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I work at a SaaS product that hasn’t taken any VC money. We have a modest staff, everyone gets paid very adequately, and we slowly are growing our business as o

I work at a SaaS product that hasn’t taken any VC money. We have a modest staff, everyone gets paid very adequately, and we slowly are growing our business as our margin allows us to. It’s not glamorous, it’s not explosive, but it does create a great work life balance. I have little fear of losing my job because we’re running out of funding, or having to build something we don’t believe in to appease shareholders. I don’t even describe it as an internet startup to people, I describe it as an internet small business.

ganeshkrishnan 8y ago
I would love to run such a saas business. Unfortunately, we have to hire and increase revenues just to be cash flow positive and for that we have to hit the streets with our VC pitch bowls.
- bdcravens 8y ago
  Imagine if you ran a company that didn't rely on outside investment.
  - ganeshkrishnan 8y ago
    How? I am not rich enough to pay for hiring or smart enough to be best in every aspect of a startup. I need to hire people to help me out and I can't take forever to build the business without earning anything in the meantime.
    - freehunter 8y ago
      The way it's usually done is start small and focus on profitability from day one. Don't hire until you're making enough money to hire. If you can't start it by yourself or with free labor (from friends etc), well not everyone can succeed in every kind of business. You have to pick what you're good at. Another way is to start small in your spare time focusing on a need that's so close to you that even if you never made a dime you would still get benefit from it. That way you can grow slowly until the business makes enough that you can quit your day job and focus on growth. You don't have to be the best at anything, as long as you're good enough at everything. I can't think of any business that has the best employees for every aspect of their business. Lots of companies get by on just "good enough" for most of their non-core business tasks, and good enough is good enough for that. You only need the best at your core business, which you should be if you're the one starting the business.

ganeshkrishnan 8y ago

I would love to run such a saas business. Unfortunately, we have to hire and increase revenues just to be cash flow positive and for that we have to hit the streets with our VC pitch bowls.

bdcravens 8y ago
Imagine if you ran a company that didn't rely on outside investment.
- ganeshkrishnan 8y ago
  How? I am not rich enough to pay for hiring or smart enough to be best in every aspect of a startup. I need to hire people to help me out and I can't take forever to build the business without earning anything in the meantime.
  - freehunter 8y ago
    The way it's usually done is start small and focus on profitability from day one. Don't hire until you're making enough money to hire. If you can't start it by yourself or with free labor (from friends etc), well not everyone can succeed in every kind of business. You have to pick what you're good at. Another way is to start small in your spare time focusing on a need that's so close to you that even if you never made a dime you would still get benefit from it. That way you can grow slowly until the business makes enough that you can quit your day job and focus on growth. You don't have to be the best at anything, as long as you're good enough at everything. I can't think of any business that has the best employees for every aspect of their business. Lots of companies get by on just "good enough" for most of their non-core business tasks, and good enough is good enough for that. You only need the best at your core business, which you should be if you're the one starting the business.