Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped a Global E-commerce Venture to $50M

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

When we spoke in 2018, SmartBuyGlasses Co-CEO David Menning had bootstrapped a global e-commerce venture from Hong Kong to $50M. Splendid execution!

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?

David Menning: I grew up in Sydney. I’ve been educated in Australia. In my later years, I studied at universities overseas both in Canada and Japan for a little while. It was this time when I was abroad spending time in different countries that I was exposed to different business models, cultures, and people.

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Thursday, November 9 – 625th 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable for Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are invited to the 625th FREE online 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable on Thursday, November 9, 2023, 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!

Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped and Pivoted from the US Midwest

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

Co-founder and CEO Paroon Chadha has bootstrapped Passageways from Indiana, now doing business as OnBoard based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and he wants to help other regional entrepreneurs succeed. Along the way, he has pivoted from licensed software to cloud software, and made other strategic decisions that helped his company become more successful. Read our conversation from 2018 to learn more on his moves.

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

Paroon Chadha: I was born in Chandigarh, India. I was born to a family of entrepreneurs. Growing up, the choices basically boiled down to being an engineer and then perhaps being an entrepreneur. I went to Punjab Engineering College and found myself a little bit at odds with technical internships that I did and felt like sales was my true calling. It was mostly influenced by some of my mentors in life. My dad ran businesses. It led me to join a sales job out of engineering. My first job was at Wipro. I sourced hardware and software solutions for two years in India. That’s how it started.

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Video FAQs

Catching Up On Readings: Democratized Generative AI

This report from Gartner looks at the potential of democratized generative AI to increase productivity, efficiency, and innovation. By 2026, more than 80% of enterprises will have used generative AI APIs and models and/or deployed GenAI-enabled applications in production environments, up from less than 5% in 2023. For this week’s posts, click on the paragraph links.

Roundtable Recap: November 2 – EdTech Ventures from Around the World

During this week’s roundtable, we coincidentally focused on EdTech.

Zambezi Tech Vanguard

Next, we had Takudzwa Cinofunga in Harare, Zimbabwe, pitching Zambezi Tech Vanguard, an EdTech venture focused on the African market.

Wibly

Then Nick Farrenkopf in Fremont, California, pitched Wibly, another EdTech venture focused on new methods of knowledge navigation.

You can listen to the recording of this roundtable here:

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624th 1Mby1M Roundtable Recording

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

November 9 – 625th 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable for Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are invited to the 625th FREE online 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable on Thursday, November 9, 2023, 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!

Best of Bootstrapping: Niche Player Bootstrapped to $13M

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

I’m very bullish about market opportunities that are large enough to build sizable businesses but not large enough such that VCs end up funding numerous competing companies. This case study – my interview from 2018 with David Lloyd, Co-founder and CEO of The Intern Group – shows you how a niche player with a $150 million TAM is growing nicely without outside financing.

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?

David Lloyd: I’m from the UK. I was born in London. I spent the first 22 years of my life in London before spending approximately the last 10 years of my life between London and Latin America.

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