Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

We bootstrapped to $11M in ARR

blog.thinkst.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

111–120 of 225 posts

Re: We bootstrapped to $11M in ARR

#111

Post by mh_ »

1cvmask wrote: post #102
mh_ wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've previously pondered how we would have approached our early steps if we were completely unknown, and the best option i can think of is a kind of sincere, influencer marketing approach. i.e. if you dont have the voice in the industry that people will listen to, find people who do, and get them to see your product. Most industry leaders are constantly looking to up their game, so you should be able to catch their e…

How would you recommend approaching them?

I think it would depend on how those experts roll.

For infosec for example, i think if your product did "X amazing thing", then you'd definitely get a seasoned experts attention if you tweeted "hey, we built a thing that does X amazing thing, give me 5 minutes and i'll show it to you"

I think theres a part of this that means your products has to convince them in the 5 minutes they give you (or at least has to convince them to give you 5 minutes more)

Re: We bootstrapped to $11M in ARR

#112

Post by jerrre »

ithinkso wrote: post #103
cosmodisk wrote: post #92

One thing I don't understand is this notion that any startup can happen only in the valley,or if someone starts there, it's 100 times easier. The main benefit,which the US startups take for granted is the market size. You don't need to learn German, French ,or Spanish just to sell to your neighbors.

Well, of the two neighbors, one speaks Spanish and the other speaks French a bit

I think the point is that the US is so big that you don't to reach the neighbors

Re: We bootstrapped to $11M in ARR

#113

Post by steveklabnik »

Communitivity wrote: post #94

From friends I've talked with, the benefits of the valley are real, but diminishing. At the same time downsides are increasing: cost of living, homelessness, real estate prices (though I read these are coming down a bit). I've been told the benefit has been the ease of networking, and likely will always be so. As startup hubs grow around the country this networking benefit will start to be there. It is already there…

People have been saying this for a very long time. I did a startup in Pittsburgh back in ~2009, and this was exactly what everyone was saying. My cofounder is still doing startups in the same space(ish), but in the Bay Area now.

That doesn't mean it won't ever come to pass, but I am still skeptical. (And I live in Austin now... but the startup I work for is still fundamentally based in the Bay.)

Re: We bootstrapped to $11M in ARR

#114

Post by nradov »

Communitivity wrote: post #94

From friends I've talked with, the benefits of the valley are real, but diminishing. At the same time downsides are increasing: cost of living, homelessness, real estate prices (though I read these are coming down a bit). I've been told the benefit has been the ease of networking, and likely will always be so. As startup hubs grow around the country this networking benefit will start to be there. It is already there…

The other benefit of locating in Silicon Valley is convenient access to multiple first and second tier universities. Many startups are founded to commercialize research done in those schools. Only a few other areas have a similar concentration of top schools.

Re: We bootstrapped to $11M in ARR

#115

Post by boatsie »

spullara wrote: post #8
flukus wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least for software, the vast majority are in some sort of niche you've either never heard of or thought about. Software for managing operating theater procedures, software for managing doctors/dentists, software for managing money exchanges, software for managing legal conveyancing, software for managing schools, etc. Those are examples from places that I've worked that were purely software shops, add to that just…

Those are absolutely terrible companies for software developers to work for though. I have several family members that work for them. If you want average pay and the owners to take all the profits, go for it. Otherwise, work for FAANG, a great startup or a finance company (hedge fund or investment bank).

I think that is sort of the point, though. If you are able to work/succeed at FAANG, you could build software in these niches quite profitably, because the competition is likely not all that good.

Re: We bootstrapped to $11M in ARR

#117

Post by mritchie712 »

stevoski wrote: post #29

Many of the customers of my B2B SaaS are the type of company from the article. We're small enough that I check out the website of every new company. I continue to be amazed at the sheer breadth of small-ish, profitable companies, often bootstrapped, that I would normally never encounter. Also, a shameless plug for my podcast for people running bootstrapped software companies: https://bootstrapped.fm/

Shameless related plug, I run https://www.trypaper.io/ which helps SaaS companies find non-dilutive funding. I don't think Bootstrap needs to mean "no outside capital". There are capital sources out there that align with what most bootstrappers value (e.g. retaining control of their company, calm growth, etc.).

Re: We bootstrapped to $11M in ARR

#119

Post by bootstrapper101 »

philipyoungg wrote: post #71
bootstrapper101 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a consumer product. It is very draining. In today's world consumer don't want to pay for anything, unless they really want the product and they don't have a way to get it otherwise. Many users would use the product and then file chargebacks. Many users will go to any extend to get out of paying coming up with either sad stories, lies or threats. When it's a low cost, high volume product (5m+ paying customers ove…

May I know what your product is? I'm working on www.stayinsession.com for almost a year now. It's B2C and extremely rough. And as you said: loathe customer support for B2C.

Biggest issue with customer support are: Getting customers and supporting them.

Solution to both of them is making a simple product which provides incredible value which is self serve. Word of mouth will take care of the rest. Eventually build a community driven forum which will help with support.

Re: We bootstrapped to $11M in ARR

#120

Post by misthop »

nradov wrote: post #114
Communitivity wrote: post #94

From friends I've talked with, the benefits of the valley are real, but diminishing. At the same time downsides are increasing: cost of living, homelessness, real estate prices (though I read these are coming down a bit). I've been told the benefit has been the ease of networking, and likely will always be so. As startup hubs grow around the country this networking benefit will start to be there. It is already there…

The other benefit of locating in Silicon Valley is convenient access to multiple first and second tier universities. Many startups are founded to commercialize research done in those schools. Only a few other areas have a similar concentration of top schools.

It's amusing to read this comment in response to one that calls out Boston 3 times.
Post reply on HN