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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 AutoClaims Direct to $15M
If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page.
Ernie Bray, Chairman and CEO of AutoClaims Direct (ACD), leveraged his domain knowledge in auto insurance claims processing, and built a robust, sustainable business. When we spoke in 2015, he was using 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.
Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped from Oklahoma to Exit
If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page.
How often do you hear of a successful entrepreneurship story out of Oklahoma? Well, meet Robin Roberson, Co-founder of WeGoLook. This is our conversation from 2015. WeGoLook was acquired by Crawford & Company in 2017.
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.
Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped a Freemium Business with a Paycheck
If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page.
Aytekin Tank, Founder and CEO of JotForm, is a Turkish entrepreneur who bootstrapped his company with a paycheck. When we spoke in 2015, he was using 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.
Best of Bootstrapping: Peruvian Entrepreneur Bootstrapped to $200M
If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page.
We hear a lot from Indian and Chinese entrepreneurs. We hear some from Europeans. But thus far, not as much from Latin American entrepreneurs. WEI President Belisario Rosas is Peruvian, and is also interested in fostering further entrepreneurship in Latin America. This is our conversation from 2015.
Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your personal journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and what kind of background?
Belisario Rosas: I was born in Lima, Peru.
Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped to $15M in Three Years
If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page.
Extraordinarily tight, disciplined strategy and execution has enabled Connatix Founder CEO David Kashak to build a tremendously fast growth company with a small team. A lot to learn from our conversation in 2016.
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?
David Kashak: I was born in Israel. I grew up in Israel and studied engineering at Tel Aviv University. After studying, I started as a programmer in a cyber security company in Israel. At one point, they offered to relocate me to New York. That offer was very interesting because I wanted to get more exposure to business. I moved to New York.
Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped from New Zealand, Scaled in the US
If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page.
I have always said that you need to bootstrap your way to validation and traction. ProjectManager.com Founder Jason Westland did just that, and built a robust company from New Zealand. Read on, it’s a fabulous story from 2016.
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?
Jason Westland: That’s further back in time than I expected. I’m from New Zealand in the Southern Alps. My first job was managing a project of 25 people. I was 22, just out of university. I was in project management until around 15 years ago when I became the General Manager of a software company that grew fast. I was inspired to start my own business based on reporting to a Board that I learned a lot from. This is the third business that I’ve started.
Best of Bootstrapping: Bootstrapped Using Services from Houston
If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page.
Identity Automation Founder James Litton built an identity management software company from Houston and then went upmarket. Here is our conversation from 2016.
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 circumstances?
James Litton: I am a native Houstonian. I’m a rare breed. I was born and raised in Houston. In terms of circumstances, I think I’m from your quintessential American middle-class family.
Best of Bootstrapping: Serial Bootstrapper Bootstrapped to $27M
If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page.
This is a wonderful story from 2016 of a serial bootstrapper, then Tanga CEO, Jeremy Young. He built a wonderful e-commerce business similar to Groupon, but with no outside money.
Sramana Mitra: Let’s got back to the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background?
Jeremy Young: I was born in Spokane, Washington. My dad had ended up moving our family across the border to Idaho, which is about 45 minutes away. That’s where I grew up. I have six brothers and sisters—two older brothers and four younger sisters. I was raised in a middle lower class home. My dad worked the same job for 30 years. My oldest brother, Jeff, who is five years older than me ended up getting several jobs while he was in high school and got me interested in business and work in general. He’s a role model to me. He worked very hard and always had lots of money. He was able to buy cars, stereo equipments, and video games. I learned from him and really wanted to earn money as well.
