8 ms·

"there’s a disturbing trend developing of people deciding to found a company simply to get rich." - ok I have to stop you there. This is not a new developing t

"there’s a disturbing trend developing of people deciding to found a company simply to get rich." - ok I have to stop you there. This is not a new developing trend. It has always been a part of tech startup lore. If there is any current trend it's the democratization of startups. 10 years ago you needed $10 million in funding to build something real. 5 years ago $3 to $5 million. Today that's probably $1 -$2 million. The interesting thing about startups _today_ is that you can build real, decent, 10's or 100+ people startups without having to raise gazilions of $'s. Prior to very recently it was go big or go home entirely. Which is a good point. Has anyone done any analysis on the YC/500 alums that fall in-between the Billion Startup Club and failing? My guess is there might be literally 100's of Olarks that are really great places to work with interesting teams doing millions in revenue that never needed to raise big dough. That option didn't really exist 5 or 10 years ago. The option to strike it rich though always has.

steiza 12y ago
We (at Olark) are wondering the same thing. We just recently talked to Poll Everywhere (S'08) - they are also bootstrapped and well over $1m / year in revenue. Wufoo was as well (they were acquired in 2011). If you're a bootstrapped company (let's say < $100k in outside funding) and you have revenues >> $1m / year, we'd love to hear from you! Does it count if you raise after you hit $1m / year in revenue? I'll let you decide.
- pbreit 12y ago
  You make it sound like raising is bad. there is absolutely nothing wrong with raising and in fact it is a good thing.
  - jvyduna 12y ago
    Raising is a great thing. Bootstrapping feels harder though.
  - steiza 12y ago
    I meant does it still count as bootstrapping if you raise after hitting $1m / year in revenue. Without VC there would be no Google, no Microsoft, no Amazon, ... I don't think many people seriously advocate for a world with no VCs.
  - coralreef 12y ago
    I wouldn't say raising money is necessarily a "good thing". Sure it gives you a bit of validation that someone would take a risk on you/your idea. But the data shows most companies will just burn through the money and never make a return. Making profit is a "good thing". Raising money is just this side process that may or may not be necessary for your company.
- modoc 12y ago
  100% bootstrapped and on track to break $10m/year in 2015.

steiza 12y ago

We (at Olark) are wondering the same thing. We just recently talked to Poll Everywhere (S'08) - they are also bootstrapped and well over $1m / year in revenue. Wufoo was as well (they were acquired in 2011). If you're a bootstrapped company (let's say < $100k in outside funding) and you have revenues >> $1m / year, we'd love to hear from you! Does it count if you raise after you hit $1m / year in revenue? I'll let you decide.

pbreit 12y ago
You make it sound like raising is bad. there is absolutely nothing wrong with raising and in fact it is a good thing.
- jvyduna 12y ago
  Raising is a great thing. Bootstrapping feels harder though.
- steiza 12y ago
  I meant does it still count as bootstrapping if you raise after hitting $1m / year in revenue. Without VC there would be no Google, no Microsoft, no Amazon, ... I don't think many people seriously advocate for a world with no VCs.
- coralreef 12y ago
  I wouldn't say raising money is necessarily a "good thing". Sure it gives you a bit of validation that someone would take a risk on you/your idea. But the data shows most companies will just burn through the money and never make a return. Making profit is a "good thing". Raising money is just this side process that may or may not be necessary for your company.
modoc 12y ago
100% bootstrapped and on track to break $10m/year in 2015.