Best of Bootstrapping: Synechron CEO Bootstrapped to $300M

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

Faisal Husain, CEO of Synechron, is one of those rare entrepreneurs who managed to grow his business with no outside financing to significant scale. We discuss his journey here.

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?

Faisal Husain: My roots are from India, but I was actually born in West Africa in Nigeria. My parents had moved from India to Nigeria in search of jobs and they were in the education field. My father was a principal and my mother was a math teacher. While they were doing their jobs and building their careers in Nigeria, I was born there. I lived in Nigeria for 13 years. At that point, my parents decided to move back home to India. I was then home schooled for about three or four years, and then came to the United States.

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Bootstrapping Using Services: George Anderson, CEO of Ninth Wave (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: Enterprise Engineering was an enterprise technology consulting firm?

George Anderson: It was and still is. 

Sramana Mitra: That is the company that we are talking about today?

Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapping to $20M From London

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

Guy Mucklow, President Co-founder of PCA Predict, bootstrapped his company to $20 million, and at one point turned down a $100 million acquisition offer. Read how he has navigated his venture.

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?

Guy Mucklow: I set my company up over 20 years ago when I was in my late 30s.

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Bootstrapping Using Services: George Anderson, CEO of Ninth Wave (Part 1)

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

George offers another case study for our very popular Bootstrapping Using Services track.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born and raised? What kind of background did you have?

Best of Bootstrapping: Meltwater Founder Bootstrapped to $200M

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

Jorn Lyseggen, Founder and Executive Chairman of Meltwater, started the company in Norway and scaled organically to $200 million. Fascinating journey!

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

Jorn Lyseggen: I was actually born in Korea. I came to Norway as a very small child. I was three years old. I actually grew up in a little farm in the middle of a deep, dark forest in Norway. You drive for hours into the deep, dark forest and then suddenly, there’s a small opening. Then, you come to a little village with 168 families. One of those families is mine.

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Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapping AutoClaims Direct to $15M

If you haven’t already, please study my free Bootstrapping course. 

Ernie Bray, Chairman and CEO of AutoClaims Direct (ACD), leveraged his domain knowledge in auto insurance claims processing, and built a robust, sustainable business. He used a virtual workforce strategy to scale.

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

Ernie Bray: I was born in a small town in Central California called Porterville, California. It’s a farming community. My dad was a teacher. My mom stayed at home and took care of us. I grew up in a small town environment.

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Best of Bootstrapping: WeGoLook was Bootstrapped from Oklahoma

If you haven’t already, please study my free Bootstrapping course. 

How often do you hear of a successful entrepreneurship story out of Oklahoma? Well, meet Robin (Smith) Roberson, Co-founder of WeGoLook.

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

Robin Roberson: I was born in Oklahoma. I was raised, primarily, on a farm. There were about 12 kids in my class. I didn’t know much about the outside world other than what was there in town. I started my entrepreneurial journey in the second grade making yarn belts on the playground. I was able to talk a few of my friends into making them with me. We had quite the distributorship going with yarn belts until the Principal shut us down. When he asked us to stop making yarn belts, I started making Christmas tree ornaments to sell. He shut that down too.

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Best of Bootstrapping: JotForm Founder Bootstrapped with a Paycheck

If you haven’t already, please study my free Bootstrapping course. 

Aytekin Tank, Founder and CEO of JotForm, is a Turkish entrepreneur who bootstrapped his company with a paycheck. He used a freemium business model, and a virtual team strategy to scale.

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

Aytekin Tank: I was born in Istanbul. I spent my childhood moving from city to city since my family worked for the government. Constantly having to adapt and make friends instilled in me an appreciation for different cultures and meeting new people. We have offices in San Francisco and in Turkey. We have remote workers in 20 countries.

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