The Startup Velocity Question: What Hinders Acceleration in VC Funded Companies?

I have been running 1Mby1M since 2010. I find myself saying to entrepreneurs ad nauseam that VCs want to invest in startups that can go from zero to $100 million in revenue in 5 to 7 years.

Startups that do not have what it takes to achieve velocity should not be venture funded.

Experienced VCs, over time, have developed heuristics to gauge what constitutes a high growth venture investment thesis. 

Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped Pura Vida to $130M

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

When we spoke in 2020, Pura Vida CEO Co-founder Griffin Thall and his partner had turned an investment of $200 into a $130 million company. Amazing execution!

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?

Griffin Thall: I grew up in LA. I went to school at San Diego State. After graduating from college in 2010, my business partner and I went on a trip to Costa Rica. We were there for five weeks to travel, surf, and explore.

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Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped Legal Companies First, Raised Money Later

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

Onit Co-founder Eric Elfman has built two sizable companies in legal tech from Houston, Texas. Great journey!

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?

Eric Elfman: I was born and raised in Houston, Texas. I had a different educational journey compared to a lot of entrepreneurs. I dropped out of high school when I was in 10th grade and joined the Navy. The Navy turned me around and straightened me out. There, I figured out that I wanted to be an entrepreneur. 

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Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped Using Services to $20 Million

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

VisiQuate Founder CEO Brian Robertson is a serial bootstrapper. In fact, he always bootstraps using services. A terrific entrepreneur to learn from. This conversation is from 2020.

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

Brian Robertson: I’m from Northern California. We’re not in the heart of Silicon Valley, but up in Sonoma County. I was born in Kansas City, Missouri, but I was only there for two weeks. My dad was in the Navy. His family was from the Midwest and we were there for a short period.

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Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped a SaaS Business with a Paycheck and Scaled

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

I love doing stories of entrepreneurs who are long-time readers of the 1Mby1M blog. Kovai CEO Saravana Kumar is one of them. This is a wonderful story from 2020 of how he scaled a SaaS company from Coimbatore!

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

Saravana Kumar: I was born and brought up in India. I was from a city called Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. After finishing my master’s in 2000, I got an opportunity to work in London. I took my exam on a Friday and I got the job on Monday morning in London.

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Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped a Virtual Company to $10M from Atlanta

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

We’re big fans of bootstrapping, virtual companies, and domain knowledge. FPD Solutions (formerly Field Pros Direct) Founder CEO Matt Anderson’s story from 2020 has all these ingredients.

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?

Matt Anderson: I’m from a small town northeast of Tennessee called Rogersville. It’s a rural area in the foothills of the Smokies. It’s very beautiful there. I went to East Tennessee State University. I had an aspiration to play football. That’s what drew me to that college. I grew up in that rural town and went on to East Tennessee State. 

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Best of Bootstrapping: Co-Founders Bootstrapped to $10 Million

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

In 2020, Coalition Technologies was still largely a services company, but also had a few products. Co-founder Jordan Brannon shared the company’s well-managed journey.

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?

Jordan Brannon: I was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. I grew up primarily in Washington state in a smaller community. It’s about an hour and a half south of Seattle. I have three brothers and we largely stuck to the northwest throughout my childhood.

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Best of Bootstrapping: EdTech Unicorn Bootstrapped First from Canada

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

In 2020, D2L Founder CEO John Baker shared this terrific story of bootstrapped entrepreneurship in EdTech.

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

John Baker: I’m based in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. I was born in a fishing village on the northeast coast of Newfoundland. When I was 22 years and in my third year of engineering at the University of Waterloo, I started a company with the mission of transforming the way the world learns. 

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