Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped Using Services First, then Raised Capital to Exit

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

Chuck Bloomquist bootstrapped a security company using services all the way up to $16 million in revenue and then raised private equity capital to develop a platform product. Since we spoke in 2015, InteliSecure was acquired by Proofpoint.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your story. Where are you from? Where did you grow up? What kind of background leads up to this story?

Chuck Bloomquist: I was born in El Paso, Texas. I spent most of my youth living in the Pacific Basin. After we moved out of Texas, we moved to Wake Island. Then, we went to Hawaii and lived there for a year or so. Then, we moved up to Alaska and the UK. I came back to Texas for college. I then migrated to Colorado.

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Featured Videos

Apple Looks to India for Sales and Production

Earlier last week, Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) announced its second quarter results that surpassed market expectations. This was the second consecutive quarter that Apple reported a decline in the revenues. But the market was very pleased with iPhone sales that surged 15% due to the strong reception of iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 plus.

Building an AI-Powered Pharmaceutical Services Business: VIDA CEO Susan Wood (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: Did you work in engineering all through this period?

Susan Wood: No. When I left Hopkins, I actually worked in a business capacity. It was a very technical sale. I probably wasn’t as heavy on my programming ability as a lot of the people in the company. I started learning my MBA on the street at that time.

Sramana Mitra: Technical selling is a fabulous training ground for a tech career. They tend to be very good product people.

Video FAQs

Building an AI-Powered Pharmaceutical Services Business: VIDA CEO Susan Wood (Part 1)

This conversation not only highlights Susan and VIDA’s journey but is an excellent analysis of the Pharmaceutical Services space. If you’re looking to do/doing a startup in this field, the conversation should be illuminating.

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

Colors: Mendocino VII

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 – Mendocino VII

Mendocino VII | Sramana Mitra, 2021 | Watercolor, Pastel, Brush Pen | 9  x 12, On Paper

Catching Up On Readings: Google I/O 2023

This feature from The Verge covers the highlights of the Google I/O, Google’s annual developers conference held in Mountain View, California last week. For this week’s posts, click on the paragraph links.

Colors: Mendocino VI

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 – Mendocino VI

Mendocino VI | Sramana Mitra, 2021 | Watercolor, Pastel, Brush Pen | 9  x 12, On Paper

606th 1Mby1M Roundtable Recording

In case you missed it, you can listen to the recording of this roundtable here: