Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapping The Intern Group to $13M

If you haven’t already, please study our 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 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.

>>>

Featured Videos

574th Roundtable Recording with Bill Baumel, Ohio Innovation Fund

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

Cloud Stocks: Atlassian Faces Stiff Competition

According to a recent report, the global enterprise collaboration market is expected to grow from $47.2 billion in 2021 to $85.8 billion by 2026 at a CAGR of over 12%. Atlassian (Nasdaq: TEAM) continues to expand its product offerings to take a bigger share in the market in the face of stiff competition.

Video FAQs

Thursday, May 12: 575th 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable for Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are invited to the 575th FREE online 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable on Thursday, May 12, 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!

From Brazil to a US HRTech Success Story: Talentify: Othamar Filho (Part 1)

Brazilian entrepreneur Othamar Filho identified an HRTech problem to solve while building a business in Brazil.

Read how he navigated his way to building a successful company in the US.

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

Entrepreneur Couple Bootstrapping an EdTech Company to $10M: Boom Cards CEO Mary Oemig (Part 2)

Mary Oemig: We did what I would recommend to every single entrepreneur – a lot of listening tours. We talked to our future customers. We talked to teachers. We learned that teachers were trying to hire developers around the world to turn what they knew into games. They were losing a lot of money doing it, because they didn’t know how to manage developers.

We realized in the end that what we should develop is a creation platform with a student play platform based on best-in-breed knowledge about what you need to know about student performance in order to inform good next decisions about what to teach next. We trust that teachers know what content needs to be taught.

1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Zain Jaffer, Partner at Blue Field Capital (Part 4)

Sramana Mitra: What check size do you write?

Zain Jaffer: Overall, $750,000. We started with a $300,000 and followed on with $450,000. Sometimes we can do million dollars plus between seed and follow-on.

Sramana Mitra: This is a wonderful case study. What else are you excited about?

Zain Jaffer: I’ll give you another case study. This is an anti-case study. Sometimes VCs don’t know what they’re doing. They come up with all of these criteria. When the rubber meets the road, everything goes out the window. This is an investment I made before I set up my VC fund.

574th 1Mby1M Entrepreneurship Podcast with Bill Baumel, Ohio Innovation Fund

Bill Baumel, Managing Director at Ohio Innovation Fund, is one of the pioneers of the Ohio startup ecosystem.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Play | Stitcher | TuneIn | RSS