Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped from London, Scaled in the US

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

Alexandre Wentzo is the former CEO of Casewise, an enterprise software company that started in London and scaled in the US. The company was self-financed and did $24 Million in revenue when we spoke in 2015. Our discussion focuses on some of the nuances of starting an enterprise software company in Europe and scaling it in the US. Casewise was sold to Erwin in 2016. You can also listen to our podcast interview here and watch the roundtable interview here:

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your story. Tell us where you’re from, where you were born, raised, and in what kind of background.

Alexandre Wentzo: I was born outside of Paris in a little suburb. I come from a low social background. I would say that when I was around 13 years old, I started to set up my business. I used to check out every shop around my place. I started to offer brochures and create any marketing collaterals they needed and offered the complete package, from the design to the printing.

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Serial Entrepreneur Bootstrapping Three PropTech Ventures: LuxuryProperty Founder Jason Hayes (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: When you sold the company in 2007, what were the metrics?

Jason Hayes: The value of the entire portfolio was in the region of $200 million. Revenues were approximately 10% of that. There was probably about 70% loan to value. I sold it to a London hedge fund. I remained with the company for a couple of years in an advisory capacity. At the same time, I was busy building my second venture ,which was Propertyandhomes.com in California.

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June 22 – 609th 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable for Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are invited to the 609th FREE online 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable on Thursday, June 22, 2023, at 8 a.m. PDT/11 a.m. EDT/5 p.m. CEST/8:30 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!

Best of Bootstrapping: Organically Bootstrapped to $200M

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

Founder Jorn Lyseggen started Meltwater in Norway and, when we spoke in 2015, had scaled the company organically to $200 million. Fascinating journey!

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

Jorn Lyseggen: I was actually born in Korea. I came to Norway as a very small child. I was three years old. I actually grew up in a little farm in the middle of a deep, dark forest in Norway. You drive for hours into the deep, dark forest and then suddenly, there’s a small opening. Then, you come to a little village with 168 families. One of those families is mine.

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608th 1Mby1M Roundtable Recording

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

608th 1Mby1M Entrepreneurship Podcast with Max Brickman, Heartland Ventures

Max Brickman, Founder at Heartland Ventures, talks about his firm’s investment thesis.

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Serial Entrepreneur Bootstrapping Three PropTech Ventures: LuxuryProperty Founder Jason Hayes (Part 1)

Jason has worked at the cusp of real estate and digital marketing for 35 years and built three successful ventures. All of them are bootstrapped, organically grown, capital efficient businesses.

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?