Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped First, Then Scaled with VC Funds

If you haven’t already, please study our 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.

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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592nd Roundtable for Entrepreneurs Starting in 30 Minutes: Live Tweeting by @1Mby1M

Today’s 592nd FREE online 1Mby1M Roundtable for Entrepreneurs is starting in 30 minutes, on Thursday, September 29, at 8 a.m. PDT/11 a.m. EDT/5 p.m. CEST/8:30 p.m. India IST. CLICK HERE to join. PASSWORD: startup  All are welcome!

Cloud Stocks: Backblaze Builds out a Partner Program

According to a recent market report, the global Cloud Storage Market is expected to grow at 18% CAGR from $77.5 billion in 2021 to $208.1 billion by 2028. San Mateo-based Backblaze (Nasdaq: BLZE) is a rapidly growing player in the market.

Video FAQs

Twin Brothers Building a FinTech Venture: Stephen Roche and Gabino Roche, CoFounders of Saphyre (Part 4)

Gabino Roche: We also got ideas. There was some nomenclature we would encounter along the way. We had to come up with intelligent ways without the client knowing what we were trying to do. They had to see words the way they understood them. We had to create a smart way of mapping that data. That is what we did, but we didn’t have a working product.

We officially started in May 2017. It wasn’t until the end of September that we had a product that we could get tested. It was not ready for production; it was just for testing. I knew I was going to run out of my brother’s money at this point.

1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Yanev Suissa, Managing Partner and Founder at SineWave Ventures (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: India has been incredibly productive. Europe has started producing interesting companies. They want global customers and they want to set up shop in the US. European firms often prefer the East Coast. Is that a model that you are okay with?

Yanev Suissa: Oh yes. We’ve never been a five-minute-away firm. I grew up at NEA as a VC. We were always bi-coastal. It is the reality of the VC world. I do think you’re right about seeing the development teams being built elsewhere and more of the business and sales teams being in the US. I’ve seen that quite a bit.

Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped by Piggybacking from Romania

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

You may have read our PaaS coverage, as well as Bootstrapping by Piggybacking posts. Well 123FormBuilder CEO Florin Cornianu has built a $6 million SaaS business using this methodology with just $1 million in funding. What’s more, he has done it entirely from Romania and sells 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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Cloud Stocks: Analysis of Adobe’s $20B Figma Acquisition

Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE) recently reported its quarterly results that continued to outpace market expectations. But the biggest news for the company was its $20 billion acquisition of Figma, a small design startup.

Twin Brothers Building a FinTech Venture: Stephen Roche and Gabino Roche, CoFounders of Saphyre (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: Let’s come to the year that you started Saphyre. What year was that?

Gabino Roche: 2017. I remember it was scary. To do work in finance, you had to go all in. I told you about my three failed businesses and the one that broke even. In this case, if I’m going to do it, I have to do it full-time. There’s no financial institution that would do business with you if you’re doing a part-time gig. That’s why when Stephen said he would back me and pay for my salary for a year, I had to fully commit.

Sramana Mitra: In 2017 when you decided to do Saphyre, what were you going to do?