Women Entrepreneurs Win by Bootstrapping First

Is there bias against women entrepreneurs in the tech industry? Maybe, maybe not. I don’t believe it would hinder you if you stick to the Bootstrap First, Raise Money Later strategy.

The media promotes funding as the holy grail.

The VCs want you to believe that Entrepreneurship = Funding.

No. It isn’t.

Entrepreneurship = Customers + Revenues + Profits.

>>>

Featured Videos

Best of Bootstrapping: Couple Bootstrapped to $10 Million

Love and startups go hand in hand for AdCellerant Co-founders Brock Berry and Shelby Carlson, who are helping media companies generate seven-figure revenue streams. Here is our conversation from 2017.

Sramana Mitra: Whoever wants to start, let’s start at the very beginning of your personal journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background?

Brock Berry: Thanks for having us. I’m the Founder and CEO of AdCellerant. I’m from Indiana where I grew up and spent the first 23 years of my life before I was compelled to move to Colorado where the weather is a little friendlier and there were a few more work opportunities.

>>>

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

Sramana Mitra: Let’s do a couple of case studies of what you have invested in. In that, please also talk about the sectors you’re interested in or business models, and where you have invested — sectors that work in your model.

Video FAQs

Georgia’s Startup Accelerator Ecosystem: Where Georgia Excels & Where 1Mby1M Fills Critical Gaps

The Accelerator Conundrum is a multipart series that challenges the prevailing wisdom of the tech startup ecosystem that entrepreneurs should Blitzscale out of the gate. Written by Sramana Mitra, the Founder and CEO of One Million by One Million (1Mby1M), the world’s first global virtual accelerator, it emphatically argues that a better strategy is to Bootstrap First, Raise Money Later, focus on customers, revenues and profits. 1Mby1M’s mission is to help a Million entrepreneurs reach a million dollars in annual revenue and beyond. Sramana’s Digital Mind AI Mentor virtually mentors entrepreneurs around the world in 57 languages. Try it out!

Georgia’s startup ecosystem is solidifying. Some of its strongest assets:

• Government commitment via GITA: incentives, grants, favourable regulatory frameworks. Georgia is creating startup-friendly legal and tax regimes. 
• Growing infrastructure: tech parks, maker spaces, co-working, educational bootcamps, university-led pre-accelerators.
• International linkage: accelerators like 500 Global, programs that include international mentors; increasing exposure.
• Accessibility of early funding in the form of grants; matching grants; innovation support starting even in regions, not only in Tbilisi.

Be Careful Who You Take Startup Advice From

Everybody is a startup mentor these days. On LinkedIn, startup advice is cheap and abundant.

It can also be very BAD.

>>>

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

Mohanjit Jolly, Partner at Iron Pillar, discusses his firm’s growth stage investment thesis.

Georgia’s Startup Accelerator Ecosystem: Deep Dive

The Accelerator Conundrum is a multipart series that challenges the prevailing wisdom of the tech startup ecosystem that entrepreneurs should Blitzscale out of the gate. Written by Sramana Mitra, the Founder and CEO of One Million by One Million (1Mby1M), the world’s first global virtual accelerator, it emphatically argues that a better strategy is to Bootstrap First, Raise Money Later, focus on customers, revenues and profits. 1Mby1M’s mission is to help a Million entrepreneurs reach a million dollars in annual revenue and beyond. Sramana’s Digital Mind AI Mentor virtually mentors entrepreneurs around the world in 57 languages. Try it out!

Here are the major players in Georgia’s (Caucasus) accelerator / startup-support ecosystem, how they work, what they deliver, and how they compare to what 1Mby1M (plus Digital Mind AI Mentor) offers.

November 13 – 708th 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable for Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are invited to the 708th FREE online 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable on Thursday, November 13, 2025, at 8 a.m. PST / 11 a.m. EST / 5 p.m. CET / 9:30 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.