Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped Using Services to a Public Unicorn

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

Bootstrapping with Services is a tried and true strategy, including for building Unicorns. In our 2012 story, Alteryx Executive Chairman, CEO and founding partner Dean Stoecker talks about raising a Series A with $10 million in the bank. Today, Alteryx is a $4+ billion market cap public company. Dean bootstrapped with services early on, and then raised VC money.

Alteryx is a leading software developer and a pioneer of agile business intelligence technology with analytics. Prior to Alteryx, Dean led business development efforts for Integration Technologies, a systems integrator, where he helped develop technology that automated the selection of cellular tower locations for telecommunications clients like AT&T. He also helped develop the first geo-coding engine tied to Experian’s real estate mainframe system, and he built a sophisticated flood certificate engine for a leading insurer. Dean also served as Vice President of sales at Strategic Mapping, and in various sales and strategic roles at Donnelly Marketing Information Services.

Sramana Mitra: Dean, let’s start at the beginning of your personal story. What is the context for your entrepreneurial journey? Where are you from?

Dean Stoecker: I grew up in a family business in Colorado. I would sit around the table every day and hear about the trials and excitements of owning a business. I went to school at the University of Colorado. I had the opportunity to travel the world through a program called Semester at Sea. That was where I got the idea that I wanted to have my own business. After I graduated, I moved to California and got involved in the information business.

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589th Roundtable for Entrepreneurs Starting NOW: Live Tweeting by @1Mby1M

Today’s 589th FREE online 1Mby1M Roundtable For Entrepreneurs is starting NOW, on Thursday, September 8, 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!

589th Roundtable for Entrepreneurs Starting in 30 Minutes: Live Tweeting by @1Mby1M

Today’s 589th FREE online 1Mby1M Roundtable for Entrepreneurs is starting in 20 minutes, on Thursday, September 8, 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!

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Cloud Stocks: Nutanix’s Subscription Model Delivers Results

Enterprise cloud computing player Nutanix (Nasdaq: NTNX) recently announced its fiscal year results that outpaced market expectations. The company’s strong performance helped drive the stock 21% higher in the after-hours trading session.

1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Mohanjit Jolly, Partner at Iron Pillar (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: You said you invested in eight companies from the first fund and then continued to invest in those eight. Let’s talk about some of them. I want to get a flavor of the kinds of companies that drew your attention.

Mohanjit Jolly: We have a concentrated portfolio strategy. Most of the folks who you may have as guests on the show may do 20 to 40 investments per fund. In our case, the numbers are closer to 8 to 10. There is a method to that madness. To your question, the first fund was eight companies. Three of them were India-for-India. These are companies like Bluestone which is an omnichannel jewelry company.

A Journey into Personalized Luxury Fashion: Editorialist YX CEO Rafael Ortiz (Part 4)

Sramana Mitra: If I remember correctly, NexTag was a vertical search engine right? These half a million keywords were all within the domain of electronics.

Rafael Ortiz: Initially yes. We added other categories like home goods and clothing.

Sramana Mitra: How big a business did the tech product vertical search engine become?

Rafael Ortiz: By the time we sold it, the entire business was doing $200 million in revenue. The tech portion of that was over half.

Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped Using Services to $40M First

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

ActiveCampaign Founder CEO Jason VandeBoom had built a disciplined, profitable business when we spoke in 2019 and had scaled it to $40 million in 2017 revenue. The company was first bootstrapped using services, and later raised ~$20 million in funding.

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?

Jason VandeBoom: I was born and raised in a small town in Wisconsin about an hour out of Milwaukee, and started in technology from a consulting side of things at a very early age. Around 13 or so, I started taking on small projects. I was always interested in engineering and design. That ultimately led me to go to art school. I chose a school in Chicago for art school. That’s what brought me to Chicago.

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Cloud Stocks: Workday Grows Strong Despite Recession

Enterprise services provider Workday (NASDAQ: WDAY) recently announced its second quarter results that continued to surpass market expectations. While some other tech companies have struggled, Workday’s performance and outlook continued to impress the market. The stock grew 11% in the after-hours trading session.