Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped First, Scaled with VC Funds to an Exit

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

When we spoke in 2019, Faction Founder Luke Norris had executed a tremendously effective Bootstrap First, Raise Money Later strategy from Colorado. Faction was recently acquired by ORIX.

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?

Luke Norris: I was born in Nevada. 

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Featured Videos

Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped by Piggybacking to $6M from Romania

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

You may have read our PaaS coverage, as well as Bootstrapping by Piggybacking posts. Well, when we spoke in 2020, 123FormBuilder CEO Florin Cornianu had built a $6 million SaaS business using this methodology with just $1 million in funding. What’s more, he had done it entirely from Romania and selling to largely a US customer base. Excellent story!

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?

Florin Cornianu: I’m the CEO and Co-founder of 123FormBuilder. We are a form-building SaaS. The company is in Romania. I was born in a small city in the northern part of Romania. I’m an engineer by profession. I graduated with computer science degree from a large university in the city where I live.

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Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped with Services from Wisconsin

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

SignalWire Founder CEO Anthony Minessale is building a very interesting programmable communication platform company that has its roots in Wisconsin. This conversation is from 2020.

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?

Anthony Minessale: I’m from the Midwest. I live in Wisconsin where I’ve lived all my life. I have been involved in computers since high school. After high school, I became interested in how the internet works. At that time, the internet was starting to take off. I started to teach myself programming.

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Thursday, Feb. 22 – 634th 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable for Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are invited to the 634th FREE online 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable on Thursday, February 22, 2024, at 8 a.m. PST/11 a.m. EST/5 p.m. CET/9:30 p.m. India IST.

If you are a serious entrepreneur, register to “pitch” and sell your business idea. You’ll receive straightforward feedback, advice on next steps, and answers to any of your questions. Others can register to “attend” to watch, learn, and interact through the online chat.

You can learn more here and REGISTER TO PITCH OR ATTEND HERE. Register and you will receive the recording by email, even if you are unable to attend. Please share with any entrepreneurs in your circle who may be interested. All are welcome!

Cloud Stocks: Twilio’s Segment Acquisition Appears to have Backfired

Communication Platform as a Service (CPaaS) player Twilio (NYSE: TWLO) is having a rocky start to the year. A recent investor action forced the exit of its founder and CEO Jeff Lawson and more recently, the lower outlook for the rest of the year did not please the analysts either.

Catching Up On Readings: Tech Trends 2024

This report from CBInsights identifies 20 under-the-radar tech trends that will reshape industries in 2024. For this week’s posts, click on the paragraph links.

Colors: La Nuit V

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 – La Nuit V

La Nuit V | Sramana Mitra, 2021 | Watercolor, Pastel, Ink | 8  x 8, On Paper

Colors: La Nuit IV

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 – La Nuit IV

La Nuit IV | Sramana Mitra, 2021 | Watercolor, Pastel, Ink | 8  x 8, On Paper