Best of Bootstrapping: Coalition Technologies Co-founders Bootstrap to $10M

Coalition Technologies is still largely a services company, but also has a few products. Co-founder Jordan Brannon shares 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.

I ended up going to the University of Washington in Seattle. I roomed with my brother who inspired much of my entrepreneurial journey. He was a finance major and always interested in testing something new, doing something new. He was always quite competitive. He was always eager to do something better.

>>>

How Do You Know It’s Time to Quit Your Job and Start Your Own Business?

If you want to raise funding, you would need to quit your job and go full-time, because investors generally don’t fund companies that are led by part-time founders.

But it often takes several years of bootstrapping before you’re ready to go to investors.

At 1Mby1M, we support Bootstrapping with a Paycheck. You can find some case studies within my Bootstrapping Course: Bootstrap Using a Paycheck. This video lecture will provide you with important perspective.

It is invaluable to have a job that pays the bills while you’re validating your ideas, getting your strategy together, etc.

>>>

Catching Up On Readings: Data Analytics Trends 2020

This report from Gartner look at the top 10 technology trends that data and analytics leaders should focus on as they look to make essential investments to prepare for a reset following the pandemic. For this week’s posts, click on the paragraph links.

Thursday, October 22 – 506th 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable for Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are invited to the 506th FREE online 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable on Thursday, October 22, 2020, at 8 a.m. PDT/11 a.m. EDT/5 p.m. CEST/8:30 p.m. India IST.

If you are a serious entrepreneur, register to “pitch” and sell your business idea. You’ll receive straightforward feedback, advice on next steps, and answers to any of your questions. Others can register to “attend” to watch, learn, and interact through the online chat.

You can learn more here and register to pitch or attend here. Register and you will receive the recording by email, even if you are unable to attend. Please share with any entrepreneurs in your circle who may be interested. All are welcome!

Eventbrite Suffers Deeply from COVID-19

Earlier this year, an IBIS World research report had projected online event ticket sales in the country to grow 9.5% to $13.2 billion in 2020. But like several other industries, the global pandemic has upended those forecasts significantly. San Francisco-based Eventbrite (NYSE:EB), a leading player in the industry, is struggling with its results as events and large gatherings continue to get cancelled.

Catching Up On Readings: Apple’s Hi Speed Event

This feature from Daring Fireball by John Gruber covers the highlights of Apple’s Hi Speed iPhone 12 event last week where it unveiled its flagship 5G phones. For this week’s posts, click on the paragraph links.

Catching Up On Readings: PC Market Q3 2020

This report from Canalys covers the growth trends in the global PC market, which benefited greatly from the COVID crisis and recorded a stellar 13% growth. For this week’s posts, click on the paragraph links.

504th Roundtable Recording on October 8, 2020: With Suman Talukdar, AiSprouts.VC

In case you missed it, you can listen to the recording here: