Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 11, 2011

Finding that person is not a hiring challenge, since neither of you really get paid until you both succeed. 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.

Technical Review 236

Technical Review Partner Entrepreneur Architecture 236

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. Hire experts, not help.

Bootstrapping 240

Bootstrapping Merger Salary .Net 240

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2012

Finding that person is not a hiring challenge, since neither of you really get paid until you both succeed. 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.

Technical Review 230

Technical Review Technology Founder Management 230

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 13, 2012

There is so much written these days about how to attract investors that most entrepreneurs “assume” they need funding, and don’t even consider a plan for “bootstrapping,” or self-financing their startup. Maybe that’s why bootstrapped startups are the norm, rather than externally funded ones. Need expensive resources up front.

Sweat Equity 239

Sweat Equity Technical Review Bootstrapping Equity 239

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 30, 2017

Unless you are happy with bootstrapping your new business, I recommend that you ignore conventional funding myths, and first seek investors who share your goals and values. Prepare to spend as much as 80 percent of your time for a couple of months looking for and following up with investors.

Technical Review 220

Technical Review Accredited Investor Due Diligence Equity 220

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

There is so much written these days about how to attract investors that most entrepreneurs “assume” they need funding, and don’t even consider a plan for “bootstrapping,” or self-financing their startup. Maybe that’s why bootstrapped startups are the norm, rather than externally funded ones. Need expensive resources up front.

Sweat Equity 255

Sweat Equity Technical Review Entrepreneur Bootstrapping 255

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 21, 2023

Even if you are bootstrapping your business, and you are the only investor, you should be asking yourself the same question. Don’t assume that only customer-facing employees need to understand sales, and that these people can be hired and trained at the last minute. Everyone must be part of the sales process.

Business Model 273

Business Model Customer Angel Investor Bootstrapping 273

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 5, 2023

The alternative is to work with an innovation institute to evaluate your technology, or hire a consultant. Obviously, if you bootstrap your business, you can avoid all the investment implications, but you still need a business plan and professional support. If you need money now, is has to come from friends and family.

Incubator 305

Incubator Startup Exit Strategy Institutional Investors 305

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2023

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. Hire an attorney to make sure the terms are fair. Their only recourse is that first tier of investors, fondly called Friends, Family and Fools.

Sweat Equity 274

Sweat Equity Elevator Pitch Startup Equity 274

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 14, 2023

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. So you made some bad hiring or partner decisions. So hang in there and get busy. “I I can’t find any trustworthy investors these days.”

Bootstrapping 339

Bootstrapping Business Model Social Media Partner 339

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2023

You are now entering the rollout stage , with money required for marketing, hiring a full-time team, and a production process. If you want to avoid all these stage and investment considerations, you can always bootstrap the business (fund it yourself, and grow organically). Don’t sign up for one, expecting the other.

Angel Investor 313

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 313

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 18, 2018

The rest can come from early hires (with stock options to assure commitment), equity investors, or even strategic partners. Or you can always bootstrap the idea yourself, get some traction, and build your first startup organically. Outsourcing any of these critical roles is very expensive, and usually not very effective.

Technical Cofounder 144

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Advisory Board Startup 144

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2021

Even if you are bootstrapping your business, and you are the only investor, you should be asking yourself the same question. Don’t assume that only customer-facing employees need to understand sales, and that these people can be hired and trained at the last minute. Everyone must be part of the sales process.

Business Model 414

Business Model Angel Investor Bootstrapping Revenue 414

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2020

The alternative is to work with an innovation institute to evaluate your technology, or hire a consultant. Obviously, if you bootstrap your business, you can avoid all the investment implications, but you still need a business plan and professional support. If you need money now, is has to come from friends and family.

Incubator 429

Incubator Startup Exit Strategy Institutional Investors 429

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 11, 2014

The rest can come from early hires (with stock options to assure commitment), equity investors, or even strategic partners. Or you can always bootstrap the idea yourself, get some traction, and build your first startup organically. Outsourcing any of these critical roles is very expensive, and usually not very effective.

Technical Cofounder 245

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Advisory Board Startup 245

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2022

Are you going to bootstrap, or borrow from personal assets? Hire a bookkeeper or setup a QuickBooks chart of accounts on your first day in business. Assume that raising money from investors to get started will be difficult, unless you have a track record in business, or friends with deep pockets. Pretend your family doesn’t matter.

Early Stage 307

Early Stage Bootstrapping Revenue Framework 307

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 26, 2021

When determining your walk-away position, you need to understand your best alternative to agreement, and have a Plan-B (bootstrapping, competing investor, or more time). If you are the least experienced person around the negotiating table, it’s time to hire a great lawyer to help balance things out.

Term Sheet 328

Term Sheet Bootstrapping Finance Startup 328

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. Hire experts, not help.

Equity 241

Equity Bootstrapping Startup Merger 241

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. Hire an attorney to make sure the terms are fair. Their only recourse is that first tier of investors, fondly called Friends, Family and Fools.

Sweat Equity 346

Sweat Equity Elevator Pitch Equity Venture Capital 346

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 16, 2016

They may decide to acquire the startup in order to hire the team for another project in their portfolio. Sometimes investors are very impressed with the skills and expertise of a startup team but are not so impressed with the business potential of the current idea. These deals usually come with retention packages -- so be careful.

Software Review 120

Software Review Sweat Equity Accredited Investor Angel Investor 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 22, 2020

You are now entering the rollout stage , with money required for marketing, hiring a full-time team, and a production process. If you want to avoid all these stage and investment considerations, you can always bootstrap the business (fund it yourself, and grow organically). Don’t sign up for one, expecting the other.

Angel Investor 370

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 370

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2015

The rest can come from early hires (with stock options to assure commitment), equity investors, or even strategic partners. Or you can always bootstrap the idea yourself, get some traction, and build your first startup organically. Outsourcing any of these critical roles is very expensive, and usually not very effective.

Technical Cofounder 120

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Advisory Board Stock Options 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 18, 2020

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. So you made some bad hiring or partner decisions. So hang in there and get busy. “I I can’t find any trustworthy investors these days.”

Entrepreneur 304

Entrepreneur Bootstrapping Business Model Social Media 304

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. Demonstrate an understanding of business operation realities.

Liquidity Event 308

Liquidity Event Forecast Exit Strategy Bootstrapping 308

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 30, 2019

Are you going to bootstrap, or borrow from personal assets? Hire a bookkeeper or setup a QuickBooks chart of accounts on your first day in business. Assume that raising money from investors to get started will be difficult, unless you have a track record in business, or friends with deep pockets. Pretend your family doesn’t matter.

Early Stage 317

Early Stage Bootstrapping Framework Revenue 317

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 28, 2018

The alternative is to work with an innovation institute to evaluate your technology, or hire a consultant. Obviously, if you bootstrap your business, you can avoid all the investment implications, but you still need a business plan and professional support. If you need money now, is has to come from friends and family.

Incubator 236

Incubator Exit Strategy Institutional Investors Angel Investor 236

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 9, 2015

Bootstrapping not only reduces cash needs, but increases commitment. The need to hire staff immediately. Hitting a broad market initially with multiple fully-featured products and a huge marketing campaign is a recipe for disaster that bootstrapped startups never try.

Bootstrapping 120

Bootstrapping Cofounder Equity Agile 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 17, 2019

When determining your walk-away position, you need to understand your best alternative to agreement, and have a Plan-B (bootstrapping, competing investor, or more time). If you are the least experienced person around the negotiating table, it’s time to hire a great lawyer to help balance things out.

Term Sheet 201

Term Sheet Bootstrapping Finance Reputation 201

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2018

You are now entering the rollout stage , with money required for marketing, hiring a full-time team, and a production process. If you want to avoid all these stage and investment considerations, you can always bootstrap the business (fund it yourself, and grow organically). Don’t sign up for one, expecting the other.

Angel Investor 184

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 184

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 6, 2012

Starting your business with a very low investment is called “bootstrapping,” and these entrepreneurs usually have the most fun. Don’t hire any employees. They retain full control of their business, they don’t have an investor “boss” second-guessing their every move, and they don’t have to spend months begging for money.

Bootstrapping 236

Bootstrapping Bandwidth Equity Startup 236

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2014

Unless you are bootstrapping everything, you need to have a clear plan on what networking and documents are required to get to friends and family, Angel investors, and institutional investors. At this stage, you should start recruiting, hiring, paying, and training others to help you run your business. Funding process.

Startup 268

Startup Institutional Investors Angel Investor Bootstrapping 268

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 26, 2018

Even if you are funding the project yourself (bootstrapping), you should be asking yourself the same question before you have burned all your resources. Don’t assume that customer-facing employees can be hired and trained at the last minute. Pivoting early, based on real customer feedback, is always cheaper than later.

Angel Investor 147

Angel Investor Distribution Bootstrapping Viral 147

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 15, 2018

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. So you made some bad hiring or partner decisions. So hang in there and get busy. “I I can’t find any trustworthy investors these days.”

Bootstrapping 141

Bootstrapping Business Model Social Media Partner 141

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 10, 2014

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. So you made some bad hiring or partner decisions. So hang in there and get busy. “I I can’t find any trustworthy investors these days.”

Startup 275

Startup Bootstrapping Business Model Social Media 275

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 15, 2013

The alternative is to work with an innovation institute to evaluate your technology, or hire a consultant. Obviously, if you bootstrap your business, you can avoid all the investment implications, but you still need a business plan and professional support. If you need money now, is has to come from friends and family.

Incubator 256

Incubator Entrepreneur Exit Strategy Institutional Investors 256

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 7, 2018

Are you going to bootstrap, or borrow from personal assets? Hire a bookkeeper or setup a QuickBooks chart of accounts on your first day in business. Assume that raising money from investors to get started will be difficult, unless you have a track record in business, or friends with deep pockets. Pretend your family doesn’t matter.

Early Stage 158

Early Stage Bootstrapping Framework Revenue 158

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 7, 2014

Are you going to bootstrap, or borrow from personal assets? Hire a bookkeeper or setup a QuickBooks chart of accounts on your first day in business. Assume that raising money from investors to get started will be difficult, unless you have a track record in business, or friends with deep pockets. Pretend your family doesn’t matter.

Entrepreneur 265

Entrepreneur Early Stage Bootstrapping Framework 265