Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 14, 2014

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.

Entrepreneur 283

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 283

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2017

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.

Product Development 177

Product Development Cost Developer Product 177

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

Consider the consequences of these monthly pricing possibilities: $0/mo means your goal is to maximize growth (trust and usage) instead of revenue. Marketing and sales spend is nil, so there has to be a reason it spreads by word of mouth, ideally virally as a natural result of using the product itself. $10/mo Think: GoDaddy).

Bootstrapping 294

Bootstrapping Technical Review B2C Sales Cycle 294

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. After bootstrapping, friends and family are the most common funding sources for early-stage startups.

Intellectual Property 134

Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 134

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. Don’t think about the exit. Marty Zwilling.

Bootstrapping 278

Bootstrapping Startup Merger Salary 278

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. Forecast sales-volume expectations. Doubling revenue each year is a good target. Quantify overhead costs.

Forecast 290

Forecast Burn Rate Widget Business Plan 290

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

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. After bootstrapping, friends and family are the most common funding sources for early-stage startups.

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Technical Review Incubator 120

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

APRIL 29, 2013

” Easy for them to say, but what about a bootstrapped, profit-driven business? ignoring indirect costs) or saying they’ll “fix that later” by raising prices, finding other channels of revenue. Profit-seeking bootstrapped companies cannot afford those delusions. ” Here’s my way.

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. Instead of funding, you pay the investors a structured royalty, which is a portion of the sales. Bootstrapping. I always recommend that you start with bootstrapping.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

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

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

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. c) Selling more to existing customers.

Technical Review 100

Technical Review Software Review South Carolina Startup 100

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. Image via Flickr from Food For Thought album.

Bootstrapping 176

Bootstrapping Startup Merger Salary 176

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 31, 2018

Here are some tips for bootstrapping your business. There are subscription services like this for email, sales planning, CRM, project management, accounting and cloud storage. Write down every penny you have to invest and calculate both your expenses and expected revenue for the next six months. Work in a Spare Room.

Software Review 168

Software Review Cloud Social Media Bootstrapping 168

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. Forecast sales-volume expectations. Doubling revenue each year is a good target. Quantify overhead costs.

Forecast 369

Forecast Burn Rate Startup Widget 369

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

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

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

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

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

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. Write down the key elements of your business plan very early, and keep it current as things evolve.

Startup 187

Startup Institutional Investors Angel Investor Bootstrapping 187

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. Practice your sales skills early. Choose a business model to optimize your revenue flow and timing.

Bootstrapping 120

Bootstrapping Social Media Equity eCommerce 120

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. Don’t think about the exit. 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? Whether it’s through bootstrapping, seeking angel investors, or applying for grants, explore all options available to you. Securing funding can also be a critical step for your venture.

Intellectual Property 131

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Business Model Bootstrapping 131

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. I asked their chief revenue officer, how do you do attribution on this community?

Community 54

Community Kuwait Cofounder Bootstrapping 54

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

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. We see Bizosys as a promising niche vendor with demonstrated capabilities in creative bootstrapping. RightNow's per agent price starts at $110 per agent per month.

India 123

India Bootstrapping Non-Compete Entrepreneur 123

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.

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Technical Review Social Media Bootstrapping 126

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 104

Sales Startup Bootstrapping B2B 104

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2021

Unfortunately, most of us don’t have enough resources to bootstrap our own startups, so we are completely dependent on investors to help turn great ideas into great businesses. They need to believe your valuation, based on current revenue and intellectual property, and feel the equity offered gives them a real return for the risk.

Intellectual Property 352

Intellectual Property Equity Bootstrapping Valuation 352

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

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

Tim Keane

MARCH 9, 2011

How to prepare a sales forecast for a business plan » March 09, 2011. Can you bootstrap your way to positive cash flow?   If the answer is relatively soon, then bootstrapping is a very serious consideration.  In other words, the need for acceleration isn’t in conflict with bootstrapping – it is step two. 

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

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]. OK, so what can you do to rise above the cacophony that is the Internet? Here come a few ideas; leave more and discuss in the comments ! Advertising ??

Software Review 261

Software Review Technical Review Viral Software Developers 261