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.

Buying Back a Business: ShareBuilder 401k CEO Stuart Robertson (Part 1)

Stuart built Sharebuilder 401k. The company got acquired. Recently, he has bought the business back.

Read on to understand the nuances.

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Building a High Impact Social Enterprise over 20+ Years: Roberto Milk, CEO of NOVICA (Part 1)

Not all high impact businesses need to go from 0 to $100 million in 5 to 7 years. 

NOVICA has built a tremendously important, high impact social enterprise that did $30 million in 20 years. It’s a fantastic achievement.

From eBay Seller to Software Entrepreneur: Seller Labs CEO Paul Johnson (Part 1)

Paul started as an eBay seller and then developed software to help other sellers sell online. 

A classic case study of an entrepreneur solving problems he faced himself and building a business based on deep domain knowledge.

Bootstrapping with a Paycheck from New Jersey: Suuchi Ramesh, CEO of Suuchi (Part 1)

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

This is a wonderful bootstrapping with a paycheck story of a really smart, scrappy entrepreneur.

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 background?

Bootstrap First, Raise Money Later to $120M from Colorado: Madwire CEO JB Kellogg (Part 1)

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

This story discusses all sorts of interesting nuances, including DIFM vs. DIY. Read on.

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 background?

Bootstrapping by Piggybacking from Romania: 123FormBuilder CEO Florin Cornianu (Part 1)

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

You may have been reading our PaaS coverage, as well as Bootstrapping by Piggybacking posts.

Well, Florin has built a $6M SaaS business using this methodology with just $1M in funding. What’s more, he has done it entirely from Romania and sells to largely a US customer base.

Excellent story!

From a Security VAR to a $10 Million ARR SaaS Product Business: Andrew Plato, CEO of Anitian (Part 1)

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

We’re big fans of unfair advantage derived out of deep domain knowledge.

Read how Andrew played his.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s go to the beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background?

Bootstrapping a Virtual Company to Scale: Lily Stoyanov, CEO of Transformify (Part 1)

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

Lily has built a virtual company with zero employees, all freelancers and scaled it without outside financing.

Read on for more.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start by introducing our audience to you. Where are you from? Where did you grow up? Let’s start at the very beginning of your journey.

Bootstrapping to Exit: Imagine Easy Solutions CEO Neal Taparia (Part 1)

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

We’re big fans of bootstrapping to exit case studies. This is a wonderful one.

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 background?

Bootstrapping to $35 Million: BannerBuzz CEO Nishant Shah (Part 1)

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

In these unusual times, many who once dreamed of funding are forced to bootstrap. Well, bootstrapping is good during good times, and necessary during bad times.

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 background?