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.

Building a VC-Funded Fashion E-Commerce Company: Weddington Way CEO Ilana Stern (Part 1)

There aren’t that many venture-funded fashion e-commerce companies out there. The main reason is that the venture capital business is dominated by men, and typically, women happen to be more in tune with fashion. Ilana Stern is building a very interesting fashion company focused on bridesmaid dresses as the starting point.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start with your personal story. Where are you from? Where were you born and raised and in what kind of circumstances?

Ilana Stern: I’m originally from Los Angeles. I was very close with my family. My dad is actually an entrepreneur of sorts. I was inspired by his hard work and passion for what he does. When I was 18, I left LA and went to the University of Pennsylvania for undergraduate studies. >>>

Featured Videos

Serial Entrepreneur David Steinberg’s Four-Startup Journey (Part 1)

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

Today’s entrepreneurial landscape is full of serial entrepreneurs who start really young and build company after company. Some succeed and some fail. David’s four companies have all been successful.

Sramana Mitra: David, where are you from? Where were you born and raised? What’s the back story?

David Steinberg: I grew up in New York City.

Sramana Mitra: Was there any entrepreneurship in your DNA?

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Bootstrapping a Web Hosting Company to $60 Million: Christopher Aker, CEO of Linode (Part 1)

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

Chris had many opportunities to raise money along the way while bootstrapping to a $60 million revenue level. Find out why he chose not to.

Sramana: Chris, let’s start with the beginning of your story. Tell me where you are from and set the stage for your entrepreneurial journey.

Christopher Aker: I was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey. We lived on the main land off of a coastal barrier island. I had a traditional American, South Jersey coastal upbringing. We had a lot of summer jobs and a huge amount of people would flock to our town in the summer to enjoy the beach. >>>

Bootstrapping Using Services to $15 Million in Venture Capital: Gravitant CEO Mohammed Farooq (Part 1)

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

We continue to see exciting enterprise software companies being built by entrepreneurs who have roots in the consulting business and who have taken their domain knowledge and customer insights to develop compelling products to solve specific problems. Gravitant is yet another case in point.

Sramana: Mohammed, let’s start our discussion by reviewing your background. Where do you come from? What are the roots of your entrepreneurial journey?

Mohammed Farooq: I am originally from India, close to Hyderabad. I went to engineering school in India and came to the United States in 1991 to attend graduate school. I was born in 1967 and went to school locally in India. I attended Gulbarga University in India where I studied mechanical engineering. I attended graduate school in Oklahoma. In Oklahoma, I completed a dual degree in operations research and computer science. I then did an MBA in finance as well. >>>

From $3 a Day to Successful Entrepreneur: Tomas Gorny, CEO of Nextiva (Part 1)

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

I see so many people making excuses for why they are not successful – discrimination, fate, luck, all external factors. Read Tomas Gorny’s story. I hope it will give you some perspective and some attitude adjustment that hopefully propels success.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start with your background. Tell us where you are from, where you were born and raised, and in what kind of background.

Tomas Gorny: I was born originally in Poland. I lived there for 14 years. It was a communist country. Poland didn’t have middle-class families at that point in time because everybody was relatively poor. At the age of 14, I moved to Germany where I spent another six years. Then at the age of 20, I moved to the United States.

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Bootstrapping a Global Software Product Company Using Services From Denmark: Sitecore CEO Michael Seifert (Part 1)

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

European software companies seldom reach global scale. Sitecore has not only reached global scale, but is competing with Oracle, Adobe, IBM, and Salesforce.com. Read how they have navigated the market.

Sramana: Michael, where are you from? What is the background to your story?

Michael Seifert: I was born in the Copenhagen area where I lived until first grade. I then moved to a little island in Denmark with a population of about fifty thousand people. I lived there with my mother and her brothers through high school. My father moved to the US when I was 8 or 9. I spent my summer vacations in the Bay area with my father. My first flight to the US was at age 11.

Sramana: Your father moved to the Bay area, so I am assuming that is where you got your early exposure to this culture?

Michael Seifert: Yes. He started a company called SunFlex. I enjoyed going to work with him and that is where I was exposed to my first computer. >>>

Building to $10 Million in EdTech: Panopto CTO Eric Burns (Part 1)

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

One of the issues we’ve discussed is the slow-growth nature of the EdTech industry. This interview explores the question in depth, and shows how Panopto is mitigating the issue through sector diversification.

Sramana Mitra: Eric, let’s start at the beginning of your story. Tell us where you were born and raised, and in what kind of circumstances.

Eric Burns: I was born in Nashville, Tennessee. My father, at that time, was in a seminary to be an Episcopal priest. He finished seminary and we moved to Knoxville, Tennessee when I was very young. My dad opened his parish there. My mom was a psychologist.

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A Serial Entrepreneur Who Understands ‘Work’: WorkMarket CEO Jeff Leventhal (Part 1)

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

Jeff Leventhal has built four businesses in the domain of ‘work’ and has created a blue-print of managing distributed workforces on behalf of companies. All four businesses have monetized well for this serial entrepreneur who really has the magic touch!

Sramana: Jeff, let’s start with a bit of background. Where were you born and raised?

Jeff Leventhal: I was born in Florida. I was raised in New York and I lived in New York City for 20+ years. I now live on Long Island where I was raised. >>>

Building a Fat Startup: Apptio CEO Sunny Gupta (Part 1)

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

One more look at what it takes to build a fat startup. Sunny Gupta discusses Apptio. The company raised a $7 million series A to get started, and then went to raise over $130 million thus far.

Sramana Mitra: Sunny, let’s start at the very beginning. Tell us a bit about yourself. Where were you born and raised? What kind of circumstances? Give us a backstory of the Apptio story.

Sunny Gupta: I was born in India in a town north of New Delhi. I went to school there and lived in New Delhi till I was 19. My father was in the government services. This is in the late ’80s and I didn’t feel, from a career perspective, that there were that many career options. >>>

Comment-Selling on Facebook: Smocked Auctions Founders Amy Laws and Nicole Brewer (Part 1)

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

Advertising on Facebook is complicated. You can spend tons of money getting ‘Likes’ without making any sales. Smocked Auctions is very smart about actually ‘selling’ on Facebook. Much to learn!

Sramana: Amy and Nicole, I would like to start by talking a bit about your personal journeys. Where are you from? What circumstances were you raised under?
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