The Startup Velocity Question: What Hinders Acceleration in VC Funded Companies?

I have been running 1Mby1M since 2010. I find myself saying to entrepreneurs ad nauseam that VCs want to invest in startups that can go from zero to $100 million in revenue in 5 to 7 years.

Startups that do not have what it takes to achieve velocity should not be venture funded.

Experienced VCs, over time, have developed heuristics to gauge what constitutes a high growth venture investment thesis. 

1Mby1M Udemy Courses with Sramana Mitra: Bootstrapping

Over the course of two years, we have released over 70 courses on Udemy with the aim to democratize entrepreneurship education at scale globally. This series of posts aims to help you find the one you need easily and provide you with discount coupons.

Bootstrapping to Exit, Then Raise Money and Exit Again: Wendy CEO Lance Neuhauser (Part 1)

Lance bootstrapped his first company to an exit. He venture funded his second company and exited after 10 years. He is about to launch his third. Read on, great story.

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Bootstrapping Using Services from Pune: Mindbowser CEO Ayush Jain (Part 1)

Services companies are easy to bootstrap, but often, they grow slowly in the beginning. How do you accelerate? This discussion is about the levers of acceleration.

Building a Portfolio of Bootstrapped Businesses: Ryan Millman, CEO of Undigital (Part 1)

Ryan has built a portfolio of bootstrapped businesses over the last 25 years that adds up to over $50M in revenue. He discusses the strategies and nuances, pivots and positioning, and more.

Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped an IoT Company from NC

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. 

North Carolina, at one point, had a large concentration of cellular technology companies. Some of that talent then came together around IoT, including Bob Witter, CEO of Device Solutions. He shared his journey with me in 2016.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of circumstances?

Bob Witter: I was born in Springville, New York. It’s in the western part of New York. I grew up in central New York. I went to school at State University of New York and graduated in 1981 with degrees in Computer Science and Mathematics. I started my career in Rochester with Eastman Kodak company in the medical products division that was brand new at that time. I learned a great deal about how to do medical products that has certainly served me well even today at Device Solutions.

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Bootstrapping to Exit and Bootstrapping Again (and Again): Adam Robinson, CEO of Retention.com and RB2B (Part 1)

Adam has bootstrapped his first company to exit, and before the acquisition, incubated his second one within it. He’s repeating the same incubation model by incubating a third company within his second one. Really cool strategy and a great interview.

Bootstrapping to Exit from Saudi Arabia: Emad Daghreri, Co-Founder CEO of Autobia (Part 1)

Emad bootstrapped his first company and took it public in the junior stock exchange in Saudi Arabia. He is now doing a second company. This interview focuses on his bootstrapping to exit story with the first one.

Sramana Mitra: Emad, let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born? Raised? What kind of background?

Building a Bootstrapped Unicorn from India: Rajesh Jain, Founder of Netcore Cloud (Part 1)

Rajesh Jain has built a Bootstrapped Unicorn from India. This is an important case study for all the bootstrapped entrepreneurs out there looking for inspiration and methodology to scale.

Sramana Mitra: Alright, Rajesh, let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from, where were you born, raised, what kind of background?

Canadian Brothers Bootstrapping to $40M Exit: Chris Sinkinson, Co-Founder AppArmor (Part 1)

I always love Bootstrapping to Exit stories. Chris and his brother bootstrapped a wonderful startup and sold it for $40M. Read on for the nuances.

Sramana Mitra: All right, Chris, let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised? What kind of backgrounds?

Building a High-Impact EdTech Venture from Alabama: QuantHub CEO Josh Jones (Part 1)

Josh is building a Data Science training company from Alabama. It’s a very interesting model, going deep into high school level skill development in what the market needs today.

Sramana Mitra: Hi, Josh. It’s great to have you. Let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised? What kind of background?

Bootstrapping a Generative AI Venture Using Services: Abhinav Girdhar, Founder CEO of Appy Pie (Part 1)

Abhinav has built a $15M+ ARR business by bootstrapping using services. Of his three products, one is a GenerativeAI design tool. Read on for more nuance.

Sramana Mitra: All right, Abhinav, let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from, where were you born, raised, what kind of background?