If you haven't already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. We maintain that one of the best ways to identify complex
If you haven't already, please study our free Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. As I started analyzing various paths to success via bootstrapping, a second formula also became absolutely obvious: doing services projects and then formulating a product through that process. We gave this a name: Bootstrapping with Services, and published a book on the subject, Bootstrapping Using Services. Over 99% of entrepreneurs who seek financing get rejected. The seed capital gap leaves many entrepreneurs struggling to get their businesses off the ground. Bootstrapping, a tried-and-true method to self-fund a business, is a must to bridge this gap in seed funding. And offering a service is one of the best ways to bootstrap. When I turn the spotlight on entrepreneurs who have successfully bootstrapped their ventures using services, please note that, in many cases, these same entrepreneurs later raised venture capital. Through my interviews, I aim to give you a seat at the t
If you haven't already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. Among the biases of the Venture Capital industry that need to be categorically ignored, Bootstrapping Using Services happens to be on the top of the list. Zimit Founder and co-CEO James Cramer shares yet another fantastic textbook case study. Zimit was acquired by Workday in September 2021. Sramana Mitra: Let's start at the beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born and raised? What kind of background did you have? James Cramer: I was born in Southern California. I grew up in a family that moved around a lot. My dad worked in the automotive industry, and so every few years we would change locations. That put me in Seattle, Southern California, the Carolinas, and then ultimately in Florida. My dad worked for the same company his entire career. There were ups and downs in that business. I saw that translate onto my dad in terms of
If you haven't already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. The Innovation Management software space is quite crowded. When I spoke to Co-founder Robert Hoehn in 2016, IdeaScale had managed to carve out a niche. Read on! Sramana Mitra: Let's start by going to the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background? Robert Hoehn: I am from Northern New York, almost bordering Canada. I actually did Computer Science in high school. I was a pretty lucky kid to have experience in programming at a pretty young age. I went to the University of Vermont and joined their Computer Engineering program. I studied Computer Science and Business. After that, I decided to take a little time off and think about where I wanted to live and what kind of environment I wanted to be in. I toured the country for a while and visited a few cities over the summer. The Pacific