Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped to Over $10M and a Big Exit

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

CEO Carl Ryden and his co-founders had bootstrapped PrecisionLender to over $10 million from North Carolina when we spoke in 2017. This is a superb story, including how the company has formulated an AI agent, Andi. Q2 acquired PrecisionLender for $510 million in 2019.

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

Carl Ryden: I was born in North Carolina. I grew up in eastern North Carolina in a little town called Goldsboro. Folks don’t know where that is. It’s about halfway between Raleigh and the coast. For folks who do know, I would later confess that I’m not really from Goldsboro. I’m from an area of a county that’s closest to Goldsboro, deep in the rural part of North Carolina.

>>>

Featured Videos

628th 1Mby1M Roundtable for Entrepreneurs Starting NOW: Live Tweeting by @1Mby1M

Today’s 628th FREE online 1Mby1M Roundtable for Entrepreneurs is starting NOW, on Thursday, January 4, at 8 a.m. PST/11 a.m. EST/5 p.m. CET/9: 30 p.m. India IST. CLICK HERE to join. PASSWORD: startup  All are welcome!   

628th Roundtable for Entrepreneurs Starting in 20 Minutes: Live Tweeting by @1Mby1M

Today’s 628th FREE online 1Mby1M Roundtable for Entrepreneurs is starting in 20 minutes, on Thursday, January 4, at 8 a.m. PST/11 a.m. EST/5 p.m. CET/9:30 p.m. India IST. CLICK HERE to join. PASSWORD: startup  All are welcome!

Video FAQs

New AI Course and January Tech Startup Course Coupons

This month we are introducing a new course, Humanity’s Future in the Age of AI. This course delves deep into the imminent era of AI and its profound impact on our world. Based on lectures given over the past several years, this course explores the current and forthcoming implications of AI’s pervasive integration into our society. Throughout the course, we encourage you to contemplate, question, and innovate in the face of unprecedented societal shifts.

As a part of our aim to democratize entrepreneurship education at scale globally, our proven 1Mby1M methodology for building technology startups has been packaged into short courses on Udemy.

For the month of January we are offering you up to 85% off the following courses.

These coupons will expire on January 31, 2024, so enroll today!

Bootstrapping:

Bootstrap First, Raise Money Later with Sramana Mitra: TRY1MBY1MJAN2024BTS

Bootstrapping a Startup with a Paycheck with Sramana Mitra: TRY1MBY1MJAN2024PAY

>>>

Cloud Stocks: Analysis of AMD’s Acquisitions

Global AI semiconductor revenue is expected to grow 26% to $67.1 billion in 2024. By 2027, AI chips revenue is expected to reach $119.4 billion. While Nvidia remains a leading player, rival AMD (NYSE:AMD) is expanding its presence within the AI space.

Colors: Le Dedans III

I’m publishing this series on LinkedIn called Colors to explore a topic that I care deeply about: the Renaissance Mind. I am just as passionate about entrepreneurship, technology, and business, as I am about art and culture. In this series, I will typically publish a piece of art – one of my paintings – and I request you to spend a minute or two deeply meditating on it. I urge you to watch your feelings, thoughts, reactions to the piece, and write what comes to you, what thoughts it triggers, in the dialog area. Let us see what stimulation this interaction yields. For today – Le Dedans III

Le Dedans III | Sramana Mitra, 2021 | Watercolor, Pastel, Brush Pen | 8  x 8, On Paper

Colors: Le Dedans II

I’m publishing this series on LinkedIn called Colors to explore a topic that I care deeply about: the Renaissance Mind. I am just as passionate about entrepreneurship, technology, and business, as I am about art and culture. In this series, I will typically publish a piece of art – one of my paintings – and I request you to spend a minute or two deeply meditating on it. I urge you to watch your feelings, thoughts, reactions to the piece, and write what comes to you, what thoughts it triggers, in the dialog area. Let us see what stimulation this interaction yields. For today – Le Dedans II

Le Dedans II | Sramana Mitra, 2021 | Watercolor, Pastel, Brush Pen | 8  x 8, On Paper

Best of Bootstrapping: Capital Efficient Entrepreneurs Turn $1M into $80M

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

Motili CEO Jeff Wilkins and his co-founder had turned $1 million of personal investment into $80 million in revenue. Pretty capital-efficient, this entrepreneur’s journey! Motili was acquired by Daikin/Goodman in 2019.

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

Jeff Wilkins: I grew on the East Coast. I was born in Bethesda, Maryland, outside of Washington DC, and moved around a lot as a kid. I spend time in Maryland, North Carolina, Texas, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania.

>>>