Bootstrapping Your Startup
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The document discusses the concept of bootstrapping a startup, emphasizing the importance of financial discipline, personal branding, and understanding customer value. It outlines how to begin by leveraging personal finances and building a viable business without relying on venture capital. Additionally, it dispels myths about entrepreneurship and bootstrapping, encouraging founders to choose the best path for their business.
Bootstrapping Your Startup
- 1. Bootstrapping Your Startup Ahimanikya Satapathy Founder & CEO, DocEngage
- 2. So Why Startup? ● You are passionate about a problem ● You have skills to solve it ● And someone is willing to pay for it
- 3. Doubt your Intentions Do you want to become a Doctor or you want to cure people, which one first? Do people value your solution Money is a scale to measure value, if you are solving someone’s real problem, they will pay.
- 4. So, Why Bootstrap? ● Lack of Money will force you build something that works ● Retain Control till you can demonstrate a working Idea ● Coworking space is the new garage, All cloud providers have startup options
- 5. Bootstrap Definition: A situation in which an entrepreneur starts a company with little capital. An individual is said to be bootstrapping when he or she attempts to found and build a company from personal finances or from the operating revenues of the new company.
- 6. OK, So how do I get started? Entrepreneurship is a lifestyle and require discipline, the most important one is financial discipline. You need money all the way. Over time I have developed something called MLP (Minimum Livability Plan); this could be one of ways to get started...
- 7. Use Case: You are a student
- 8. Use Case: You have been working in corporate for a while
- 9. So, how do I really do it? ● Understand, Customer Money is the Cheapest Money ● Personal branding - help others - someone will help you ● Dig deep into competitors public content - don't build product based their features, but know their weak points ● host in-house, it works - use basic linux machine ● Don't waste time in all free stuff, only get free things thats is required for your business ● Don't give anything free to customers - remember customers money is cheaper than VC money
- 10. Myths Entrepreneurship = Venture Capital Bootstrapping = Not Funded Yet Don’t get confused with these myths, understand, Bootstrapping and raising external fund are just two pathways to build business. You as a founder have to choose what is best for your business and you.
- 11. Bootstrap Business Models ● Sometime there are ideas or products that are niche but may not provide scale to attract VCs; but it still can be a viable business ● Sometime startup could stay bootstrapped in initial days and while creating a stable product acquire customers and then decide to scale with external fund ● Lifestyle business owners could choose to stay bootstrapped for long
- 12. Thank You !! “Successful bootstrapping is all about discipline and stamina” - Kevin Hale, Founder, WUFOO “The hardest thing you have to do when you bootstrap is to work for free. There’s no income. It’s not that you have to be cutting big checks necessarily – there’s just no income. So you have to be able to adjust your lifestyle for some period of time” - Christian Chabot, CEO Tableau Be Capital efficient - You don’t need a ping pong table to have a startup culture. In fact, if you’re worried about having a ping pong table, you’re focusing on the wrong values
- 13. Further Reading http://pn.ispirt.in/category/bootstrapping/ http://bootupindia.net/ http://customerfundedbusiness.com/ http://www.bootstrappedbook.com/ http://mixergy.com/interviews/bootstrapping-37signals/