The Startup Velocity Question: What Hinders Acceleration in VC Funded Companies?

I have been running 1Mby1M since 2010. I find myself saying to entrepreneurs ad nauseam that VCs want to invest in startups that can go from zero to $100 million in revenue in 5 to 7 years.

Startups that do not have what it takes to achieve velocity should not be venture funded.

Experienced VCs, over time, have developed heuristics to gauge what constitutes a high growth venture investment thesis. 

1Mby1M Udemy Courses with Sramana Mitra: Bootstrapping

Over the course of two years, we have released over 70 courses on Udemy with the aim to democratize entrepreneurship education at scale globally. This series of posts aims to help you find the one you need easily and provide you with discount coupons.

$200 Million in Revenue Catering to the Bottom of the Pyramid: Issa Asad, CEO of Q Link Wireless (Part 1)

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. 

This is a fascinating journey of an entrepreneur who has bootstrapped a $200 million business catering to poor people in the United States selling cellular phones and connections, and monetizing the data through advertising. In India, Reliance Jio has a similar strategy, by the way, for those interested in bottom-of-the-pyramid businesses.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background?

Issa Asad: I was born and raised in the United States. I am of Palestinian descent. I am one of 12 brothers and sisters. My >>>

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Bootstrapping From Romania: Marius Hanganu, CEO of Tremend (Part 1)

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. 

Marius has built a services company from Romania to over $5 million in revenue. Now, he is trying to bootstrap a product using the services business.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your personal journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background?

Marius Hanganu: I’m from Romania. I was born near the seaside. At an early age, we moved to the capital city of >>>

Genesis to Acquisition: Mike Morris, CEO of Topcoder (Part 1)

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. 

Mike founded Topcoder, then left and joined Appirio. Appirio acquired Topcoder. Wipro then acquired both Appirio and Topcoder. Very interesting storyline.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background?

Mike Morris: I was born in a town outside of Boston and grew up in a fairly large family. I’m the youngest of seven and went to Catholic schools for the majority of my life. I went to Boston College High School and I continued on into Boston College. I played sports >>>

Bootstrapping Using Services to $40 Million: ActiveCampaign CEO Jason VandeBoom (Part 1)

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. 

Jason has built a disciplined, profitable business and scaled it to $40 million in 2017 revenue. The company was first bootstrapped using services, and later raised ~$20 million in funding.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background?

Jason VandeBoom: I was born and raised in a small town in Wisconsin about an hour out of Milwaukee, and started in >>>

Capital Efficient Entrepreneurship: Ranker CEO Clark Benson (Part 1)

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. 

“I hate raising money and I am not good at it…” – says Clark Benson, with a laugh. The company is growing nicely and profitably. Read on!

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background?

Clark Benson: I was born in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. I spent most of my life in Illinois. I went to college at the University of Illinois. I graduated college in 1990 with a degree in Finance. I was very business-focused. One interesting tidbit is that the undergraduate program at the University of Illinois is a pretty highly-rated business program. >>>

Bootstrapping to $10 Million: Gesture CEO Jim Alvarez (Part 1)

Jim has bootstrapped a $10M company by providing a software solution to the charity auction management problem. Interesting journey.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background?

Jim Alvarez: I was born and raised in the south side of Chicago. I went to college at the Indiana University.

Sramana Mitra: What did you study? >>>

Scaling to Profitability with $20 Million in Venture Capital: CloudShare CEO Zvi Guterman (Part 1)

Zvi has built a $25M a year in profitable revenue with $20M in venture capital from Sequoia and other investors.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background?

Zvi Guterman: I was born in a small village of Israel to a family of farmers. I feel fortunate that we are changing the world in a small way. We are able to influence people today in such an easy way. Sometimes when you have a long day with funding issues and customers, I reflect back and miss the simplicity of a farm life. >>>

Building a Venture-Scale MarTech Company in Silicon Valley: Chaitanya Chandrasekhar, CEO of QuanticMind (Part 1)

Chaitanya and his co-founders bootstrapped an MVP and then went on to raise $35 million in several rounds of funding. The company is now over $10 million in Annual Recurring Revenue.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s go to the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background?

Chaitanya Chandrasekhar: I grew up in India in, what is today called, Chennai. I can’t get myself to call it that. I call it Madras. I >>>

Bootstrap First, Raise Money Later from Udupi, Karnataka: Rohith Bhat’s Exhilarating Journey with Robosoft (Part 1)

If you haven’t already, please study our Bootstrapping Course and Investor Introductions page. 

Rohith started a services company in his hometown – a small town on the west coast of Karnataka, India. Fifteen years later, the company is generating $18 million in revenue and has raised two sizable rounds of VC funding. I found the story exhilarating!

Sramana Mitra: Let’s go to the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background?

Rohith Bhat: I was born in Udupi, India. It’s a small town on the west coast of the country. Then I went to the local school and >>>

Building a Robust Niche Business: FilmTrack CEO Jason Kassin (Part 1)

You’ve heard me say over and over again that niches make for great business opportunities. In this story, you will read how an entrepreneur with deep domain knowledge in the film industry created a robust niche business.

Sramana Mitra: Let’s start at the very beginning of your journey. Where are you from? Where were you born, raised, and in what kind of background?

Jason Kassin: I’m from a little town called Brooklyn, New York. I was actually born in upstate New York just by accident. It was summer and that’s where my family happened to be at that time. I came of age, from a computer standpoint, during that dawn of the personal computer era. I’ve been working in the computer world and the software world since the dawn of the personal computer era. >>>