ReadWriteStart

FEBRUARY 18, 2020

Instead, knowing how to bootstrap your startup might be a better option. How to Bootstrap Your Startup. When you bootstrap your startup, you retain full control of the new business. If bootstrapping is right for your small business, the following tips can help you through the process.

Bootstrapping 145

Bootstrapping Startup Cofounder Angel Investor 145

SoCal CTO

MAY 21, 2012

So, here goes: Dr. Tony Karrer Over the past 15 years, Tony has been a part-time CTO for more than 30 startups. Select Startup CTO Speaking Topics Ten Lessons from Working on 30+ Startups Over the Past 15 Years Tony looks back over his experience working with startups and extracts elements that have led to success or failure.

Fractional CTO 175

Fractional CTO CTO Hire Startup Social Network 175

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 9, 2020

In my years of advising startups and occasional investing, I’ve seen many great ideas start and fail, but the right team always seems to make good things happen, even without the ultimate idea. You need to have a technical genius on the team to get your startup product off the ground. Outsourcing your core competency does not work.

Technical Cofounder 308

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Advisory Board Stock Options 308

SoCal CTO

MARCH 12, 2012

I've recently received several emails from people looking for a technical cofounder for their startup. Make sure you go through the 32 Questions Developers May Have Forgot to Ask a Startup Founder. You should definitely hit up the Startup Weekend events as well. And look at StartupDigest.com for lots of startup oriented events.

Technical Cofounder 211

Technical Cofounder Cofounder CTO Hire Los Angeles 211

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2023

It’s more possible to bootstrap today than a few years ago, as the cost of entry continues to go down. The key to successful bootstrapping is to master the do-it-yourself approach, defer compensation or barter services whenever possible and become a frugal minimalist in all things requiring a cash outlay.

Equity 349

Equity Hockey Stick Bootstrapping Sweat Equity 349

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 14, 2014

Don’t expect that you can create a new social networking site in your garage, and steal all the users away from Facebook. Fund-it-yourself (bootstrapping) and do-it-yourself entrepreneurs are the best kind, because they can focus on the business, rather than fundraising, and have full control of their destiny.

Startup 252

Startup eCommerce Hosting Bootstrapping 252

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 16, 2011

Money to build the business is the number one challenge for most startups. A large percentage of startups never apply to either. You need to explore more common and more productive approaches for getting your startup moving forward. Self-funding is the preferred source of cash for your startup – if you can do it.

Technical Review 233

Technical Review Bootstrapping Startup Venture Capital 233

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 18, 2018

In my years of advising startups and occasional investing, I’ve seen many great ideas start and fail, but the right team always seems to make good things happen, even without the ultimate idea. You need to have a technical genius on the team to get your startup product off the ground. Outsourcing your core competency does not work.

Technical Cofounder 144

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Advisory Board Startup 144

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 11, 2014

In my years of advising startups and occasional investing, I’ve seen many great ideas start and fail, but the right team always seems to make good things happen, even without the ultimate idea. You need to have a technical genius on the team to get your startup product off the ground. Outsourcing your core competency does not work.

Technical Cofounder 245

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Advisory Board Startup 245

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. Reinvest gross profit. Do it yourself.

Bootstrapping 176

Bootstrapping Startup Merger Salary 176

YoungUpstarts

MAY 6, 2019

by Arsalan Sajid, startup community manager at Cloudways. Life is not a box of chocolates and startups are not always easy to start. There is a complete process that governs the startup lifecycle including inception to exit. This startup stage starts from the day you decide to work on a startup idea. Early Stage.

Startup 113

Startup Technical Cofounder Merger Early Stage 113

Gust

APRIL 27, 2014

Even when your startup is a one-man show and lots of fun, a “business” needs some discipline and controls to keep it from being defined as a hobby by investors, and assure some financial return. Here are eight key business tasks that relate to almost every startup, generally prioritized by criticality. Funding process.

Startup 187

Startup Institutional Investors Angel Investor Bootstrapping 187

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 21, 2023

In general, this won’t happen for a new startup unless you have a good credit history, or existing assets that you are willing to put at-risk for collateral. Trade equity or services for startup help. Join a startup incubator or accelerator. This is the primary source of non-personal funds for very early-stage startups.

Equity 266

Equity Startup Small Business Administration SBA 266

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 18, 2020

It’s more possible to bootstrap today than a few years ago, as the cost of entry continues to go down. The key to successful bootstrapping is to master the do-it-yourself approach, defer compensation or barter services whenever possible and become a frugal minimalist in all things requiring a cash outlay.

Hockey Stick 423

Hockey Stick Bootstrapping Sweat Equity Intellectual Property 423

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2022

Most entrepreneurs struggle with many startup founders quandaries in building their business, and these key dilemmas are probably the biggest source of pain and failure for the entrepreneur lifestyle. Bootstrap if you can, otherwise climb the pyramid of family, friends, angels, and VCs. Otherwise exit and startup with another idea.

Founder 325

Founder Hockey Stick Cofounder Liquidity Event 325

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 25, 2012

Money to build the business is the number one challenge for most startups. A large percentage of startups never apply to either. You need to explore more common and more productive approaches for getting your startup moving forward. Self-funding is the preferred source of cash for your startup – if you can do it.

Technical Review 257

Technical Review Bootstrapping Venture Capital Incubator 257

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2016

Yet everyone has limits, and every investor implicitly has similar limits on what makes a startup investable, or one to avoid at all costs. Here is my perspective on the highest risk elements, from my years of working with investors and watching startups come and go: All the co-founders are first-time entrepreneurs.

New York City 120

New York City Silicon Valley Startup Bootstrapping 120

VC Cafe

MAY 4, 2021

Clubhouse was the trailblazer, but it sparked a huge interest in the category from established social networks, new startups and even the open source community. While Clubhouse is the most popular of this lot, several new startups are vying to be the place where the conversation happens. Bootstrapped. Open Source.

Audio 140

Audio Software Review Open Source Social Network 140

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 22, 2018

Yet everyone has limits, and every investor implicitly has similar limits on what makes a startup investable, or one to avoid at all costs. Here is my perspective on the highest risk elements, from my years of working with investors and watching startups come and go: All the co-founders are first-time entrepreneurs.

New York City 202

New York City Silicon Valley Bootstrapping Technical Review 202

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 1, 2010

Money to build the business is the number one challenge for most startups. In reality, there are multiple more productive approaches you should explore in getting your startup moving forward. Yet, I find that startup founders often fixate on one or two sources, often to the detriment of their business. Startup incubators.

Technical Review 149

Technical Review Bootstrapping Startup Venture Capital 149

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 18, 2011

Don’t expect that you can create a new social networking site in your garage, and steal all the users away from Facebook. Fund it yourself (bootstrapping) and do-it-yourself entrepreneurs are the best kind, because they can focus on the business, rather than fund raising, and have full control of their destiny.

Hosting 248

Hosting Bootstrapping .Net Social Network 248

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 22, 2020

Luckily, not all investors are looking for the same thing, so it pays to know what type of investors are most interested in what your startup brings to the table. The key is understanding how potential investors see you, and especially how they view the maturity stage of your startup. 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 16, 2010

Don’t expect that you can create a new social networking site in your garage, and steal all the users away from Facebook. Fund it yourself (bootstrapping) and do it yourself entrepreneurs are the best kind, because they can focus on the business, rather than fund raising, and have full control of their destiny. Marty Zwilling.

Cost 220

Cost Startup Hosting Bootstrapping 220

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 6, 2016

It’s more possible to bootstrap today than a few years ago, as the cost of entry continues to go down. The key to successful bootstrapping is to master the do-it-yourself approach, defer compensation or barter services whenever possible and become a frugal minimalist in all things requiring a cash outlay.

Bootstrapping 120

Bootstrapping Hockey Stick Sweat Equity Intellectual Property 120

www.readwriteweb.com

OCTOBER 7, 2007

This is typically called “bootstrapping&# and it is fraught with potential pitfalls and dangers. Over the next 5-6 posts I‚Äôll outline the process which I‚Äôve now followed at several corporates and which I‚Äôve honed to work with my own startup, Aroxo. What is bootstrapping? So, what does it mean to bootstrap a company?

Bootstrapping 41

Bootstrapping Offshore Startup EC2 41

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 8, 2014

Yet everyone has limits, and every investor implicitly has similar limits on what makes a startup investable, or one to avoid at all costs. Here is my perspective on the highest risk elements, from my years of working with investors and watching startups come and go: All the co-founders are first-time entrepreneurs.

New York City 254

New York City Silicon Valley Bootstrapping Technical Review 254

Up and Running

JULY 10, 2017

You can have all traction in the world—acquire, activate, and retain users, but until your startup earns money, you are doing charity work, not running a business. Even if you are just starting to consider building a SaaS startup , you’ve probably used products with either freemium pricing or a free trial. Choose wisely.

Startup 110

Startup Non-Compete Viral Software Review 110

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 16, 2018

These are some of the ways to bootstrap a business from your basement: Find your Passion. Most people think of bootstrapping a business in their basement and immediately quit their day jobs. Entrepreneurs always value networking as it is the primary step that helps their business to grow. Plan Consciously.

Bootstrapping 100

Bootstrapping Advertising Employee Community 100

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. Reinvest gross profit. Do it yourself.

Bootstrapping 240

Bootstrapping Merger Salary .Net 240

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2023

Luckily, not all investors are looking for the same thing, so it pays to know what type of investors are most interested in what your startup brings to the table. The key is understanding how potential investors see you, and especially how they view the maturity stage of your startup. Don’t sign up for one, expecting the other.

Angel Investor 313

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Investment Bankers Private Equity 313

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

Gust

JUNE 17, 2012

Money to build the business is the number one challenge for most startups. A large percentage of startups never apply to either. You need to explore more common and more productive approaches for getting your startup moving forward. Self-funding is the preferred source of cash for your startup – if you can do it.

Technical Review 164

Technical Review Bootstrapping Venture Capital Incubator 164

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 30, 2023

In my own experience with technical startup founders, I still find it hard to name one who was also good, or even interested in financials or business operations. You need a dedicated team, gleaned from your network of informal connections between family members, friends, and individual relationships with other professionals.

Technical Review 373

Technical Review Software Review Due Diligence Entrepreneur 373

YoungUpstarts

MAY 28, 2014

In other words, you have done wonders while “bootstrapping.” Things like winning startup competitions, getting selected to a startup incubator, partnering with a large company, are all good ways to show traction and some proof that you’re creating value. Social networking is so last year.

Security 200

Security Incubator Technical Review Bootstrapping 200

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2023

Based on my own experience as a mentor and angel investor, I find that as many as ninety percent of startups fail in the first five years, despite their best efforts. By far, the majority of new businesses I know are self-funding (bootstrapped) from your own savings and prior assets.

Intellectual Property 245

Intellectual Property Social Media Angel Investor Metrics 245

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 22, 2020

A popular myth that most of you probably believe is that startups are only for the younger generations. Based on my own years of experience in big businesses, as well as startups, this is no surprise to me. It takes time to build networks, know-how, and the leadership skills to chart a successful path and mobilize others around you.

Bootstrapping 324

Bootstrapping Angel Investor Entrepreneur Leadership 324

Eric Friedman

FEBRUARY 7, 2023

Photo by Thomas Park on Unsplash In 2020, Marc Andreessen published a profound essay in response to the COVID-19 pandemic that became a rallying cry for startups called; It’s Time To Build. By working on their projects and companies, engineers have the creative and mental energy to dive into a team’s startup with ease.

Engineer 78

Engineer United States Software Engineering Bootstrapping 78