Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 21, 2023

How do you convince investors that your business model will really work, before you have a revenue stream that exceeds your expenses? Even if you are bootstrapping your business, and you are the only investor, you should be asking yourself the same question. Plan for a real revenue model.

Business Model 273

Business Model Customer Angel Investor Bootstrapping 273

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. Yet, I find that startup founders often fixate on one or two sources, often to the detriment of their business. Partner with distributor or beneficiary.

Technical Review 257

Technical Review Bootstrapping Venture Capital Incubator 257

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 15, 2014

Based on the Startup Environment Index from the Kauffman Foundation and LegalZoom a while back, personal money, or bootstrapping, continues to be the primary startup funding source. At least wait until later, when you ready to scale, and have some “leverage” based on a proven business model, some real customers, and real revenue.

Bootstrapping 276

Bootstrapping Entrepreneur Startup Burn Rate 276

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2021

How do you convince investors that your business model will really work, before you have a revenue stream that exceeds your expenses? Even if you are bootstrapping your business, and you are the only investor, you should be asking yourself the same question. Plan for a real revenue model.

Business Model 414

Business Model Angel Investor Bootstrapping Revenue 414

SoCal CTO

NOVEMBER 1, 2010

I had a recent email dialog with the founder of a company looking for a CTO for their startup. And I tried to evaluate the idea and figure out: What did the founder really need here? Was it a Startup Founder Developer Gap ? And do I fit as a Part-Time CTO , Technology Advisor , CTO Founder , Acting CTO ?

Technical Cofounder 241

Technical Cofounder CTO Hire Equity Sweat Equity 241

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 19, 2021

If you can find a partner who has deep domain knowledge and a track record of building businesses, I can assure you that your luck will improve. Your five-year revenue projections better reach at least $20M, but should not exceed Google’s actual revenues of $3B in the fifth year. Inexperienced team. More rules of thumb.

Intellectual Property 429

Intellectual Property Bootstrapping Venture Capital Revenue 429

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. Yet, I find that startup founders often fixate on one or two sources, often to the detriment of their business. Partner with distributor or beneficiary.

Technical Review 233

Technical Review Bootstrapping Startup Venture Capital 233

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. He is also the co-founder of Traction, a community empowering over 100k innovators through connections, content, and capital. He is the co-founder of Boast.ai Then another time was when we were bootstrapping both.

Community 53

Community Kuwait Cofounder Bootstrapping 53

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 19, 2015

That’s why I recommend that they find a co-founder who loves business challenges, including marketing and finance. Thus it’s a waste of time for most entrepreneurs to be looking for investors until they have a product and some customer revenue. Most founders bootstrap product development.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Intellectual Property Cofounder Bootstrapping 120

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. Yet, I find that startup founders often fixate on one or two sources, often to the detriment of their business. Partner with distributor or beneficiary.

Technical Review 164

Technical Review Bootstrapping Venture Capital Incubator 164

Austin Startup

JUNE 26, 2019

Many people have reached out sharing knowing and kind words about our journey and choice to wind down our venture, as well as their appreciation for my choice to pull back the curtain on what is statistically a common road for many founders. It details a landscape founders like me are excited to sink their teeth into? Of course not!

Silicon Valley 54

Silicon Valley Startup B2C Sweat Equity 54

Gust

DECEMBER 7, 2014

Based on the Startup Environment Index from the Kauffman Foundation and LegalZoom a while back, personal money, or bootstrapping, continues to be the primary startup funding source. At least wait until later, when you ready to scale, and have some “leverage” based on a proven business model, some real customers, and real revenue.

Bootstrapping 191

Bootstrapping Entrepreneur Startup Burn Rate 191

rapidrollout.wordpress.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Web Startup Lessons Advice from a CTO and Entrepreneur Home About Finding a Technical Partner for Your Startup Today I received an inquiry from a student at an Ivy League university who wants to launch a web startup. You can find a technologist to join you as a partner, for half of the company’s equity.

Technical Review 40

Technical Review Fractional CTO Partner CTO Hire 40

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. Yet, I find that startup founders often fixate on one or two sources, often to the detriment of their business. Partner with beneficiary company. Friends and family.

Technical Review 149

Technical Review Bootstrapping Startup Venture Capital 149

Duct Tape Marketing

FEBRUARY 20, 2024

Jason also serves on the board of the Future Founders Foundation, a Chicago-based organization that empowers the next generation of business leaders and entrepreneurs. He is the founder and CEO of ActiveCampaign. He is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) and The Economic Club of Chicago. This is John Jantsch.

Chicago 49

Chicago Campaign Software Review Software Engineering 49

ConversionXL

MARCH 31, 2021

For example, here’s how we’d describe a segment of the app development agency’s audience: Existing Startup Founder: Sometimes, founders will already have an MVP or prototype. Cash flow is a matter of life or death when bootstrapped and pre-funding. What are the primary and secondary goals you’re aiming to achieve?

Audience 127

Audience Non-Compete Distribution Channel 127

www.readwriteweb.com

OCTOBER 7, 2007

This is typically called “bootstrapping&# and it is fraught with potential pitfalls and dangers. But when done well it can really help get a company going fast, professionally and without the founders having to give up much (if any) equity - or bankrupting themselves. What is bootstrapping? Why bootstrap?

Bootstrapping 41

Bootstrapping Offshore Startup EC2 41

David Teten

AUGUST 20, 2019

I’ve been a traditional equity VC for 8 years, and I’m now researching Revenue-Based Investing and other new approaches to VC. The question I’m asking myself: should a new VC fund use Revenue-Based Investing, traditional equity VC, or possibly both (likely from two separate pools of capital)? Greater transparency to limited partners.

Revenue 60

Revenue SBIC Cofounder Venture Capital 60

Austin Startup

NOVEMBER 15, 2019

Capital Factory’s Saturday Startup Spotlight series returns this week with the Founder and CEO of ROBOAMP : Roberto Inetti. They offer improved SEO, maximized revenue and ROI with ads and landing pages, higher performance, and richer UX— all while providing flexibility and major results. Who would you like to meet?

Startup 57

Startup Dallas Email Austin 57

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 29, 2020

In other words, you must start bootstrapping an online startup , because the future of the global business world is online. Before we look at ways to bootstrap a startup, let’s consider a comprehensive definition of what a startup is. Ways to bootstrap a startup. Partner with a professional business services company.

Bootstrapping 85

Bootstrapping Global Startup Hungary 85

Up and Running

JUNE 4, 2018

It’s easier to bootstrap. Bootstrapping your business , which involves self-funding everything as you go along, without resorting to raising money from anywhere else, keeps you in complete control of your company. These include: 1. Michael Dell was loaned money by his family. You can leverage your student network.

Bootstrapping 66

Bootstrapping Colorado Internet Software Review 66

K9 Ventures

SEPTEMBER 24, 2009

In the past few days there has been a lot of discussion on the topic of a Founders Visa. The credit for starting this fire goes to Paul Graham from Y Combinator , who wrote a great essay titled The Founders Visa in April 2009. As an immigrant founder, this is a topic that I can relate to and care about.

United States 114

United States Founder India Venture Capital 114

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

Gust

JUNE 19, 2012

Tim Berry , Founder, Palo Alto Software. 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. Martin Zwilling , Founder and CEO, Startup Professionals. Tim Berry , Founder, Palo Alto Software. June 19th, 2012.

Startup 180

Startup Forecast Angel Investor Software 180

Up and Running

DECEMBER 29, 2015

And a team or two or three people, who have backgrounds that indicate they can do what they have to do, is better than a single founder. I’ve seen many cases in which startup founders didn’t ask why their deal was rejected, or responded to early feelers wanting to argue back. Think about bootstrapping. Just know what it’s like.

Bootstrapping 92

Bootstrapping Intellectual Property Venture Capital Angel Investor 92

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

In fact, SaaS industry revenue is projected to grow from $49 billion in 2015 to $67 billion in 2018, a compound annual growth rate of approximately eight percent. We created UpKeep to fill this void—a cloud-based solution that was affordable for any size business.” – Ryan Chan, founder of UpKeep. The business model.

Software Review 74

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast 74

ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 6, 2011

Sramana Mitra is the founder of the One Million by One Million (1M/1M) initiative, an educational, business development and incubation program that aims to help one million entrepreneurs globally to reach $1 million in revenue and beyond. She is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and strategy consultant.

Silicon Valley 118

Silicon Valley India San Francisco Entrepreneur 118

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 15, 2020

The founders of Frontline Foods are three of these people. Ryan Sarver was a partner at venture capital firm Redpoint. Frontline Foods has now partnered with World Central Kitchen. I am one of the original organizers of Frontline Foods and prior to this had spent six years as a general partner at RedPoint Ventures.

San Francisco 68

San Francisco Founder Community Software Review 68

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2015

Yet many entrepreneurs rely on expensive outside services and outside money, rather than do the networking for a co-founder or two who have the right skills to work for equity. Bootstrapping not only reduces cash needs, but increases commitment. The need to hire staff immediately. A desire to roll out on a massive scale.

Bootstrapping 120

Bootstrapping Cofounder Equity Agile 120

Austin Startup

MARCH 20, 2018

My co-founder, Jason Novek, and I got into Y Combinator when there were 27 total companies in the batch and only four YC partners in existence. Besides, getting into Y Combinator is easy: just be wicked smart, create a beautiful product, get millions of users, and build a revenue stream that grows 20% every month.

Cofounder 48

Cofounder Texas Video Software Review 48

crowdSPRING Blog

DECEMBER 7, 2012

Attention founders: Here’s how you respond to an unfair post about your company - [link]. Questions to Ask Potential Cofounders: The Master List | Founder Dating - [link]. The Series A Crunch: One More Reason to Bootstrap and Skip Venture Capital | Enterprise Irregulars - [link]. What Makes People Happy? Have we even noticed?

Social Media 104

Social Media Small Business Design Media 104

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 26, 2018

As an advisor to many new venture founders, I often hear their frustration at being told by investors “I love your idea, but come back when you have more traction.” The intent is to indicate that founder passion is not a substitute for real customers buying the product. Build a realistic revenue model and price, based on cost.

Angel Investor 147

Angel Investor Distribution Bootstrapping Viral 147

The Startup Magazine

SEPTEMBER 12, 2019

Tempted by large sums of money and the perceived validation that comes along with being funded, founders turn to venture capitalists to accelerate their company’s growth. Founders don’t have that luxury — for founders like me, the consequences of failure are more dire. This is why I made the decision to bootstrap HighRadius.

Early Stage 85

Early Stage Venture Capital Bootstrapping Pre-Money Valuation 85

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. Today, Goldstar works directly with 4,000 venue partners to connect them with their huge and growing audience. Startup #1: Goldstar. The company has over 1.5 Startup #3: Litmus. How’d they do it?

Bootstrapping 78

Bootstrapping Startup Cofounder Salary 78

The Next Web

AUGUST 14, 2013

This is a guest post by Wade Foster , co-founder and CEO of Zapier, which originally appeared on his blog. But since I’m relatively fresh off of the experience I get asked by first-time founders how they should go about raising money for their startup. Usually those aren’t first-time founders though.

Founder 142

Founder Incubator Cofounder Accredited Investor 142

Rob Go

DECEMBER 28, 2011

Still led by its founder, Steve Kaufer. 61M in Q3 revenue, up 28% YoY. The company is expected to do around $500M in revenue in 2011 and has seen 50%+ growth YoY the past two years. The company also never raised any previous financing, and is one of the great bootstrapped success stories out there. IPO’s/Exits.

Technical Review 54

Technical Review Boston Software Review IPO 54

Duct Tape Marketing

NOVEMBER 3, 2022

Carolyn serves as the co-founder and CEO of Hello Alice. She serves as the co-founder and CEO of Hello Alice. It's a three day accelerator that brings owners through how do you grow revenues. Everybody's so bootstrapped and so tight on dollars. Marketing Podcast with Carolyn Rodz. But the reality is the majority don't.

Entrepreneur 80

Entrepreneur Technical Review Networking Community 80