I have been contemplating writing this post for about 2 years, and have been jotting down various notes for it for at least a year. There are lots of ways to unethically nudge your fledgling company along. For example, you can artificially inflate your numbers. “You’ll love our site! Millions of other people are already …
For a great intimate conversation with Mitch Free, CEO of MFG.com, check out the latest installment of the StartupLounge.com podcast. I honestly think that content-wise this has been one of our stronger shows. Mitch shares some very candid views on a variety of topics ranging from what its like to work with Jeff Bezos to …
I have come to the conclusion that there are fundamentally two types of entrepreneurs: opportunists and innovators. Those that exploit and those who dream big. I have also come to the realization that being an opportunist can bolster your efforts to bootstrap your real dream as an innovator. Is it possible to fund your big …
Bootstrapping any new startup is always full of challenges; a big one, of course, being controlling the burn rate of the venture in the face of trying to get bigger. Steve Walden, a former Prodigy exec, a good friend, and a HiddenMarket advisory board member, tells me that I “hold court” at Starbucks, since I …
Welcome to another riveting edition of ye olde mailbag. Earlier today, I received an email from a struggling entrepreneur trying to get “over the hump” of initial financing. A great idea, some early positive signs, yet endlessly “stuck” trying to raise some money.
August 20, 2006
Entrepreneurship isn’t something you fall into and out of like a bad habit. It isn’t something you turn on and off at will. Rather, it’s more like a special “E” chromosome that certain people begrudgingly accept when they’re born. You either have it, or you don’t. As humans, we are capable of putting entrepreneurship into …
Bootstrapping is a sort of “Holy Grail” for entrepreneurs. Those that do it well swear by its power. The disbelievers, as adamant as they are in their opposition to it, are often left behind as the more agile bootstrappers start hitting those critical early milestones. In this piece, I’ll dive into some of my own …