and energy: Bootstrapping. Friends and family.

Technical Review 149

Technical Review Bootstrapping Startup Venture Capital 149

Duct Tape Marketing

AUGUST 23, 2023

He is the co-founder of Boast.ai, where he leveraged the Community-Led Growth model to bootstrap the company. where he leveraged a community-led growth model to bootstrap the company. Then another time was when we were bootstrapping both. It costs twice as much to generate the same results from the same marketing tactics.

Community 54

Community Kuwait Cofounder Bootstrapping 54

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

Gust

JUNE 19, 2012

Last weekend I caught Mashable announcing that Ebook Sales Surpass Hardcover in the U.S. For example, with any outside investment, you give up some ownership and control, and with bootstrapping your growth curve will likely be longer and more organic. The Cost Equation for a Startup is Better Than Ever. Subscribe by email.

Startup 180

Startup Forecast Angel Investor Software 180

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

Berkonomics

AUGUST 3, 2023

Some businesses require very little capital and the founder can self-finance the enterprise and retain 100% of its ownership and control from ignition through liquidity event (startup through sale). Bootstrapping: This term describes your ability to start a business with little investment and grow it using internally generated funds.

Private Equity 118

Private Equity Valuation Cap Table Accredited Investor 118