Bootstrapping Using Services from The Netherlands to a $300M+ Exit: Quintiq and ActiVote Founder Victor Allis (Part 6)

Sramana Mitra: Is this a B2C business?

Victor Allis: Yes, it’s for voters. The strange thing is, there’s no revenue. There is no business model at the time. All we’re trying to do is to get people to use it to vote. I always believe that if you do something that adds value, there’s always a way to get people to invest in it or pay money. We have a lot of policy questions. People make choices based on it. We can take all these choices and add them up and we could predict that a candidate would win. Our poll was actually closer than most polls.

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594th 1Mby1M Entrepreneurship Podcast with Kyle Asman, Backswing Ventures

Kyle Asman is Managing Director at Backswing Ventures, a firm that has a non-Unicorn investment thesis.

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Thought Leaders in Cloud Computing: Movius CEO Ananth Siva (Part 3)

Sramana Mitra: Just to play devil’s advocate, there are plenty of businesses that are not on T Mobile. If you wanted to get to those businesses, working with those carriers would make perfect sense.

Ananth Siva: That’s how we approached this in the first place that might be the case. If you look at the client base that we have, some have already been quoted in the press. You probably have enough connections to ring a few of the Wall Street banks and if you ask them how they are solving the SEC problem today, they will tell you that they made one decision.

Video FAQs

Bootstrapping Using Services from The Netherlands to a $300M+ Exit: Quintiq and ActiVote Founder Victor Allis (Part 5)

Sramana Mitra: You took money from private equity that gave you some liquidity to the founders and gave you growth capital to move to the next phase.

Victor Allis: Only liquidity to the founders. This is what was happening. I moved to the United States in 2010. We did a bit of press release. Suddenly, everybody was knocking on my door offering us money. I said no. They said, “That’s exactly why we want to give it to you.”

Sramana Mitra: I have a saying that VCs love to come to the rescue of victory.

594th Roundtable Recording with Kyle Asman, Backswing Ventures

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

Roundtable Recap: October 27 – Non-Unicorn Investment Thesis

During this week’s roundtable, we had as our guest Kyle Asman, Managing Director at Backswing Ventures, a firm that has a non-Unicorn investment thesis.

You can listen to the recording of this roundtable here:

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Best of Bootstrapping: EdTech Unicorn First Bootstrapped from Canada

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

In 2020, D2L CEO John Baker shared this terrific story of bootstrapped entrepreneurship in EdTech.

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?

John Baker: I’m based in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. I was born in a fishing village on the northeast coast of Newfoundland. When I was 22 years and in my third year of engineering at the University of Waterloo, I started a company with the mission of transforming the way the world learns. 

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November 3 – 595th 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable for Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are invited to the 594th FREE online 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable on Thursday, November 3, 2022, 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!