It really depends on the niche. This is pretty much the opposite of pg's essay about startups and growth from a couple of months back. Unless you're already exceedingly wealthy it will be very, very, VERY difficult to sustain the growth needed to succeed solely on scale (aka a "startup"). If you're self-funding then you'll have to succeed on other merits besides growth. This is neither good nor bad, it just means that you're a lot less likely to hit a grand slam.
The Genius of Starting a Company Without Outside Capital
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Re: The Genius of Starting a Company Without Outside Capital
#12This is nothing about the genius of bootstrapping a company. It is just a play on the profiled company's brand name and their story (which is commendable), but the headline was a bit misleading IMO.
Re: The Genius of Starting a Company Without Outside Capital
#13It really depends on the niche. This is pretty much the opposite of pg's essay about startups and growth from a couple of months back. Unless you're already exceedingly wealthy it will be very, very, VERY difficult to sustain the growth needed to succeed solely on scale (aka a "startup"). If you're self-funding then you'll have to succeed on other merits besides growth. This is neither good nor bad, it just means tha…
As the only "bootstrapped" CDN to survive from 2001 till now, we couldn't agree with this more. During that time, the number of CDNs has gone from a half dozen, to 60, to a half dozen, to 60, to a couple dozen. Each of the expansion phases has been on VC or public market money, with deep pockets buying market share until no more market share can be readily bought. At that point, if the business model doesn't prove out, the CDN implodes or gets acquired. This is ruinous for the space, but especially difficult to compete against if you're bootstrapped.
When self funded and profitable (or at least break even in lean years), the need for fiscal discipline means you have to simply out execute the competition to win and keep clients, and hope to beat the competition by outlasting them (or, to be more accurate, outlasting the will of those funding them).
Ideally, of course, you'd have the discipline needed to last, but also have ample ready funding to pour into growth. Then you can ratchet up and down as market conditions support.
Re: The Genius of Starting a Company Without Outside Capital
#14$35k is not a trivial sum for recent college grads. That can pay rent for two years. Really the hardest part is paying your living expenses.
Re: The Genius of Starting a Company Without Outside Capital
#15$35k is not a trivial sum for recent college grads. That can pay rent for two years. Really the hardest part is paying your living expenses.
I think the article said they were in grad school (MBAs), so they probably had some cash if they worked beforehand. Also, 35k/3 is doable, even if "debt free" means you got an interest free loan from your parents...
Re: The Genius of Starting a Company Without Outside Capital
#16The software equivalent of this would be the proverbial jackpot. A project a few guys could hack together in a few weeks that generates huge cash-flow relative to invested time, which is trivially scaled, and which needs no future growth so those founders could trivially sustain it. Such ventures are usually fad-centric and unsustainable, from what I've seen. At some point, they'll likely have to scale out scope and…
A lot of big, established tech corporations don't give their employees equity. If you can offer pay and benefits equivalent to ${BIG CORP} I would expect you to do alright.
Re: The Genius of Starting a Company Without Outside Capital
#17$35k is not a trivial sum for recent college grads. That can pay rent for two years. Really the hardest part is paying your living expenses.
I was thinking the same. Now a growing startup on $100? That's a lot more interesting for me, maybe because I relate to it more.
Re: The Genius of Starting a Company Without Outside Capital
#18Deep down inside, even though the venture-backed guys get all the glamour. Everyone really has envy for the bootstrapped company that had exponential revenue curves and never took outside investment. It's almost impossible to find those types of companies though.