Best of Bootstrapping: From Friends and Family Funding to a $30 Million Exit

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

It is important not to lose sight of the capital-efficient, bootstrapped or minimally capitalized companies that have achieved success, provided significant return on investment to their stakeholders, and built value for their customers. VerticalResponse Founder Janine Popick shared her wonderful story with me in 2015.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start with some of your background. Where are you from? Where did you grow up?

Janine Popick: I grew up in a small town called Wingdale, New York. It’s about an hour and 40 minutes north of Manhattan. It’s pretty rural. My dad was an engineer for IBM for 35 years. My mom was a nurse. I went to public school and had a great education, but I really felt the need to get closer to Manhattan. I went to Hofstra University, which is about half hour away from Manhattan. I studied Communications and frankly, wanted to be in television behind the scene either writing, producing, or directing. My first job out of college was with WCBS TV and I was in sales and a little bit of marketing. I realized that that was not what I really wanted to do. I quickly left and took a job as a salesperson selling newspaper space in Brooklyn for a local community newspaper. I decided that after I was in sales, I was going into direct marketing. I did lots of direct mail for small direct marketing agencies in New York.

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Featured Videos

Thought Leaders in Artificial Intelligence: Workiz CEO Didi Azaria (Part 1)

AI and ML is largely being applied to problems within the enterprise. Here is an exception where a solution to an SMB problem is being achieved through AI. Very cool story!

Colors: Skye X

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 – Skye X

Skye X | Sramana Mitra, 2021 | Watercolor, Pastel, Brush Pen | 9  x 12, On Paper

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Catching Up On Readings: Top Tech Trends 2023

This feature from CB Insights identifies the top tech trends poised to reshape industries in 2023. These include super apps, immortality as a service, and consumer robots. For this week’s posts, click on the paragraph links.

Colors: Skye IX

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 – Skye IX

Skye IX | Sramana Mitra, 2021 | Watercolor, Pastel, Brush Pen | 8  x 8, On Paper

598th 1Mby1M Roundtable Recording

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

Roundtable Recap: January 19 – The Future of Social Media

During this week’s roundtable, we had a wonderful set of discussions on the Future of Social Media.

Black Med-Connect (B-MED)

We first had Dr. Jasmine Weiss from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, pitch the B-MED / Black-Med-Connect mobile app for the Black medical community, a specialized social / professional network idea.

Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapping Fun.com

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

Tom Fallenstein, CEO of Fun.com, has built a kick-a$$ e-commerce company out of rural Minnesota. Here is our conversation from 2015.

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

Tom Fallenstein: I was born in Minnesota in a small town about an hour and a half south of Minneapolis. I’ve lived here all my life. I grew up just outside of the city. I went to school in Mankato for Computer Science and Graphic Design. Our mom was a seamstress. We loved Halloween. We always had the best costumes when we were little. When we got older, all of our friends wanted to borrow those costumes, so my sister decided to rent them out. That’s how the business started.Sramana Mitra: What year are we talking when you were starting this business with your sister?

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