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We bootstrapped to $11M in ARR

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Re: We bootstrapped to $11M in ARR

#201

Post by robjan »

cambalache wrote: post #188
yibg wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How much is a substantial fraction and who determines that? Is it a simple fraction or does it depend on the market and competitive landscape? Is it something governments should regulate or should consumers vote with their wallets? Companies should adhere to regulations though, no arguments there.

> How much is a substantial fraction and who determines that I determine that and I say +80% , you dont get weasel out of this with useless semantic distinctions. > Is it a simple fraction As oppose to a "complex" one? > Is it something governments should regulate or should consumers vote with their wallets? The company owners should be ethical enough to pay that. Do you use this kind of sophistry to justify your com…

If you have to pay 80% of the local wages it's not worth outsourcing and the Philippine economy loses out. Additionally it would completely mess up the Philippine economy. Suddenly people would rather work in a call centre than, for example, become a doctor because the salaries would be high and barrier to entry low.

Re: We bootstrapped to $11M in ARR

#202

Post by yibg »

cambalache wrote: post #197
tjs8rj wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You either don’t understand human nature and economic incentives or you don’t care. You’re either ignorant or authoritarian.

OK I am ignorant authoritarian, now please work for me for 1USD/h. Put up or shut up.

Do you not buy anything made overseas that pays workers less than 80% of some us based rate? You don’t own an iPhone I assume? You don’t own anything with an intel in it?

Re: We bootstrapped to $11M in ARR

#203

Post by emteycz »

warent wrote: post #179
TheMagicHorsey wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't read any such tone. He's quite fact oriented. You may want to introspect into what you are bringing into the reading as your own context.

it's a combination of it being a brand new (potentially throwaway) account, me potentially misunderstanding what is meant by claiming 20m annual profit for 3 people is "staying low", and the limits of text communication

Why would someone humblebrag on a throwaway account?

Re: We bootstrapped to $11M in ARR

#204

Post by cambalache »

yibg wrote: post #202
cambalache wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OK I am ignorant authoritarian, now please work for me for 1USD/h. Put up or shut up.

Do you not buy anything made overseas that pays workers less than 80% of some us based rate? You don’t own an iPhone I assume? You don’t own anything with an intel in it?

> You don’t own an iPhone I assume?

No I dont.

> You don’t own anything with an intel in it?

No.

> Do you not buy anything made overseas that pays workers less than 80% of some us based rate?

This is all what I have bought in the last 12 months (besides food and rent and services)

2 used jeans

2 used cargo shorts

3 T-shirts (5 USD each)

10 pair of boxers (New, 3 USD each)

1 100 USD phone

That's have been my total consumption. In my place I use 1 lightbulb, 1 small fridge, 1 rice maker and the laptop.

Any other question?

Re: We bootstrapped to $11M in ARR

#205

Post by skrebbel »

0xfaded wrote: post #95
skrebbel wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just curious, where in Europe is doing a SaaS business "about government grants and consortiums"?

Even if you have a profitable SaaS business, it's common to use public funding to cover R&D, i.e. most of your software engineer salaries. Usually this will involve identifying features, getting documentation from your customers they would use the features, inventing a story about how these features will save CO2 and create export oriented jobs, and magically forgetting that you have all the inhouse competencies need…

Yes, but where?

I mean I run a SaaS in the Netherlands. I know some such subsidies exist but they're also appallingly unattractive (except a general R&D salary tax cut). Shit like "get 25k if you do a project with 2 other companies in 2 other EU countries". I'd rather focus that energy on our product and our customers, thanks.

Your suggestion that "everything is about" getting these grants does not match my experience. Rather, I'd put it as, "there are some companies who'd rather hunt down grants than actually focus on their market, and they're seldomly successful". While I agree that these grants, by virtue of existing, actively discourage good entrepreneurship and thus hurt the market, I strongly disagree that you need them to succeed.

Re: We bootstrapped to $11M in ARR

#206

Post by skrebbel »

xondono wrote: post #93
skrebbel wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just curious, where in Europe is doing a SaaS business "about government grants and consortiums"?

Depends on the SaaS business. We are building waste management IoT devices that are deployed to the public, and making a sale easily takes 2 years and thousands of hours in compliance testing and validation.

And would that be different in, say, the US?

Re: We bootstrapped to $11M in ARR

#207

Post by kanwisher »

cambalache wrote: post #204
yibg wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you not buy anything made overseas that pays workers less than 80% of some us based rate? You don’t own an iPhone I assume? You don’t own anything with an intel in it?

> You don’t own an iPhone I assume? No I dont. > You don’t own anything with an intel in it? No. > Do you not buy anything made overseas that pays workers less than 80% of some us based rate? This is all what I have bought in the last 12 months (besides food and rent and services) 2 used jeans 2 used cargo shorts 3 T-shirts (5 USD each) 10 pair of boxers (New, 3 USD each) 1 100 USD phone That's have been my total con…

that 100 USD phone was made by poor low paid people in a poor country

Re: We bootstrapped to $11M in ARR

#208

Post by [deleted] »

bberenberg wrote: post #199
mritchie712 wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.).

FYI there seems to be no way to sign up.

[deleted]

Re: We bootstrapped to $11M in ARR

#209

Post by mritchie712 »

bberenberg wrote: post #199
mritchie712 wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.).

FYI there seems to be no way to sign up.

What's happening when you go here:

https://www.trypaper.io/login

Re: We bootstrapped to $11M in ARR

#210

Post by brandonmenc »

robertlagrant wrote: post #192
brandonmenc wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uh, yeah. One of my great grandmothers was in an actual arranged marriage at age 14 to a man who was like 60 years old. She managed to get out of that one, but had to marry another man (my great grandfather, who I never met) to do it. It was a different world back then, but compressing generations to the point where you are able to know your great grandparents usually requires some creative accounting that wouldn't f…

It was a different world, but it sounds as though the first marriage was irrelevant to the timeline of you knowing her.

Perhaps, but possibly not - once she was "married off" she was no longer her parents' responsibility and had to marry again at a young age in order to survive.

My point is that multiple generations of people need to have children at very young ages - often under conditions where they lack agency - for you to know your great-grandparents. It was a great experience for me, but every generation before me had a hard life.

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