Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped Using Services from Poland to a US SaaS Company

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

Booksy Co-founder and CEO Stefan Batory started a software development company in Poland with a few other partners. Today, he’s running a high-growth, VC-funded SaaS and marketplace business in the US. Awesome journey! Here is our conversation from early 2020, plus you can listen to our podcast interview from 2021 here.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s go back to the very beginning of your journey. Tell us where you’re from, where you were born, raised, and in what kind of background.

Stefan Batory: I’m from Warsaw, Poland. I was born and raised in one of the poorest parts of the country. I got a scholarship and went to a high school here in the US back in 1994.

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1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator Investor Forum: With Tea Hea Nahm, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Storm Ventures (Part 1)

Tae Hea Nahm, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Storm Ventures, emphasizes and articulates his firm’s specific interest in investing in vertical cloud startups.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start by introducing our audience to yourself a little bit and then we’ll come to Storm Ventures. What path did you follow to founding Storm Ventures?

Tea Hea Nahm: I was born in Korea. We immigrated when I was five years old. I started my career in Silicon Valley as a corporate lawyer working with 200 startups. In 2000, I left law and co-founded Storm Ventures and have been a partner at Storm for the last 22 years.

590th Roundtable for Entrepreneurs Starting NOW: Live Tweeting by @1Mby1M

Today’s 590th FREE online 1Mby1M Roundtable For Entrepreneurs is starting NOW, on Thursday, September 15, 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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590th Roundtable for Entrepreneurs Starting in 25 Minutes: Live Tweeting by @1Mby1M

Today’s 590th FREE online 1Mby1M Roundtable for Entrepreneurs is starting in 25 minutes, on Thursday, September 15, 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!

Thought Leaders in Financial Technology: SurgePays CEO Brian Cox (Part 4)

Sramana Mitra: I imagine that because this consumer base doesn’t have credit cards, the entire e-commerce capability will be enabled by something like what you’re talking about. Amazon is one e-commerce vendor but Walmart probably wants to get to that segment and various other people who cater to that customer base. Even the food guys.

Brian Cox: The government has done a tremendous amount of studies on the health impact of low-income neighborhoods and their reliance on the corner store. We use the word convenience store because, to us who can just hop on a car and go to Target, it’s a convenience.

Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped ButcherBox to Significant Scale

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

Before the pandemic in 2018, ButcherBox Founder and CEO Mike Salguero shared a fascinating story of a subscription service for high-quality meat being delivered to consumer homes.

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

Mike Salguero: I was born in Paraguay. I’m the youngest of four kids. My parents divorced when I was six months old, and my mom moved up to western Massachusetts with her four children.

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Thursday, September 15 – 590th 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable for Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are invited to the 590th FREE online 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable on Thursday, September 15, 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!

Thought Leaders in Financial Technology: SurgePays CEO Brian Cox (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: Let me probe something very specific. When you made the switch by digitizing that whole process of scratchable prepaid cards but were still catering to this low-end consumer base, what was the go-to-market strategy? How do these consumers reach you and find you?

Brian Cox: That’s a great question. I failed every which way possible in trying to go direct to the consumer. The only way to truly reach the consumer from my perspective was to go into the neighborhoods they live in. There is a false sense to this influencer thing. Our market is not enamored by Silicon Valley influencers, if you will.