5 ms·

Sure, but a lot of people would rather own 10% of a billion dollar company than 100% of a 10 million dollar one.

giansegato 5y ago
While many others would prefer the other way around. There's no inherently better model. Someone might prefer flexibility over ambition. Others ambition over flexibility.
- flyinglizard 5y ago
  I think bootstrapping is overly romanticized. In many cases those entrepreneurs aren’t good at taking feedback or telling their story or have a lousy idea to begin with. Not to say that it’s not going to work or not admirable, but getting VC money is a very early kind of “product market fit” in the sense that you need to sell people your vision in return for money. I did both bootstrap and VC paths. You can get it wrong in each, but I know that my previous insistence on not taking external money was somewhat rooted in arrogance.
bacheson1293 5y ago
I bootstrapped a SaaS business from my kitchen table...it's now worth just shy of $100M. I thank the heavens everyday that I didn't go the VC route. I can pretty much do whatever I want without this constant growth at all costs pressure. It also gives us a massive advantage against VC backed competitors. We can make decisions that reap benefits 2-5 years out. This has created a situation were every competitor follows the same trajectory where it eventually leads to an over-complicated, bloated product that users hate. They come to us and it's like a breath of fresh air.
blacktriangle 5y ago
But now you have to look at the expected value as well. A 10 million dollar company, lets say at a conservative 5x earnings multiple means 2mil annual profits. At 80% margin that's 2.5mil ARR. For a B2B SaaS product you should be able to get at least $1,000 / customer annually, which means you need to find 2500 customers to own 100% of a 10 million dollar company, which in the age of email and Facebook marketing is very much within reach. And these are conservative numbers. A strategic buyer might very well pay 10x if you're showing nice growth, margins of 90% are not unrealistic in SaaS, and you could possibly raise prices depending on the value you are providing and who you're selling to. Now ask how many stars have to align to reach a billion dollar valuation, assuming you haven't been screwed over by your investors by the time you reach that point.

While many others would prefer the other way around. There's no inherently better model. Someone might prefer flexibility over ambition. Others ambition over flexibility.

flyinglizard 5y ago
I think bootstrapping is overly romanticized. In many cases those entrepreneurs aren’t good at taking feedback or telling their story or have a lousy idea to begin with. Not to say that it’s not going to work or not admirable, but getting VC money is a very early kind of “product market fit” in the sense that you need to sell people your vision in return for money. I did both bootstrap and VC paths. You can get it wrong in each, but I know that my previous insistence on not taking external money was somewhat rooted in arrogance.

bacheson1293 5y ago

I bootstrapped a SaaS business from my kitchen table...it's now worth just shy of $100M. I thank the heavens everyday that I didn't go the VC route. I can pretty much do whatever I want without this constant growth at all costs pressure. It also gives us a massive advantage against VC backed competitors. We can make decisions that reap benefits 2-5 years out. This has created a situation were every competitor follows the same trajectory where it eventually leads to an over-complicated, bloated product that users hate. They come to us and it's like a breath of fresh air.

blacktriangle 5y ago

But now you have to look at the expected value as well. A 10 million dollar company, lets say at a conservative 5x earnings multiple means 2mil annual profits. At 80% margin that's 2.5mil ARR. For a B2B SaaS product you should be able to get at least $1,000 / customer annually, which means you need to find 2500 customers to own 100% of a 10 million dollar company, which in the age of email and Facebook marketing is very much within reach. And these are conservative numbers. A strategic buyer might very well pay 10x if you're showing nice growth, margins of 90% are not unrealistic in SaaS, and you could possibly raise prices depending on the value you are providing and who you're selling to. Now ask how many stars have to align to reach a billion dollar valuation, assuming you haven't been screwed over by your investors by the time you reach that point.