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Bootstrapped to $12M/year hardware and software (whole widget) product co. It took a long time, 13 years. I have a strong feeling that if I could do it all ove

Bootstrapped to $12M/year hardware and software (whole widget) product co. It took a long time, 13 years. I have a strong feeling that if I could do it all over again I’d do it more of it myself for as long as I could until I absolutely had to hire. People tend to underestimate how expensive of an investment it is to reach yourself how to hire, how to onboard, how to coach, and even when you know all that you can still easily spend 3-6 months of a professional salary figuring out someone doesn’t fit well in your organization. Our products have been growing 50% per year for four years now and I’m still thinking of doing more myself and with my cofounders. (We’re all highly technical)

jessehorne 4y ago
I am happy to hear of your success and that you would tackle more on your own. Are there any examples of things you would take over as technical people and things you would absolutely avoid doing on your own?
- Ken_At_EM 4y ago
  I have to warn you that doing things myself has come with the constant guilt of “I should be training someone else to do this if I really want to grow” which is a little proverbially demon of conscience that sits there on my shoulder as I work. I was a software developer prior to becoming a CEO, or whatever that title means, leading a company. I’ve developed an internal cloud for managing our R&D data and processing batch research jobs in the cloud. I developed all of the signal processing algorithms and digital filters for our flagship software product. I am also developing a time series data viewer for our industries specific data which I’ll probably have to hand off at some point. What I try to avoid doing on my own is HR, Payroll, Finances, there are people much better suited to that and let’s be honest, we’re trying to innovate in technology, not accounting or HR (for the most part, excluding culture obviously which is critical)

jessehorne 4y ago

I am happy to hear of your success and that you would tackle more on your own. Are there any examples of things you would take over as technical people and things you would absolutely avoid doing on your own?

Ken_At_EM 4y ago
I have to warn you that doing things myself has come with the constant guilt of “I should be training someone else to do this if I really want to grow” which is a little proverbially demon of conscience that sits there on my shoulder as I work. I was a software developer prior to becoming a CEO, or whatever that title means, leading a company. I’ve developed an internal cloud for managing our R&D data and processing batch research jobs in the cloud. I developed all of the signal processing algorithms and digital filters for our flagship software product. I am also developing a time series data viewer for our industries specific data which I’ll probably have to hand off at some point. What I try to avoid doing on my own is HR, Payroll, Finances, there are people much better suited to that and let’s be honest, we’re trying to innovate in technology, not accounting or HR (for the most part, excluding culture obviously which is critical)