Bootstrapping an E-Commerce Startup from Utah: KURU CEO Bret Rasmussen (Part 2)

Sramana Mitra: Did you have any expertise in shoe design? Who designed the shoe?

Bret Rasmussen: I had no clue on how to design a shoe or how to make a shoe. I just started networking. There was a local design firm here in Salt Lake that had done shoe design for a handful of brands.

Bootstrapping an E-Commerce Startup from Utah: KURU CEO Bret Rasmussen (Part 1)

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

To succeed in e-commerce today, you need to look for unserved niches with unique products.

Sraman a 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?

Bootstrapping with Services to $20M: Visiquate CEO Brian Robertson (Part 7)

Sramana Mitra: What revenue level are you operating at now?

Brian Robertson: Our revenue is over $20 million and growing at a range of 25% to 40% with our current platform. We are at the point of raising now and growing equity. I wanted to skip the traditional VC phase. I never saw a term sheet that I liked. I always told the VCs that it wasn’t about us. Our clients want us to be in control, so we are going to bootstrap the company and hang on to it for as long as we can. We’re very attractive to growth and private equity right now. 

Bootstrapping with Services to $20M: Visiquate CEO Brian Robertson (Part 6)

Sramana Mitra: How much of your old customer base from MedeFinance came into Visiquate? 

Brian Robertson: Not too many. Mede is still a friend of mine and I’m a shareholder, so we were in a situation that just sometimes happens. Sometimes you have certain relationships that follow you wherever you go. I only needed a couple of cornerstone clients that believed in me and my team.

Rollercoaster on a Bike: Zagster CEO Tim Ericson (Part 6)

Sramana Mitra: Did you keep the 250 customers after generating another $10M on top of what you earned before?

Tim Ericson: Exactly. 

Sramana Mitra: COVID hits. What happens next?

Bootstrapping with Services to $20M: Visiquate CEO Brian Robertson (Part 5)

Sramana Mitra: Let’s go back to 2009. Did you have clients from your previous business that you sold this concept to be able to sign on as your validation partners? How many were they?

Brian Robertson: Yes, we had three or four cornerstone clients. 

Rollercoaster on a Bike: Zagster CEO Tim Ericson (Part 5)

Sramana Mitra: What was the total amount of capital you had raised at this point when the market started becoming challenging?

Tim Ericson: We’d raised about $16 million in total at that point. 

Sramana Mitra: You had a chunk of capital in hand when the problem started happening?

Bootstrapping with Services to $20M: Visiquate CEO Brian Robertson (Part 4)

Sramana Mitra: Until $80 million, it was a bootstrapped company and then Bain capital infused $15 million. Is that what you are saying?

Brian Robertson: Yes, it was mostly bootstrapped. There were friends, family, and angels in the early rounds.