I'd suggest you set your sites higher than $1k/month. $10k/month is a start. $100k/month is a business that pays you and your employees. And there are zillions of them out there to learn from. My blog isn't about the internals of our business, but I'm happy to tell any bootstrapper who asks.
Ask HN: successful, transparent bootstrappers?
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Re: Ask HN: successful, transparent bootstrappers?
#22Ummm, I'm not sure I agree with you financial definition of success. But, after all... it is your definition. I meet the criteria. I don't consider my business financially successful, yet. Although we make on average $2k a month and have made as much as $4k a month. Our blog is http://techneur.com
Re: Ask HN: successful, transparent bootstrappers?
#23Worked on http://Todoist.com while in university. Not really my active startup, but Todoist is bootstrapped, profitable ($1k+) and one of the largest task managers on the net. If I was to bootstrap something again then I would do it in my free time until it took off (like patio11). If you have any questions feel free to ask :-)
It seems from the homepage that Todoist.com is free. How do you make money? Ads? Can you share more numbers?
Re: Ask HN: successful, transparent bootstrappers?
#24Maybe it is just me, but I've never seen the reason for being "transparent" about internal business processes. While I am certain that the HN crowd here finds it interesting, our customers have never once asked us (in 8+ years) to divulge our monthly sales figures. We are 100% focused on our customers, and really don't worry what other entrepreneurs might think of our company. Does anyone here have any stats that show that being "open" about your sales/business processes improves the bottom line? That's something I'd love to see - even some anecdotal evidence from those that have tried it (i.e. you saw a boost in sales after becoming more transparent) would be nice.
You can add us (Talldude Networks) as a successful (almost 8 years) "startup", completely self funded and roaring along.
Re: Ask HN: successful, transparent bootstrappers?
#25Maybe it is just me, but I've never seen the reason for being "transparent" about internal business processes. While I am certain that the HN crowd here finds it interesting, our customers have never once asked us (in 8+ years) to divulge our monthly sales figures. We are 100% focused on our customers, and really don't worry what other entrepreneurs might think of our company. Does anyone here have any stats that sho…
A sort of indirect benefit, but I think patio11 will get more out of being open with BCC/Appointment Reminder than hurt by it. He's starting to become known, which will make it easier to find talent / co-founders / investors if he needs them later on. I doubt it will influence anyone to buy the software, though.
Re: Ask HN: successful, transparent bootstrappers?
#26ServerDensity is a transparent bootstrapped startup.
Product: http://serverdensity.com
Re: Ask HN: successful, transparent bootstrappers?
#27I'd suggest you set your sites higher than $1k/month. $10k/month is a start. $100k/month is a business that pays you and your employees. And there are zillions of them out there to learn from. My blog isn't about the internals of our business, but I'm happy to tell any bootstrapper who asks.
That depends on the expenses (incl. # of employees), doesn't it? The bootstrapped founders I know that I'd consider very successful don't make $100k/month, but they also don't have employees. A two-founder business with few expenses, clearing $20k/month profit, makes the founders $120k/yr apiece, which seems pretty successful to me. Certainly more than ramen-profitable, anyway!
Re: Ask HN: successful, transparent bootstrappers?
#28Worked on http://Todoist.com while in university. Not really my active startup, but Todoist is bootstrapped, profitable ($1k+) and one of the largest task managers on the net. If I was to bootstrap something again then I would do it in my free time until it took off (like patio11). If you have any questions feel free to ask :-)
It seems from the homepage that Todoist.com is free. How do you make money? Ads? Can you share more numbers?
Freemium, but I don't promote it that much. When people pay they expect support, new features and new iterations - something that I don't have time to provide as Todoist isn't my active startup.
For numbers: Todoist has 100.000+ users and only a few % paying customers - enough to cover costs and make it profitable.
Re: Ask HN: successful, transparent bootstrappers?
#29Probably semi-transparent, but 37signals/Basecamp?
Re: Ask HN: successful, transparent bootstrappers?
#30Maybe it is just me, but I've never seen the reason for being "transparent" about internal business processes. While I am certain that the HN crowd here finds it interesting, our customers have never once asked us (in 8+ years) to divulge our monthly sales figures. We are 100% focused on our customers, and really don't worry what other entrepreneurs might think of our company. Does anyone here have any stats that sho…
A sort of indirect benefit, but I think patio11 will get more out of being open with BCC/Appointment Reminder than hurt by it. He's starting to become known, which will make it easier to find talent / co-founders / investors if he needs them later on. I doubt it will influence anyone to buy the software, though.
Yes - I definitely can see that being a plus. Can you think of any negatives though (besides hiring) that come from NOT being transparent?
I think one of the biggest concerns small companies have is that divulging their monthly income can give their competition insights into their revenue stream and customer count - something that I know makes me a bit uneasy. But maybe there's a way to be more open/transparent without divulging "too much" information - and maybe there is a benefit in that to your customers?