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HOT TOPICS
- The Accelerator Conundrum
- The Startup Velocity Question
- Platform as a Service
- Man and Superman
- Web 3.0 = (4C + P + VS)
- The Future: End of Capitalism
- Capitalism 2.0
Bootstrapping
Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped a Digital Startup with a Paycheck
If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page.
We’ve seen a clear trend towards bootstrapping digital startups while holding onto a full-time job for years. When we spoke in 2014, DefinitiveDeals Founder Mattias Larson had a simple but powerful story to tell. Soon after we spoke, DefinitiveDeals.com was acquired by Quotient.
Sramana Mitra: Mattias, tell us about you. Where did your journey begin and in what kind of background?
Mattias Larson: I was born in the northern part of Sweden – actually, not that far away from the Arctic Circle – in a small town with a population of maybe 40,000. I grew up there and I went to college in a nearby town. I graduated with a master’s degree in Computer Science and International Marketing.
Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped Unique Vintage Using a Paycheck
If you haven’t already, please study our free Bootstrapping course and the Investor Introductions page.
Founder CEO Katie Echeverry had a pharmaceutical sales job that she used to bootstrap with a paycheck for 5 years, before quitting to go full-time with her business, Unique Vintage. Here is her story from 2015.
Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Tell us where you’re from. Where did you grow up? Where were you born and raised?
Katie Echeverry: I was born in Burbank, California. I still reside in Burbank, California. I went to school and got my Bachelor’s degree in Sociology, but I ended up in sales. When I was about 26 years old, I ended up being a pharmaceutical sales rep, which I enjoyed. What I liked about sales is the harder I worked, the more money I made. I was a natural entrepreneur, but I just didn’t know the word for it. I worked really hard but that wasn’t enough for me.
Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped Get Real Health Using Services
If you haven’t already, please study our free Bootstrapping course and the Investor Introductions page.
When we spoke in 2014, Get Real Health Founder Robin Wiener had built an excellent company with large, international clients in the healthcare domain and had used the bootstrapping using services technique that we espouse in 1Mby1M.
Sramana Mitra: Let’s go to the beginning of your story. Where are you from? Where were you born and raised, and in what kind of circumstances?
Robin Wiener: I’m from Connecticut. I was born in Bristol, the home of ESPN. I went to the University of Connecticut for college. Early on, I had a major speech problem. I couldn’t really pronounce things. Along with that, I had a major learning disability. I had two sisters and a brother. The teachers told my parents that I just wasn’t as smart as my brothers and sisters. Maybe I could get married and that would be a good thing for me to do.
Best of Bootstrapping: Duda Co-founders Bootstrapped with Paychecks
If you haven’t already, please study our free Bootstrapping course and the Investor Introductions page.
Itai Sadan is the Co-founder and CEO of Duda, a company that turns desktop websites into mobile sites. When we spoke in 2013, Itai had over 10 years of experience in business development, partner management, program management, and development. Prior to founding Duda (formerly DudaMobile), Itai was a director at SAP, where he managed the SAP Discovery System program and was in charge of relationships with IBM, HP, and Fujitsu.
Sramana: Itai, let’s start with the beginning of your personal journey. What is the story that paved the way for your entrepreneurial journey?
Itai Sadan: I was born and raised in Tel Aviv, Israel. I did have a six-year stint in South Africa, where our family lived for a while. I went to high school in Tel Aviv and met the person who is the co-founder and CTO of DudaMobile during my high school years. After high school I went to the army and served in the anti-terrorist school. After I completed my three-year army service, I traveled the world a little bit.
Best of Bootstrapping: ADDA Co-founder Bootstrapped with a Paycheck in India
If you haven’t already, please study our free Bootstrapping course and the Investor Introductions page.
Sangeeta (San) Banerjee is the Co-founder and CEO of ADDA, formerly ApartmentADDA.com, an Indian web application company. She talks about her entrepreneurial journey as a bootstrapped entrepreneur tackling heavily funded competitors. She holds a degree in electrical engineering from Guindy and earned her master’s from Louisiana State University. Prior to founding ApartmentADDA, she worked for Tata Consultancy Services from 1999 to 2003 and then went on to postgraduate education. After graduating from Louisiana State University she worked for Capgemini in Chicago for a year before returning to India to work for SAP India.
Sramana Mitra: Sangeeta, let’s start at the beginning of your story. Where are you from, and what were the circumstances of your childhood?
San Banerjee: I am from Kolkata. I grew up in a very conservative environment. Where I was from, girls were not supposed to ride a bicycle. I went to school on the other end of the city, and I commuted to school by myself. I would ride a bicycle to a ferry, then once on the other side of the river I would take a bus to school. Many people felt that my parents were careless with their daughter’s safety, but my parents really wanted me to be self-sufficient. They wanted me to know how to take care of myself. My belief that I can do anything I want to stems from my parents. I used to face a lot of ridicule for riding a bicycle. They would tell me to stay off the road and tell me to keep my cycle on the playground.
Best of Bootstrapping: Saatva Co-founder Bootstrapped a $25 Million E-commerce Company
If you haven’t already, please study our free Bootstrapping course and the Investor Introductions page.
I have spoken with many VCs who are looking for e-commerce companies that can scale at venture pace, which is hard to achieve. On the other side of the spectrum, however, the bootstrapped e-commerce companies are going gangbusters! Co-founder Ricky Joshi’s Saatva is one such and a terrific company. Here is our conversation from 2014.
Sramana Mitra: Let’s start with your personal back story. Where are you from? Where were you born and raised?
Ricky Joshi: I was born in Columbus, Ohio. I went to Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. I was very involved in the entrepreneurial scene there. I actually helped start the Dartmouth Entrepreneurial Network, which is now the flagship entrepreneurial program at Dartmouth. I started my first company at school. I ended up working at a place called IPG, which had 44,000 employees. We were tasked with visual innovation. The first thing I actually did was lead Series C investment round in Facebook. That was a deal I sourced and led. It was a Series C round with $500 million valuation. Obviously, that worked out well. I was able to do a lot of things there.
Best of Bootstrapping: Lean Company Bootstrapped to $7M
If you haven’t already, please study our free Bootstrapping course and the Investor Introductions page.
Constellix Founder Steven Job had built a lean company with 37 people and had scaled it to $7 million when we spoke in 2021. Read on to learn how.
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?
Steven Job: I was born in Buffalo, New York in 1976. I stayed there during my undergraduate studies. I studied computer science. Throughout that time, my parents always had a business. When you become an entrepreneur, you have to figure out the reasons to become one. Most people do it because their parents had a business or there was something in their life that motivated them.
Best of Bootstrapping: From Friends and Family Funding to a $30 Million Exit
If you haven’t already, please study our free Bootstrapping course and the Investor Introductions page.
It is important not to lose sight of the capital-efficient, bootstrapped or minimally capitalized companies that have achieved success, provided significant return on investment to their stakeholders, and built value for their customers. VerticalResponse Founder Janine Popick shared her wonderful story with me in 2015.
Sramana Mitra: Let’s start with some of your background. Where are you from? Where did you grow up?
Janine Popick: I grew up in a small town called Wingdale, New York. It’s about an hour and 40 minutes north of Manhattan. It’s pretty rural. My dad was an engineer for IBM for 35 years. My mom was a nurse. I went to public school and had a great education, but I really felt the need to get closer to Manhattan. I went to Hofstra University, which is about half hour away from Manhattan. I studied Communications and frankly, wanted to be in television behind the scene either writing, producing, or directing. My first job out of college was with WCBS TV and I was in sales and a little bit of marketing. I realized that that was not what I really wanted to do. I quickly left and took a job as a salesperson selling newspaper space in Brooklyn for a local community newspaper. I decided that after I was in sales, I was going into direct marketing. I did lots of direct mail for small direct marketing agencies in New York.
