Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 11, 2011

Yet the smart entrepreneur can still bootstrap the technical team, using one or all of the following evaluation and hiring approaches: Hire an expert consultant for initial interviews and recommendation. Ask early candidates how they differentiate themselves from their peers. This is the technical equivalent of an “executive recruiter.”

Technical Review 236

Technical Review Partner Entrepreneur Architecture 236

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2016

Of course, every risk level can be mitigated by a good plan that addresses the issue, offers a credible action plan, and will convince you, as well as investors and customers, that what looks like a risk to many is actually a sustainable competitive advantage for your startup. You need a big differentiator in these arenas.

New York City 120

New York City Silicon Valley Startup Bootstrapping 120

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 16, 2011

Freshdesk First, Girish Mathrubootham from Chennai, India, pitched Freshdesk , a SaaS company that provides small and medium businesses with on-demand customer support software that offers multi-channel social support. Freshdesk introduces itself as a kind of Salesforce.com for customer support so to speak.

India 123

India Bootstrapping Non-Compete Entrepreneur 123

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 16, 2020

Too many of you business owners think success only means being the next Amazon, or you stress yourself out trying to be everything to every customer. Keep the initial scope within bootstrapping limits. Be creative in negotiating work agreements with vendors and even initial customers.

Intellectual Property 313

Intellectual Property Small Business Administration Bootstrapping Differentiation 313

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. Lloyed explores the intricate art of harnessing the community’s strength as your ultimate acquisition channe l, brand differentiator, feedback source, retention lever, and catalyst for transformative change.

Community 53

Community Kuwait Cofounder Bootstrapping 53

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 11, 2021

Many first-time entrepreneurs find themselves unable to bootstrap their startups, and also unable to find early funding at the venture capital level or even with angel investors. Friends and family are quick to differentiate between a passionate hobby and a sincere effort to change the world. This shows respect and professionalism.

Sweat Equity 346

Sweat Equity Elevator Pitch Equity Venture Capital 346

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2019

The result is that ideas are no longer in short supply, and no longer a differentiator in competition. Theirs is not the autocratic style of leadership, which tells people what to do and dominates them, but a style which treats partners, investors, and customers as family. Visionary execution, on the other hand, is not so common.

Bootstrapping 254

Bootstrapping Angel Investor Differentiation Leadership 254

Version One Ventures

APRIL 30, 2013

To increase your chances of venture capital financing, you’ll need to lower the risks as much as possible, such as: Bootstrapping as long as you can to get a working prototype into the market. However, there’s a challenge when your investors are also your customers. Following an iterative manufacturing process. Patents versus traction.

Venture Capital 128

Venture Capital Software Review Incubator Startup 128

Up and Running

MAY 10, 2012

Any organization can visit our site and launch a one-off campaign,” he explains, or subscribe to WeDidIt for unlimited campaigns and premium features like consultation and customized software. “The way we differentiate ourselves is that we’re much more than a platform.

Small Business 142

Small Business Advisory Board Employee Entrepreneur 142

ConversionXL

NOVEMBER 25, 2020

Typically, people who are going to watch these videos are already customers or at the very bottom of the funnel. It’s a great way to bring value to your customers, but you’re missing out on the leverage that YouTube provides. We’re a bootstrapped company that started with more time than money. Your paid YouTube strategy.

Channel 129

Channel Metrics Algorithm Video 129

ReadWriteStart

JULY 12, 2023

Gesto decided to scale InvGate after bootstrapping for the past 14 years. Companies can increase their revenue potential and access new customer bases by expanding into new markets. InvGate, like many other IT management firms, recognizes that expanding its customer base is essential to the company’s long-term success.

United States 121

United States Management Mexico Artificial Inteligence 121

Haystack

JUNE 5, 2018

Not yet profitable but invaluable to developers worldwide, the decade-old company bootstrapped, differentiated from formidable competitors GitLab and Atlassian’s BitBucket, weathered leadership upheavals, and eventually ingested lots of venture capital which helped them weather the challenges they faced.

Acquisition 71

Acquisition Azure Open Source Seattle 71

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 4, 2019

If you are looking for funding and customers for your new business, you need to identify your “unique selling proposition” (USP) right up front, in 30 seconds or less, to differentiate yourself in today’s information overload. Investor and customer attention spans are short, and both will write you off quickly.

Intellectual Property 183

Intellectual Property Cofounder .Net Bootstrapping 183

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 1, 2017

The result is that ideas are no longer in short supply, and no longer a differentiator in competition. Theirs is not the autocratic style of leadership, which tells people what to do and dominates them, but a style which treats partners, investors, and customers as family. Visionary execution, on the other hand, is not so common.

Entrepreneur 169

Entrepreneur Bootstrapping Angel Investor Differentiation 169

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 27, 2013

The result is that ideas are no longer in short supply, and no longer a differentiator in competition. Theirs is not the autocratic style of leadership, which tells people what to do and dominates them, but a style which treats partners, investors, and customers as family. Visionary leaders, on the other hand, are not so common.

Bootstrapping 261

Bootstrapping Founder Angel Investor Differentiation 261

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 17, 2016

Image credit: Bootstrapping from Shutterstock. One of the earliest and most critical decisions an entrepreneur must make is whether to self-fund a startup by bootstrapping, or raise outside funding through venture capital.” – Forbes. What differentiates you from the competition? Money is everything for bootstrapped companies.

Bootstrapping 100

Bootstrapping Venture Capital Salary Differentiation 100

Up and Running

MARCH 8, 2016

Because you’ll be entering an already-saturated market, you will need to figure out a way to differentiate your service offerings. It will help you find customers, and craft the right marketing messages so that they choose you! You’ve spoken to your customers. Validating your idea. You know enough to validate your idea.

SBA 60

SBA Technical Review Software Review Business Plan 60

The Startup Magazine

SEPTEMBER 12, 2019

In exchange, founders agree to transition their company into a new phase that requires them to start catering to investors’ needs in addition to those of its customers and employees. This is why I made the decision to bootstrap HighRadius. For them, one success story can more than make up for three failures.

Early Stage 85

Early Stage Venture Capital Bootstrapping Pre-Money Valuation 85

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 21, 2012

The result is that ideas are no longer in short supply, and no longer a differentiator in competition. Theirs is not the autocratic style of leadership, which tells people what to do and dominates them, but a style which treats partners, investors, and customers as family. Visionary leaders, on the other hand, are not so common.

Entrepreneur 258

Entrepreneur Bootstrapping Angel Investor Differentiation 258

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2011

The result is that ideas are no longer in short supply, and no longer a differentiator in competition. Theirs is not the autocratic style of leadership, which tells people what to do and dominates them, but a style which treats partners, investors, and customers as family. Visionary leaders, on the other hand, are not so common.

Bootstrapping 246

Bootstrapping Angel Investor Differentiation Leadership 246

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 8, 2015

The result is that ideas are no longer in short supply, and no longer a differentiator in competition. Theirs is not the autocratic style of leadership, which tells people what to do and dominates them, but a style which treats partners, investors, and customers as family. Visionary execution, on the other hand, is not so common.

Bootstrapping 120

Bootstrapping Startup Angel Investor Differentiation 120

Duct Tape Marketing

APRIL 6, 2022

Well, Steve Hoffman (02:34): First of all, I did three venture funded startups in Silicon valley and two bootstrap startups. Or are you happy to run just the local restaurant that is differentiator. How do you differentiate yourself? John Jantsch (02:29): So I'm curious, how did you get into the business of advising startups?

San Francisco 97

San Francisco Technical Review Incubator Silicon Valley 97

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 8, 2010

The result is that ideas are no longer in short supply, and no longer a differentiator in competition. Theirs is not the autocratic style of leadership, which tells people what to do and dominates them, but a style which treats partners, investors, and customers as family. Visionary leaders, on the other hand, are not so common.

Entrepreneur 245

Entrepreneur Bootstrapping Angel Investor Differentiation 245

Hippoland

AUGUST 16, 2018

Unless you have a differentiated angle / approach to the problem AND/OR significant traction, an investor won’t be able to understand why you stand out and why to back your horse instead of someone else’s. Note: by differentiation, I’m not talking about product or feature differentiation but outcome differentiation.

Sales Cycle 54

Sales Cycle Differentiation Early Stage Bootstrapping 54

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 29, 2013

If you can’t bootstrap the venture yourself, find a partner, friend, or family member rather than a professional investor to carry some financial weight. Otherwise, look for advances from distributors, vendors, and even future customers. I can’t find any investors in this economy.” I finally realized there is no market for what I do.”

Turkey 252

Turkey Startup Bootstrapping Differentiation 252

Hippoland

AUGUST 16, 2018

Unless you have a differentiated angle / approach to the problem AND/OR significant traction, an investor won’t be able to understand why you stand out and why to back your horse instead of someone else’s. Note: by differentiation, I’m not talking about product or feature differentiation but outcome differentiation.

Sales Cycle 48

Sales Cycle Differentiation Early Stage Bootstrapping 48

Software By Rob

NOVEMBER 15, 2011

I received the following question from a reader: I was wondering if you had any thoughts on cost of customer acquisition for freemium businesses. Our lifetime value of a customer is only around $1 when you factor in a high initial churn and all the free users. Go upmarket or figure out a way to differentiate.

Acquisition 56

Acquisition Customer Bootstrapping Viral 56

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 10, 2011

If you can’t bootstrap the venture yourself, find a partner, friend, or family member rather than a professional investor to carry some financial weight. Otherwise, look for advances from distributors, vendors, and even future customers. I can’t find any investors in this economy.” I finally realized there is no market for what I do.”

Turkey 229

Turkey Startup Bootstrapping Differentiation 229

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2010

If you can’t bootstrap the venture yourself, find a partner, friend, or family member rather than a professional investor to carry some financial weight. Otherwise, look for advances from distributors, vendors, and even future customers. I can’t find any investors in this economy.” I finally realized there is no market for what I do.”

Turkey 239

Turkey Startup Bootstrapping Differentiation 239

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 1, 2015

Image via Flickr by Jupiter Labs Many first-time entrepreneurs find themselves unable to bootstrap their startups, and also unable to find early funding at the venture capital level or even with angel investors. Friends and family are quick to differentiate between a passionate hobby and a sincere effort to change the world.

Sweat Equity 120

Sweat Equity Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Equity 120

Up and Running

DECEMBER 4, 2014

This is true whether you’re a bootstrapped startup that’s funded with credit cards and loans from friends and family, or the next darling of Silicon Valley that’s sitting on a war chest of millions in venture capital funding. As important as having a problem to solve, is having customers that have this problem.

Forecast 152

Forecast Elevator Pitch Lean Silicon Valley 152

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 18, 2010

That process involves rapid hypothesis testing, validated learning about customers , and a disciplined approach to product development. Truth: The Lean Startup methodology applies to all companies that face uncertainty about what customers will want. Myth: Lean Startups are small bootstrapped startups.

Lean 167

Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment Startup 167

BeyondVC

SEPTEMBER 16, 2009

As I dug deeper I found myself thinking about these appliances less from a consumer’s viewpoint and more from a marketing one and appreciating how these various companies could make a commodity product sound so exciting and differentiated. The company had some nice revenue for a bootstrapped operation.

Naming 121

Naming Technology Caching Differentiation 121

ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 14, 2010

I want to know how many customers exist out there who would be likely buyers of the O-Port products, at what price-point, and what does that add up to? David should use his credibility in capacity planning and convince a dozen customers to pay him consulting fees to solve their capacity planning problems. 30 million market?

Bootstrapping 114

Bootstrapping Marketing Angel Investor Silicon Valley 114

ConversionXL

MAY 27, 2022

Bootstrapped startup Omnisend carved out a $19 million niche in an already saturated vertical. A demand generation manager’s responsibilities involve creating and distributing targeted content ( blog posts , podcasts, and thought leadership) that educates potential customers on solving common challenges relevant to their product or industry.

Lead Generation 107

Lead Generation Demand Audience eCommerce 107

ReadWriteStart

APRIL 21, 2011

I presented my usual 1M/1M perspective on bootstrapping. Even if there were fleeting thoughts of being bailed out by investors, they have now been banished and we are focusing on bootstrapping and making the model work with customer money." Convincing them to pay him for consulting will be an uphill battle. StratExcel.

Networking 115

Networking Partner Entrepreneur Bootstrapping 115

Up and Running

DECEMBER 20, 2017

” So get out there and do research on how you can ensure your future customers are happy and satisfied with what you offer them. Funding and differentiating your service or brand will definitely help. Really get to know and understand them. Build a relationship with them. Do this, and you will develop a loyal consumer base.

Las Vegas 144

Las Vegas District of Columbia Colorado North America 144