On the evening of March 6, 2008 I’ll be moderating a Churchill Club panel discussion in San Francisco on “Bootstrapping As A Start-Up.” Participants include Sean Byrnes (CEO Flurry), Craig Newmark (Founder Craigslist), Gabe Rivera (Founder TechMeme), and Stephen Weir (CEO MadeIt). The discussion will be around starting and growing a startup without outside funding.
This is a very small event – just 30 attendees total (hopefully they’ll video so that more people can watch it afterwards). The tickets are now gone – but the last five have been reserved for TechCrunch readers (and are free). If you want to go, please leave a comment below telling us why you think you would benefit from the event or have something interesting to contribute. Also, given that there are so few seats available, please don’t ask for a ticket unless you are sure you can attend. I’ll choose five in 24 hours.
I’d like to go, but i can’t attend. can they record?
I bootstrapped to move cross country to San Francisco, but bootstrapping my company has been a much harder road.
As a serial entrepreneur from Europe, building a business now in the Valley with bootstrapping model, I think I could contribute to the discussion the global perspective and insights on doing marketing without a marketing budget.
As co-founder and CEO of a young startup, I would love the opportunity to attend so that a) I could learn from others who have so successfully bootstrapped–Gabe, Craig, yourself–and b) contribute what I have learned the past 6 months while simultaneously working a 9-to-5 and trying to get a startup off the ground with my business partner. Additionally, I would find it refreshing to meet like minded entrepreneurs in a small group setting who are working just as hard at building a successful, long-term businesses with nothing but an idea, ambition, and a whole lot of elbow grease.
Long live the bootstrappers!
I’m a Stanford grad student (engineering masters now, and just got accepted to the b-school class of 2010). I hope to do startups after GSB, so I’m looking to learn as much as possible. What better than successful cases from the horse’s mouth?
because bartending is the best way to acquire capital… and I just drove cross country to SF- I need all the help I can get!!!
I can record and upload it online. I should get a ticket. Out of the panel, Craig Newmark is my personal hero. His lean mean web machine pumps out cash over fists and his altruistic charity work humbles me and puts what I work on day to day, and will do in the future, in constant perspective.
I guess i kill so much time at work visiting all the sites above, I should get a chance to see the people who made it possible
Hi Michael,
This is a timely discussion for Animoto as we’re currently evaluating our financing options as our service gains popularity. We’d like to avoid going the VC route and could really benefit from some best practice advice from guys who’ve been able to do so. We’ve been bootstrapping the company since Aug 2006 – with some investment from friends and family – so I think I’ll also have a lot to add to the conversation.
Best,
Brad Jefferson
CEO & Co-founder
Animoto.com
Hi Michael,
This is a timely discussion for Animoto as we’re currently evaluating our options as our service gains popularity. We’d like to avoid going the VC route and could really benefit from some best practice advice from guys who’ve been able to do so. We’ve been bootstrapping the company since Aug 2006 – with some investment from friends and family – so I think I’ll also have a lot to add to the conversation.
Best,
Brad Jefferson
CEO & Co-founder
brad@animoto.com
I’m looking to bootstrap my start-up, which will build out on HotorNot’s polling information. When someone is voted a 1 to 4 (the ugly bunch) we will cookie that user as ugly, and through my yet to be developed ad network, target them with online dating sites, grow hairback, get ‘bigger’, and other low self esteem products.
With those score between 5 to 7, we’d target them with Target and Volkswagon Ads, and 8+… well we’d run my picture hoping to score a date with the females of the group, and the males, we can show them the ‘bigger’ ads too.
While not exactly what I’m working on (above) the targeting schema actually does make sense. I’ve been working on a startup over the last few months, while continuing my day job, and would love to learn from panel you have listed.
Hi Michael:
For the last three years, I have been running an online education company with a bootstrap budget. I have invested less than $1000 into my website, but have developed a business model that is now driving six-figures of revenue each year. In the next year I have plans to create an innovative learning platform–but I would like to do so without soliciting any outside funding from angels or Series A investments.
I’d love to get some advice on how to scale my offering massively on a tight budget. I’ll also be happy to contribute my story to the forum, on how I was able to build/run a six-figure revenue company with less than $2000 in costs each year.
Thanks for your consideration.
I have recently left a successful career as a lawyer and management consultant to start a social web venture in the education space. Not a lot of money out there for education start-ups or first-time entrepreneurs. I need to find a way to get sufficient traction on my product before I can even get the interest of venture capitalists. Beyond that, as a former corporate lawyer, I am aware of the pitfalls of venture financing, so it would be great to hear about strategies that would help put off taking money as long as possible.
I would love to attend if there is space available.
Hi,
I work for a leading online digital marketing/design firm and it would be nice to see what new ideas are out there and maybe I can also provide some thoughts and input from a practical viewpoint to people who are looking for something like that.
Personally, I have no specific plan to start a start-up but I sure like to help people who do.
Thanks,
Ra
I run a bootstrapped company with 2,000,000+ users that TC does not know about. I would not like to disclose what the company is (it’s very nice, not-adult, not porn), and it’s forril. I just want to stay out of web 2.0, but would really like to listen to Craig.
To make sure I am telling the truth, you can interview me on any operational or technical subject that’s relevant to running a decent size company.
I’d love to attend because I’ve got a software invention that I’ve been working on in my spare time, and I know it’s going to change the world. But I don’t know anything about startups, bootstrapped or not, and could use some advice. I’m in SoCal but I’d happily drive up to SF for this. Thanks.
I recently quit school on the east coast and moved to San Francisco few weeks ago to pursue my startup. Last month we spent $4,000 on bandwidth/servers out of our own pocket to sustain our site’s growth. This will be a great place for me to gain insights on running a tight ship financially as well as connect with new faces.
Hi Michael,
I’d like to go. Currently the head of a small ’starve-up’. Learned some tough lessons about bootstrapping with the last company I started (let’s just call it a dry run), and I would be interested in getting some insight from the members of the killer panel that has been set up.
I have found panel discussions like this one (with a small audience) to be the most beneficial. I can contribute my own perspective on bootstrapping, and why I have decided to take that avenue.
Plus, it would be great if someone from outside of the Valley (and CA) could attend. I’m in Portland, OR.
Just let me know, and I will book the ticket.
Thanks!
Andres
Hi Michael,
I am the Co-Founder of Dhingana, a startup based in Silicon Valley (Sunnyvale). Incidently like iLike.com co-founders, me and my brother Snehal are also twins
(Identical Twins)
We have had exponential growth over the last 12 months and are drawing close to 15MM page views per month. Today we stand as Indian’s First and Biggest Social Network around music. We allow users to interactively stream music from all major Indian genre for FREE. We offer rich community based features like Musical Profile page, create & share Public SmartLists (playlists), create & share Public Musical Greetings, create your own musical Friends Network and share Musical history with your friends etc.
We are a small team and have been self funding our startup for the last 1 year. As our user base spreads exponentially we are in a delimma right now if we should go for a VC funding or continue to self fund our startup while we work on boosting our Ad revenues to cover for any/all costs.
This is a very exciting time for us in terms of growth while the decision to go for outside funding is very critical. I think this is a perfect moment for us to attend the above bootstrapping event and get some expert advice as to what should be the next steps. This being our first startup – any expert advice will be invaluable.
Hope you consider us for this event. Feel free to drop me an email if you have any questions.
Regards,
Swapnil.
Hi Michael, I started Sports Business Simulations with just $25,000 five years ago January 23rd. I’ve worked as CEO and have not had to take another job over that time. I started knowing zip about FML HTML, SEO, and the other alphabet soup Internet terms that I’m now an expert in. All I have done over this time is constantly learn, test, and apply code, and I’ve been able to try approaches that in a more bureaucratic setting would not see the light of day. During this path I’ve seen one major change: in myself. My self-esteem is better than it’s ever been and I’ve never been happier with myself. I would love to come to your event, and I have a lot to offer the proceedings.
Visit http://www.sbs-world.com
I’ve worked for a “bootstrap company” – RightNow and the challenges that it faced in marketing especially going after SalesForce.com. Now starting a company and being a first time entrepreneur, I have found the only way to get my project off the ground is to bootstrap.
I would like to learn from people who have done it successfully before me because on a “bootstrap” budget I can’t afford to make many mistakes.
Hi Mike,
I am a co-founder & CTO of a self-funded startup.
Company Name: Viralizr (Social collaboration apps on Facebook & Open Social).
First Application: Listmania – http://apps.fac...om/socialtopten – its an app for creating and discovering all kinds of interesting lists (top ten lists, best/worst lists etc.)
More apps for Facebook and other social networks in development.
Status: Few months old. Self funded. Looking to continue that for as long as we can. Would love to hear from other people who have done this successfully.
Thanks,
Srinivas Narayanan
I’m 24, a senior at UCLA and have used my life savings (around 15k) and the last year of my life to build a community news site for high school sports that will be launching in the next week.
I spend all of my free time outside of class (and most of my time in class) working on this project. Having the opportunity to attend an event like this that is so directly applicable to my situation and future would be an invaluable experience. Specifically, I’m excited about the chance to participate in a discussion and have real conversations about this subject matter.
I am one a growing number of young adults that with the help of platforms like RoR have been able to create web services/apps with fairly robust functionality for little or no money. The implications of this trend are far reaching (e.g. an increase in low/mid level VC’s, organizations like Y Combinatior, etc.) and we are now seeing a real change to not only how businesses are created but also in how they are grown.
I wasn’t able to get tickets to the TC40 and I was online when the Crunchies went on sale but couldn’t attend b/c of class. I’d give pretty much anything to go to this event
I am a co-founder of a start-up and we’ve been running on our own cash up till now. We’ve signed a few big partners in this space already and we really need the knowledge of how we can get to the next step without giving too much of our equity away (outside funding). We’re still in stealth-mode so I can’t really publicly tell everyone what it is, but I can say that our product will revolutionize Hollywood and the way movies are made.
I would also love to meet people in the same boat as me and see if I can help them with anything that I’ve run into ever since I started my company with my friends.
–Steve
I don’t beg.
You should pick me because I will be bootstrapping my own startup and I don’t want to spend it all on development costs! Have to save some room for advertising on Techcrunch!
We are basically building the Web 3.0.
We are developing extremely useful WebApps and Hardware that will revolutionize the world of computing and deliver on the true promise of computing.
We are just leaving the Alpha stage and going into beta on building our first product.
Our company is essentially positioned to be the next Apple computers, but much better and I would love to gain as much as insight as possible at this event.
Mike,
It’ll be truly helpful to me.
I’m 23, french, living in Paris and landing in SF for 6 month on the 27th Feb.
Founded a start-up 2 years ago and ATM working on a new project for september 08.
I’ll be in SF to meet people and attend that kind of event.
I might not be the big reader you expect yet out of the five you’ll pick if you want to give a hand to a third-world worker think about me
Thanks,
Simon
P.S : I still can bring you a special bottle of wine from Paris, think about it !
@ 26 – Jake, Sorry pal, but we’re already building Web 4.0
Michael Arrington,
A lot of these posts are filled with entrepreneurs who have companies of their own and have good reasons to attend this event. I’d like to add a personal appeal to my own bid for two of these tickets.
Yes, I said two tickets. I don’t call myself the “CEO” and I don’t wear a business suit everywhere I go; I don’t have enough money to incorporate my business so the title would be a farse anyway, and business suits also are sort of, not quite a priority in terms of spending these days. I’m not really even a programmer — I’m a journalist. I’m 27 and I didn’t even have the $15k in lifesavings that other people had. My family doesn’t have money either. My seed money was about $1,500. I’ve been hustling with that seed money since September.
And Valentine’s Day weekend is coming up. That was the weekend that I was supposed to take a break from what my girlfriend calls “my other girlfriend” — my news site LateUpdate.com. Notice, it’s LateUpdate.com and not weebuu or zilhouette or trunky (if I accidentally named a real company out there — my apologies! I’m sure you have a good reason for that one!).
But I couldn’t take her this weekend because there are a lot of other things that money must be spent on — food, shelter, warmth. My girlfriend understands, although it’s pretty amazing considering that her mother is a diplomat and her past boyfriends were, as they say, paid.
No, I’m bootstrapping it, and in a major way. My company is a kernel of an idea right now, a news Web site with some interesting features and backed by a guy (me) who thinks that the content and a new model for an open news process will ultimately grow on its own momentum. Yet, through my keen bootstrapping skills I have managed to build a company with multiple phone lines, a multi-faceted data-driven Web site, newsletters and even a quarterly PDF newsletter — all using open source software or super-cheap software, a DSL connection and a desktop computer. Oh yeah and a lot of will power, which thankfully doesn’t cost a dime.
So I think I have already come well along in understanding what it’s like to bootstrap as a company. I’m finding my way onto the radio news here in the Central Valley, I was selected as a top business professional in the community, and I was given an entrepreneur scholarship. All of these things were ways to get exposure without paying for anything — other than my personal life and cable television (Veoh and Joost are pretty good, free, alternatives though. Also Chime.tv).
Well, Valentine’s Day, as I mentioned, is fast arriving, and my girlfriend, a business major taking entrepreneurship studies at Fresno State who was born in Paris and travels often, seems to have taken it in stride that we can’t go there. But I promised her someday, we’d make it to her favorite city in the world: San Francisco.
I thought it would be months (well…) before I could get out to San Francisco.
But then I saw your post. I’m writing this to ask you to do me a really big solid, Michael (tip #4 for bootstrappers: Ask for the favor; all he can do is say no). I’m asking you to hook me and my girl up with a couple tickets to this event. It would be a great way to get to SF and there would be three ways I can really benefit from it:
- Classify it as a business trip (deductable)
- Spend time in SF with my girlfriend
- Learn how to save money for my very well-received, very underfunded venture
Your readers, but especially my readers, would benefit from it in these ways:
- I could offer tips to people there on how I have survived with little to no funds
- I will liveblog to my site (http://lateupdate.com) and post video and information of the event to my readers, many of whom are would-be start-ups in the Lyles Center for Innovation at Fresno State
- We can do a link trade — a link to techcrunch on my homepage, and a link to LateUpdate.com on your homepage! Just kidding, I’m not delusional.
The last tip I’ll offer about bootstrapping is this: Find opportunities to combine opportunities so you can get more out of your time. If you offered me two tickets, not only would I learn a lot, my entrepreneurial girlfriend (planning a boutique) would learn a lot, and hopefully both of our readers would learn a lot. AND, I’d be able to take my girlfriend to SF too and make up for missing Valentine’s Day with a real big score.
I wouldn’t ask for this if I didn’t think I could combine a lot of great things into one opportunity like this. I really don’t have time to leave my company right now unless it was for something like this, and even then, I would have to stay at my uncle’s in Fremont just to make it.
Thanks for considering it.
@Mike,
A lot of people like me will be interested in what is being discussed in this panel even though we can not attend the discussion due to geographic distance. Can you consider live streaming of the event please. Will be really helpful.
Thanks
SOCIAL IMPACT in the US Latino community is our business that includes the use of broad scope media integrated with grassroots marketing and web 2.0 strategies. I believe the event will be a great Learning Experience , Networking opportunity and I would be honored to attend. Your forward consideration is appreciated.
sounds like it would be great and I have enjoyed watching these events in the past so can you post when the videos up.
I have my mum 60th birthday to goto on the 7th so I think flying back to the uk on the same day would make this impossible to do :p
It’s interesting))
Mr. Arrington,
I’m going to keep this short and sweet.
I founded my company in August 2007 with $5,000 out of my own pocket. I’ve been working extremely hard but have much to learn as a first time entrepreneur.
In terms of contributing to the discussion, I would gladly share my personal beliefs on the future direction of social media.
Cheers,
Ethan
Hello Michael,
I would love to come.
As a non-technical founder, self funding my vision, I have tons of insight on what to do, and what not to do. I’ve had more trial and (mostly) error than any man should face, but I think I have found one answer:
Do whatever you can to do it all in house, Don’t outsource.
Another insight: It will cost you twice as much, and take twice as long as any “worst case scenario” estimate. Then double, and double again, and you are guaranteed to come up just short of what you need.
I would love to learn, commiserate and share my experience with others that are on the same journey, or contemplating the same investment of time, energy, sanity, and every last dollar they have to see their vision executed.
Another tip: You have to deeply love and care about your idea. It’s very hard, and the road to see it developed is long with deadly curves. An interesting concept won’t cut it, it takes guts to pull the trigger and risk it all. Then, long hours, drive, and a stomach for the inevitable pitfalls.
Some Bootstrapping insights: Sub-Leasing Space. Outsourcing around the world, around the country, around town and in the office. Building a top-notch team. Selling them on the vision, and getting them to buy in to the idea. Postponing some of their salary as bonus and incentives to hitting milestones. Getting the most out of the team you have when you’re shorthanded. What you shouldn’t skimp on, legal (but can probably postpone paying for if you ask.) Furnishing your entire office from Craigslist. Opensource (obvious). Robbing Peter to pay Paul.
I’ve included my email. Thank you.
I’d like to go … I enjoy TechCrunch events! Would be nice to do some networking in regards to the alarm clock of 2day & tomorrow.
Hi Michael,
Rahul here – I am a student of Computer Science – I came here to the valley about 1.5 years ago – after i got over the jet lag, I got down to work – trying to learn from whoever has something genuine to offer and trying to relate that to my own experiences as a student (who spent 4 years for BS) in India – in Jan 07 I thought of an idea to solve a long standing problem at colleges in India (skipping the details) – i set up a dev team of my pals from undergrad – one guy at Cornell, another one at EPFL, Switzerland, and the 4th guy at Pune, India. Together the 4 of us, set out to make this web based product – working in 4 different time zones and set the ball rolling with the v1.0 out toward the middle of Feb 07 – bootstrapped the whole time – we worked hard on marketing and got a lot of attention and press – we were acquired in June 07 – 6 months from the initial idea! (www.rakoFi.com)
In Jan 08 – one of our facebook apps was in the top 20 as far as the DAUs are concerned, and we are still in the top 100 with close to 4 million users.
We are soon coming out with our next product targeted at the consumer internet market – and I am still to graduate from grad school – and my buddies are still with me – and its been a helluva ride – managing school, research and startups and girl friends – but we are loving every second of it.
I want to soak in as much as i can from people who have made it big, i want to learn from them and perhaps share my knowledge with students/entrepreneurs back home…
I am an MS CS student at Stanford – though that is just my day job…
Rahul
As founder of the late, great Credit Card VC, I heartily endorse this event, and hope it inspires others.
I unfortunately didn’t follow my own advice, and it lead to a bad place.
I’d love to come to the event to reconnect to my roots.
Over the past 8 months I have been working on a new startup . I have no vc money, no board members, and still keep my corporate day job. I will be launching in private beta on March 5th and will be in the bay area visiting with my programmers during that week. Having the opportunity to learn how to maximize your returns with limited funds would greatly help me launch my website successfully.
Plus you should choose me since I literally go to tech crunch 10 times a day. Surprised my employer has not blocked this site yet.
Hi,
I have been on start-up road for almost 2 years and hit many rocks. Love to hear and learn what you would say. I am from VA will flight to the meeting if I could get ticket. Many thanks.
Eugene Liu, CEO
http://www.mogoo.biz
A Targeted, Location aware mobile search/marketing services
I am the head of business development and North American operations for an Irish start up that we are growing via the bootstrap model. We have focused on building our business using partnership as we do not have the funds available to grow a direct sales model. Our solution is an on-line survey and lead acquisition solution that allows the user to define the survey/form in one place but to deploy via html, email, Flash or on mobile devices. We currently have partnerships with Epsilon, ExactTarget, Salesforce and Epicor among others. I would greatly appreciate the opportunity to come and participate in the event.
Jon Erickson
I’d like to go and potentially fund interesting start-ups through our strategic venture fund (SK Holdings USA).
Darian Patchin
VP Product Marketing
Cyworld.com
Darian.patchin at cyworld.com
if you can throw in a flight ticket from the uk to the event and oh a place to stay then Ill volunteer. I don’t mind crashing in one of your cushty pads.
Seriously can’t believe your making people beg for these tickets. Next time can we have some respect for your readers and just have a ballot out of all those whom are interested ?
it would be better than all these sad sacks and their pity stories .
Not sure if TC readers know this, but “bootstrapping” events are all over the world. As incredible as it would be to see these speakers, there are many bootstrapping networks that foster collaborative efforts among business owners. If you for are not invited to is event, try turning to your local fellow bootstrappers for guidance and support. To find a Bootstrap network in your area, check out the Bootstrap Wiki:
http://www.boot...otstrap_Network
I would benefit immensely from attending this event. There is no better way to learn than to hear from the people who went through what your going through and became a success. I want to be inspired by the innovative and creative steps they took that led them from bootstrapping to the big time. I am bootstrapping my startup http://www.flingitgirl.com and getting ready to expand it to make my vision a reality. Attending the event would be priceless.
hey mike,
would love to attend for a number of reasons- both self serving and to help others as i’ve…
bootstrapped a successful social networking company that i started in college, and continued to run during my 8a-8p consulting day job after college. Kind’ve an offline version of facebook in certain aspects. (but started many…many moons ago… i should really add a few more “many’s” as it really was a long time ago
That company has been profitable since the first year, with increasing revenue growth/profit almost every year.
joined another startup back during the first dotcom boom, saw it fail even though we had raised tons of VC money (wasn’t involved with the investor side), so would love some executive insight into the money side of things
and self serving…
Recently started a new web 2.0+ company with a few friends. We’re currently evaluating outside funding options as we’ve been bootstrapping our new startup since May of last year. We launched our private alpha a couple of months ago, and expect to launch our private beta in about 6-8 weeks.
AND… just to be around other bright & motivated people, who knows how we’ll be able to help each other out in creating the next “big thing” – or even “medium thing” – just as long as it helps make other’s lives easier.
AND because i haven’t seen ya since our freshman year in college!
Once a thriving exec in NYC, now a semi-broke and frequent couch resident, I’m probably putting wayyyyy to much on the line for my startup. While staying abreast of all TC news and other blogs, I’ve come to admire those startups who can do more with less (i.e. funding). Trying to do more with less would be ideal for my startup only if I had substantial tech experience which I don’t. Currently, I’m looking for hackers to help co-found this “lean & mean” dream of mine. Among many other necessities for my business, it would be truly appreciated to attend an INTIMATE event where the pros are accessible and the information shared is completely relevant.
FYI… I won’t post the description of my startup here, but I have no problem sharing it with you guys if needed. Still in infant stage!
Is it possible to throw in a plane ticket and/or accommodation (just kidding, but maybe not)??? If all else fails, PLEASE share the entire video online.
All the Best Michael!
Jason
I am bootstrapping a unique public service called CivicEvolution (http://civicevolution.org) and as I gain momentum I need to tap every possible advantage so I don’t stumble and hurt the prospects of this potentially important initiative. CivicEvolution is an online tool that helps citizens collaborate in teams to brainstorm, develop and recommend proposals — a detailed proposal is the best way to influence policy. Western Australia is using CivicEvolution to elicit citizen proposals to address climate change and sustainability. In addition, CivicEvolution has just been selected to be part of an ambitious project to contribute to the development of citizen participation in government by reforming Australia’s political process. I am now recruiting more teams to use CivicEvolution in the US.
You can view a 4 minute video about CivicEvolution at http://civicevolution.org
I am based in San Francisco and have self-funded the development of CivicEvolution for several years as the sole developer, designer, researcher and everything in between. I have surmounted the technical and philosophical/theoretical challenges. Now it is time to tackle the business challenges of growing CivicEvolution to its full potential. I hope you can help me in this. CivicEvolution and I need every advantage we can claim.
In closing, Barack Obama and supporters chant “Yes we can!” CivicEvolution is there to help.
Mike,
All I ask is to cover one of these startups, one of these days:
http://www.meetingflex.com [ Social Networking + Video Search]
http://www.jhatak.com [ Internet Web Meeting]
http://www.jhat...lerHomePage.htm [ Tabbed Browser]
I wish all the best to all. One of these days..I expect to buy the tickets to the event.
Raj
Founder
http://www.jhat...lerHomePage.htm
We’re opening our site up in 6 days. We’ve got cash to pay for servers for a few months and a few marketing pushes, but that’s it, and we’re talking to investors now.
We’re very heavily inclined to not take money for as long as possible, and I’d love to get some advice on it.
Best,
Luke