The Truth About Startup Fundability

There is too much money chasing too few venture scale deals. As a result, sometimes, VCs fund deals that should not be funded to appease their Limited Partners. And then, they drive these ventures to failure. Let me explain. Let us say, you have been successful in raising $5M in venture capital.

How Real Unicorn Startups Are Actually Built

There are two completely different ways to build a Unicorn: Bootstrap First, Raise Money Later (the 1Mby1M way), or Speculatively Blitzscale. Your probability of success with the first method is much higher. Let’s look at an example.

What Makes a Startup Fundable

Over 99% of entrepreneurs who seek Venture Capital funding get rejected. Many because they are not fundable. I run One Million by One Million (1Mby1M), a global virtual accelerator for startups. 2025 is our fifteenth year supporting entrepreneurs. Thousands upon thousands of entrepreneurs have approached us for help with their funding at a stage where

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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,

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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,

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Autonomy Is the Ultimate Entrepreneurial Luxury

Autonomy is an underrated luxury. Somehow, investors have convinced entrepreneurs that working 80 hour weeks to make money for them is PRESTIGIOUS. More so than personal wealth creation. More so than family, relationships, health and wellbeing.

Why Most Entrepreneurs Fail to Get Funded

Most entrepreneurs fail to get funded because they focus on investors instead of building real businesses. Learn how 1Mby1M helps founders master bootstrapping, customer acquisition, and profitable growth—skills that make startups fundable or sustainably successful without outside capital.

Why Stealth Mode Kills More Startups Than It Saves

I want to share with you an observation from running the 1Mby1M program since 2008. Almost 700 free mentoring roundtables with over 300k entrepreneurs. Thousands of case studies of successful entrepreneurs – the who’s who of tech startups – through interview based methodology development. Thousands and thousands of premium member coaching sessions. Some entrepreneurs are

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