Bootstrapping a $10M Creative Marketplace: Envato Founder Couple Collis and Cyan Ta’eed (Part 7)

Sramana: What does the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Melbourne look like? Collis Ta’eed: It is a growing ecosystem. I feel that I have seen a tangible growth in the number of businesses here over the years, and we have had some VC funds move in. We have an incubator and an angel fund here. One of

Read Full Article »

Featured Videos

Bootstrapping a $10M Creative Marketplace: Envato Founder Couple Collis and Cyan Ta’eed (Part 6)

Sramana: That is a very common structure now days. Our team is entirely virtual. I find things like Google Docs very helpful for running a virtual team. Cloud computing in general is very beneficial. We use Zoho for our CRM. Everybody who needs an account on those systems can do it from wherever they are.

Read Full Article »

November 29 – 150th Free Mentoring Session From 1M/1M

It is hard to believe that we have been running FREE mentoring sessions for entrepreneurs since 2008, and are holding our 150th 1M/1M roundtable on November 29!   To celebrate and mark this accomplishment, we will be holding a regular working roundtable session with five 1M/1M members. The key area in which 1M/1M has been able to

Read Full Article »

Bootstrapping a $10M Creative Marketplace: Envato Founder Couple Collis and Cyan Ta’eed (Part 5)

Sramana: I have talked to a lot of entrepreneurs who are running exchange marketplace businesses. What you are describing is a phenomenon where people make a living from far away places and I think that aspect of these marketplace business is fantastic. Collis Ta’eed: It is spectacular. I think it is about the Internet empowering

Read Full Article »

Catching Up On Readings: New Philosophies On Internet Security

A recent Wired article by Mat Honan argues that protecting accounts with robust passwords is no longer a viable strategy to Internet security. Honan’s article comes in response to a New York Times piece on protecting yourself against hackers. With data and identity theft increasingly common, it’s a welcome debate. How can individuals best protect

Read Full Article »

Bootstrapping a $10M Creative Marketplace: Envato Founder Couple Collis and Cyan Ta’eed (Part 4)

Sramana: The way you have grown this business is very interesting. Talk to me about content marketing. What kind of proactive content marketing did you do? Collis Ta’eed: Every blog starts at the same place, which is absolutely nowhere. You have no visitors, traffic, or interest. For me the biggest challenge is that you are

Read Full Article »

Seed Capital Using Crowdfunding: Korstiaan Zandvliet, CEO of Symbid, Amsterdam (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: For investors with zero or limited experience in pre-seed or seed investment, what do you do to mitigate their risks? Of course, this is a highly risky business. How do you recommend or help your investors evaluate deals? Korstiaan Zandvliet: I think the second part of the interview addresses risk analysis and risk

Read Full Article »

Bootstrapping a $10M Creative Marketplace: Envato Founder Couple Collis and Cyan Ta’eed (Part 3)

Sramana: What were some of your early benchmark numbers? Collis Ta’eed: It took us six months to build the site. The first night we sold $10. I was disappointed at the time, but looking back I am impressed that we sold something our first day. As a new entrepreneur, I had the idea that the

Read Full Article »